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Vermont Department of Corrections outlines FY2027 budget, flags staffing, women’s facility crowding and rising health costs
Summary
The Vermont Department of Corrections presented a $244.1 million FY2027 budget to the Health Appropriations Committee, highlighting staff vacancies (about 13% overall; roughly 20% for correctional officers), a crowded women’s facility (172 inmates vs. ~177 capacity), a $44 million annualized health contract, and rollout of a Medicaid reentry (1115) waiver.
The Vermont Department of Corrections on Jan. 30 presented its proposed FY2027 budget to the Health Appropriations Committee, saying staffing shortages, a growing detainee population and steep health-care costs are pressuring operations and driving several near-term priorities.
"I am the interim commissioner for the Vermont Department of Corrections," John Murad told the committee, outlining the department’s mission, the structure of Vermont’s unified corrections system and recent population trends. He said the statewide custody population rose from pandemic-era lows of roughly 1,100 to about 1,650 today, with approximately 150 people housed out of state.
Murad and finance staff said the department’s overall vacancy rate is just under 13 percent, while front-line correctional officer I and II positions carry a higher vacancy—"probably around 20 percent," Murad said—driven in part by retention problems and heavy overtime.
"We desperately…
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