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Read. Follow. Verify.Vermont Prohibits Private and For-Profit Correctional Facilities by 2034 and Mandates Repatriation Plan
Last action · February 12, 2025: Read first time and referred to the Committee on Corrections and InstitutionsSponsors: Troy Headrick and 8 others
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What This Bill Would Do
Vermont restricts the Commissioner of Corrections from assigning individuals to private or for-profit correctional facilities, requiring all facilities to be operated by public or nonprofit entities under an interstate or federal compact by 2034. Beginning July 1, 2025, the Commissioner is barred from executing new contracts with private facilities, and existing contracts must be amended or terminated by January 1, 2030. Additionally, the Department of Corrections must submit an implementation plan by November 15, 2025, to incarcerated individuals housed out of state.
Changes where incarcerated individuals under Vermont's custody can be housed and serviced by phasing out reliance on private, for-profit out-of-state operators and requiring the State to expand in-state correctional capacity.
- Vermont has faced chronic challenges with prison capacity, leading to long-term arrangements to house incarcerated individuals in out-of-state private correctional facilities. context
- The General Assembly is the state legislature of Vermont responsible for passing statutes and setting state policy. context
Who It Would Affect
Groups the bill's text would affect if enacted, as described in the record. Being affected is not a position for or against it.
Incarcerated individuals
Department of Corrections
The Department is restricted in contract negotiations, prohibited from using private support services, and required to develop an in-state capacity and repatriation implementation plan by November 15, 2025.
Private and for-profit correctional facility operators
Operators are barred from entering new contracts with the State starting July 1, 2025, and existing contracts must be terminated or amended by January 1, 2030.
Key Facts
You don't have to trust us. Each fact below is taken straight from the official document - click any one to see the exact passage, highlighted in the original.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the timeline for ending private and out-of-state facility contracts?
Does this bill affect individuals housed out of state under an interstate compact?
What report must the Department of Corrections submit?
What else do you want to know?
News Coverage
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Votes, people, money & the original sourceWhere This Stands
Currently in committee. The next step in the legislative lifecycle is Floor Vote.
Procedural history
1 action- Feb 12, 2025HouseIntroducedRead first time and referred to the Committee on Corrections and Institutions
Version history
Only one version on file - nothing to compare yet. As later stages (committee substitute, engrossed, enrolled) are captured, the redline appears here.
View official text →Lobbying Activity
No state lobbying filings in our records match this bill. Federal lobbying reports (LDA) cover Congress, so they are not listed on state bills.
Full breakdown
Who this bill affects and the strongest case for and against it, written only from the bill’s own text.
Sponsors
Discoveries
Patterns POLISCOPE noticed across the record. These are observations to investigate, not conclusions.
Phasing Out Private Correctional Contracts
The legislation establishes a definitive timeline to eliminate private, for-profit involvement in Vermont's correctional system by 2030-2034.
Connected Entities
Sources
legislature.vermont.gov
Analysis Score
0–100- Significance75How much this matters to a regular citizen
- Controversy65Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
- Entertainment10Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
- Buzz40Current news / social attention level
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