§ 1. Purposes

(a) The Department of Corrections created by 3 V.S.A. § 3081 shall have the purpose of developing and administering a correctional program designed to protect persons and property against offenders of the criminal law and to render treatment to offenders with the goal of achieving their successful return and participation as citizens of the State and community, to foster their human dignity and to preserve the human resources of the community.

(b) The Department shall formulate its programs and policies recognizing that almost all criminal offenders ultimately return to the community, and that the traditional institutional prisons fail to reform or rehabilitate, operating instead to increase the risk of continued criminal acts following release. The Department shall develop and implement a comprehensive program that will provide necessary closed custodial confinement of frequent, dangerous offenders, but that also will establish as its primary objective the disciplined preparation of offenders for their responsible roles in the open community. The Department shall ensure that the comprehensive program required by this subsection includes a process by which each offender sentenced to any term of imprisonment other than for life without parole, within 30 days after receiving his or her sentence, shall begin to develop and implement a plan preparing for return to the community.

(c) In order to implement its programs and policies the Department shall develop and maintain correctional facilities that shall include both residence-centered institutions and facilities reflecting nonresidence principles designed to facilitate the reintegration of the offender into the community. These facilities shall utilize the supporting resources of probation and parole services, the increased cooperation of personnel in the fields of welfare, health, and education, and the increased participation of the citizens of the State in attempts to achieve correctional purposes and objectives. (Added 1971, No. 199 (Adj. Sess.), § 20; amended 2005, No. 63, § 17.)