The Vermont Statutes Online

Title 28: Public Institutions and Corrections

Chapter 013: Town and Village Lockups

• § 1001. Erection of lockups

  At a meeting called for that purpose, a town or incorporated village may authorize the selectboard of the town or trustees of the village, to purchase or erect and maintain at the expense of the town or village within its corporate limits one or more lockups. (Added 1971, No. 199 (Adj. Sess.), § 20.)

• § 1002. Jailer; appointment; removal

  The selectboard of a town or the trustees of an incorporated village may appoint a jailer of the lockup and may remove him or her at pleasure. The appointment or removal shall be in writing and recorded in the office of the town or village clerk. (Added 1971, No. 199 (Adj. Sess.), § 20.)

• § 1003. Commitments

  When process is delivered to an officer to serve, requiring the officer to commit a person to jail to await examination or trial before a Superior Court, if the order for commitment was made within the limits of a town, incorporated village, or a county maintaining a lockup, that person may be committed for not more than 72 hours, unless the time is extended by court order, to the lockup and be subject to the restraints and entitled to the privileges provided by law for persons confined in a correctional facility. A person under 18 years of age charged or convicted of a misdemeanor may not be detained in a lockup used to house inmates over 18 years of age, except as provided in 33 V.S.A. § 5293. (Added 1971, No. 199 (Adj. Sess.), § 20; amended 1973, No. 193 (Adj. Sess.), § 3, eff. April 9, 1974; 1987, No. 182 (Adj. Sess.), § 6; 2013, No. 131 (Adj. Sess.), § 132, eff. May 20, 2014.)

• § 1004. Standards of maintenance and use by Department of Corrections

  (a) All lockups must meet the standards established by the Commissioner of Corrections. Such standards shall comply with the standards and requirements relating to medical care established under the provisions of section 801 of this title. To assist in the management of correctional facilities, the Commissioner may contract to house an inmate in a local lockup for pretrial detention, confinement, or for community release. The Commissioner or his or her authorized agent shall visit and inspect all lockups at least once every six months.

  (b) The selectboard, trustees, or sheriffs maintaining a lockup that fails to meet minimum standards shall discontinue its use within 30 days after notice thereof is sent to them by the Commissioner. They shall cause its inmates to be transferred to the nearest regional correctional facility. If the selectboard, trustees, or sheriffs do not keep a lockup according to the standards established by the Commissioner or fail to discontinue its use after notice from the Commissioner, he or she may petition the Superior Court, and the court may grant an injunction against continued use of the lockup. The court may make other orders appropriate and necessary for enforcing this section. (Added 1971, No. 199 (Adj. Sess.), § 20; amended 1973, No. 193 (Adj. Sess.), § 3, eff. April 9, 1974; 1977, No. 57, § 2, eff. April 22, 1977; 1981, No. 185 (Adj. Sess.), § 3, eff. April 22, 1982; 1987, No. 199 (Adj. Sess.), § 2.)