The Vermont Statutes Online

Title 28 : Public Institutions and Corrections

Chapter 011 : Supervision of Adult Inmates at the Correctional Facilities

Subchapter 001 : Commitment, Transfer, and Discharge

• § 701c. Classification and housing placement determinations

  (a) The Department shall make classification and housing placement determinations for transgender, gender-diverse, and intersex inmates consistent with this section.

  (b) During the initial intake process, and in as private a setting as possible, the Department shall ask each transgender, gender-diverse, or intersex inmate to specify the inmate’s request as to housing placement.

  (c) The Department shall make classification and housing placement determinations for transgender, gender-diverse, or intersex inmates based on review by the Department’s multidisciplinary review panels. The multidisciplinary review panels shall consult with medical personnel, mental health professionals with experience in gender dysphoria or gender-affirming care, and personnel who have received training aligned with nationally recognized standards for gender-affirming care.

  (d) The Department shall consider on an individualized basis whether a classification or housing placement would best support a transgender, gender-diverse, or intersex inmate’s health and safety and whether the placement would pose risks to safety or security. The Department may determine that a classification or housing placement would not best protect health or safety at that time, but may recommend discussing reassessment with the inmate at a later time.

  (1) The Department shall give serious consideration to the inmate’s classification or housing placement request. If the Department finds that accommodating the inmate’s request would pose an unreasonable risk to institutional safety or security, the inmate’s health or safety, or the safety or security of other inmates or staff, the Department may decide that it cannot accommodate the request.

  (2) The Department shall make its classification and housing placement determinations on an objective basis.

  (e) If the Department does not accommodate an inmate’s classification or housing placement request, the Department shall, upon determining that it will not accommodate the request, document in writing a specific reason the Department is unable to accommodate the inmate’s classification or housing placement request.

  (f) The Department shall consider on an individualized basis whether placement at a facility outside the State would best support a transgender, gender-diverse, or intersex inmate’s health and safety and whether the placement would pose risks to safety or security. The Department shall coordinate with any facility outside the State to assess and reassess placement determinations.

  (g) The Department shall reassess an inmate’s housing placement at any time if:

  (1) the inmate requests a reassessment or raises concerns about the inmate’s health or safety; or

  (2) the inmate engages in misconduct, including conduct that poses a safety risk to the inmate or to other inmates.

  (h) The Department shall give a transgender, gender-diverse, or intersex inmate’s perception of health and safety serious consideration in making bed assignment and housing placement decisions, including:

  (1) selecting the inmate with whom the inmate is housed to best support safety and security; and

  (2) if there is an articulable risk to the inmate, removing the risk, where possible, or otherwise alleviating the risk. (Added 2025, No. 117 (Adj. Sess.), § 5, eff. July 1, 2026.)