§ 724. Terms and conditions of community supervision furlough
(a) Authority of the Department. The Department shall identify in the terms and conditions of community supervision
furlough those programs necessary to reduce the offender’s risk of reoffense and to
promote the offender’s accountability for progress in the reintegration process. The
Department shall make all determinations of violations of conditions of community
supervision furlough pursuant to this subchapter and any resulting change in status
or termination of community supervision furlough status.
(b) 90-day interruption or revocation. Any interruption of an offender’s community supervision furlough after the Department
has found a technical violation of furlough conditions shall trigger a Department
Central Office case staffing review and Department notification to the Office of the
Defender General if the interruption will be 90 days or longer.
(c) Appeal. (1) An offender whose community supervision furlough status is revoked or interrupted
for 90 days or longer for a technical violation shall have the right to appeal the
Department’s determination to the Civil Division of the Superior Court in accordance
with Rule 74 of the Vermont Rules of Civil Procedure. The appeal shall be based on
a de novo review of the record. The appellant may offer testimony, and, in its discretion
for good cause shown, the court may accept additional evidence to supplement the record.
If additional evidence is accepted by the court, the Department, through the Office
of the Vermont Attorney General, shall have the opportunity to present rebuttal evidence,
including testimony, for the court’s consideration. The notice of appeal filed pursuant
to Rule 74 shall include a certification that the court has subject matter jurisdiction.
The Department shall file an objection to subject matter jurisdiction within 14 days,
which shall stay the filing of the record on appeal until the court issues an order
on the Department’s objection. The appellant shall have the burden of proving by a
preponderance of the evidence that the Department abused its discretion in imposing
a furlough revocation or interruption for 90 days or longer pursuant to subsection
(d) of this section.
(2) An appeal filed pursuant to this subsection shall be limited to determine whether
the decision to interrupt or revoke an offender’s community supervision furlough status
was an abuse of discretion by the Department based on the criteria set forth in subdivision
(d)(2) of this section. The length of interruption or revocation may be a consideration
in the abuse of discretion determination.
(3) An appeal filed pursuant to this subsection shall be brought in the unit of the Superior
Court in which the offender resided at the time that the offender’s furlough status
was revoked or interrupted or the unit in which the offender is detained after the
offender’s furlough status was revoked or interrupted. If an appeal is filed pursuant
to this subsection in a unit lacking proper venue, the court, on its own motion or
on timely motion of a party to the appeal, may transfer the appeal to a unit having
proper venue.
(d) Technical violations. It shall be abuse of the Department’s discretion to revoke furlough or interrupt furlough
status for 90 days or longer for a technical violation, unless:
(1) The offender’s risk to reoffend can no longer be adequately controlled in the community,
and no other method to control noncompliance is suitable.
(2) The violation or pattern of violations indicate the offender poses a danger to others.
(3) The offender’s violation is absconding from community supervision furlough. (Added 2001, No. 61, § 89, eff. June 16, 2001; amended 2019, No. 148 (Adj. Sess.), § 11, eff. Jan. 1, 2021; 2021, No. 124 (Adj. Sess.), § 1, eff. May 23, 2022; 2023, No. 78, § E.338.4, eff. July 1, 2023; 2023, No. 85 (Adj. Sess.), § 332, eff. July 1, 2024.)