§ 760. Compensation of offenders
(a) The Commissioner shall, in consultation with the Department of Labor, promulgate rules
establishing an injured offender compensation program for offenders or their dependents
for injuries suffered while under supervision by the Department and arising out of
and in the course of work, industry, or an employment program, at a correctional facility,
or any community service or public works activity or vocational training directed
by the Department of Corrections. The rules shall establish the compensation, medical,
and vocational benefits to which an injured offender may be entitled as well as procedures
for resolving disputes. To the extent practicable and consistent with the requirements
of the Department, compensation, medical, and vocational benefits shall be comparable
to what a similarly injured employee would receive under 21 V.S.A. chapter 9.
(b) The rights and remedies provided by this section and the rules adopted under authority
of this section to an offender on account of a personal injury for which he or she
is entitled to compensation under this section shall exclude all other rights and
remedies of the offender, the offender’s personal representation, dependents or next
of kin, at common law, or otherwise on account of such injury.
(c) For purposes of this section, the Department of Corrections shall be the sole entity
responsible for providing any compensation owed to an injured offender, without regard
to the place of injury, and no claim for workers’ compensation or other common law
action may be brought against the industry, employment program, government or community
service entity, or vocational training provider either supervising the offender or
receiving the benefit of the offender’s services.
(d) In no case shall compensation be made under subsection (a) of this section to any
offender injured while participating in a work release program pursuant to section 753 of this title.
(e) Any compensation which is fixed in accordance with the rules adopted by the Commissioner
may be paid either in periodic installments or in lump sum. The compensation may be
drawn from the revolving fund established by section 752 of this title, from any general fund maintained by the Department, or from any approved source.
(f) A claimant may seek review of the Department’s decision relative to an award of compensation
by petitioning a Superior Court under Rule 74 of the Vermont Rules of Civil Procedure. (Added 1971, No. 199 (Adj. Sess.), § 20; amended 1993, No. 54, § 3; 1997, No. 148 (Adj. Sess.), § 69, eff. April 29, 1998; 2005, No. 103 (Adj. Sess.), § 3, eff. April 5, 2006; 2025, No. 18, § 49, eff. May 13, 2025.)