Vt. Stat. Ann. tit. 28, § 3 (2026)
General definitions
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§ 3. General definitions
As used in this title:
(1) “Child” means any person:
(A) charged with having committed a delinquent act as defined in 33 V.S.A. § 5102 or adjudicated a delinquent and committed to the custody of the Commissioner; or
(B) charged with being or adjudicated unmanageable as defined by 33 V.S.A. § 5102(3)(C) and (D), and committed to the custody of the Commissioner for Children and Families and subsequently transferred to the custody of the Commissioner.
(C) [Repealed.]
(2) “Commissioner” means the Commissioner of Corrections.
(3) “Correctional facility” or “facility” means any building, enclosure, space, or structure of or supported by the Department and used for the confinement of persons committed to the custody of the Commissioner, or for any other matter related to such confinement.
(4) “Department” means the Department of Corrections.
(5) “Inmate” means any person, not a child, committed to the custody of the Commissioner pursuant to the law of the State and subsequently committed to a correctional facility and any person confined at a correctional facility during the pendency of a prosecution against him or her.
(6) “Law” includes the laws and ordinances of the State, its political subdivisions, and municipalities.
(7) “Law enforcement officer” means a State Police officer, a sheriff, a deputy sheriff, a municipal police officer, a constable, the Commissioner, or a member of the Department of Corrections when appointed in writing by the Commissioner and when his or her appointment is filed in the Office of the Secretary of State. The Commissioner or such member shall have the same powers as a sheriff.
(8) “Offender” means any person convicted of a crime or offense under the laws of this State, and, for purposes of work crew, a person found in civil contempt under 15 V.S.A. § 603.
(9) “Supervising officer” means the highest administrative officer in charge of any correctional facility.
(10) “Correctional officer” means any person who is an employee of the Department of Corrections whose official duties or job classification includes the supervision or monitoring of a person on parole, probation, or serving any sentence of incarceration whether inside or outside a correctional facility, and who has received training, as approved by the Commissioner of Corrections, as provided in section 551a of this title.
(11) “Restorative justice program” means a program developed and implemented by the Commissioner, consistent with State policy and legislative intent as provided by section 2a of this title.
(12) Despite other names this concept has been given in the past or may be given in the future, “segregation” means a form of separation from the general population that may or may not include placement in a single-occupancy cell and that is used for disciplinary, administrative, or other reasons, but shall not mean confinement to an infirmary or a residential treatment setting for purposes of evaluation, treatment, or provision of services. (Added 1971, No. 199 (Adj. Sess.), § 20; amended 1997, No. 152 (Adj. Sess.), § 1; 1999, No. 148 (Adj. Sess.), § 63, eff. May 24, 2000; 2011, No. 119 (Adj. Sess.), § 9; 2013, No. 131 (Adj. Sess.), § 130; 2017, No. 78, § 3.)