Code of Vermont Rules › Agency 13 - AGENCY OF HUMAN SERVICES › Sub-Agency 130 - DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS › Chapter 017 - #255-REPORTING OF OFFENDER INFORMATION › Section 13 130 017 - #255-REPORTING OF OFFENDER INFORMATION

Current through June, 2024
Section 1 Authority
33 V.S.A.''4913(a) and 6903 Counseling Service of Addison
				  County, Inc., 146 Vt. 61 (1985);
				  28 V.S.A.
				  §
											505(b); 28V.S.A.
				  § 204(d); 42 C.F.R. Part 2
Section
				2 Purpose
This policy establishes the guidelines for the reporting of
				  offender information to courts, state's attorneys, the Vermont Parole Board,
				  the commissioner of Social and Rehabilitative Services, the Commissioner of
				  Aging and Disabilities, other agencies and departments as noted in this policy
				  and third parties.
Section
				3 Applicability/Accessibility
This policy applies to all Department of Corrections
				  employees, volunteers, and service providers and to all offender information in
				  the control and custody of the Department. Anyone may have a copy of this
				  policy.
Section 4
				Definitions
Counseling Notes: written comments by DOC employees or health
				  care providers in an offender's mental health records that document the
				  author's hypothesis or opinion about an offender's behavior for future
				  evaluation by the author, and are written solely for the author's future
				  evaluation.
Criminal History Information: documents, forms, reports, or
				  data of a specific offender currently or formerly under supervision by the
				  Department, or currently or formerly confined in any Department correctional
				  facility, that pertain to that offender's involvement in the criminal justice
				  system, including but not limited to arrest/search warrants, court orders,
				  indictments, information or formal charges, presentence reports, Intermediate
				  Sanction Reports, pre-parole reports, supervisory history of probationers and
				  parolees, investigations, pleadings in criminal proceedings, pleas, motions,
				  citations, summons, appearance bonds, notice/receipts of bail, a court order or
				  mittimus, and records of judicial proceedings.
Foreseeable Risk of Harm: a case-by-case determination by
				  department employees in consultation with treatment providers and others
				  involved in the offender's case planning that is based upon:
(1) an offender's prior criminal background,
				personal history and current conduct;
(2) the type of crime for which the offender
				was most recently convicted; and
(3) the surrounding circumstances in which
				the offender is being supervised, including the relationship of the offender to
				a third party or third parties.
Information: any statement, whether or not it is in writing,
				  that pertains to a specific offender.
Intermediate Sanction Report: the Intermediate Sanction
				  Report (ISR) is a statute mandated, court ordered assessment of offender
				  criminogenic risk/need and the planned correctional response to controlling
				  that risk/need. It is considered, regardless of format, the equivalent of a
				  pre-sentence investigation.
Non-Confidential Information:
(1) the name of a specific offender;
(2) the offender's current
				offense;
(3) date and length of
				sentence received;
(4) date of
				commencement of furlough, supervised community sentence, probation, parole, or
				incarceration;
(5) the offender's
				attorney of record; and
(6) the
				DOC employee assigned to supervise the offender.
Offender: any person convicted of a crime of offense who is
				  placed in the care, custody, or supervision of the Vermont Department of
				  Corrections.
Presentence Report: any written report prepared by DOC
				  employees and provided to a judge that contains a recommendation for a sentence
				  and factual information pertaining to the offender and/or victim.
Reporting: any communication of offender information that is
				  made by a DOC employee, volunteer, agent or contractor that is required by law
				  or this policy whether or not a request for such information is made.
Serious Risk of Danger: a case-by-case determination by a
				  therapist, a medical professional, mental health professional, or other person
				  as defined in
				  12 V.S.A. §
											1612(a) that is based upon:
(1) the offender's proclivity to
				violent behavior as evidenced by prior criminal background or history of mental
				health treatment: and
(2) the
				expressed intent of that offender to harm the person or property of an
				identifiable third party.
Service Provider: an employee, agency or department providing
				  a service to offenders pursuant to an agreement or contract with the Vermont
				  Department of Corrections.
Special Relationship: a relationship between an offender and
				  a third party that has been established as a result of the supervision of the
				  offender by the Department; e.g. a special relationship may exist between a
				  third party and the DOC if an offender is required or allowed to work or live
				  with the third party.
Supervising Employees: DOC staff and employees who are tasked
				  with monitoring offenders, or involved in directly working with, or
				  supervision, offenders in the community.
Treatment Notes: any written notes used in the Department's
				  programs for offenders that address need areas such as violence, sexual
				  deviancy, or drug/alcohol abuse.
Treatment notes would include daily journals, thinking
				  reports, treatment group or review form, treatment team log book, relapse
				  prevention plans, sexual autobiographies, and references or documentation
				  pertaining to identifiable victims.