Vermont is seeing an increase in the number of people held in jail while waiting for trial. The surge is straining the Corrections Department budget and it means the state will have to spend an additional $3.5 million next year just to send prisoners out of state.

Vermont's Corrections commissioner says a bill that targets the problem of repeat offenders takes the right approach. The bill is called the "War on Recidivism Act" and it gives the Corrections Department more flexibility in how it deals with non-violent offenders, especially those whose crimes are related to drug addiction.

The Vermont Senate gave unanimous approval this month to a bill that takes aim at the problem of recidivism: former prisoners who commit new crimes once they're released. We'll learn more about the proposal and related issues with Corrections Commissioner Andy Pallito.

Governor Peter Shumlin says all three branches of government have developed a plan to reduce the number of prison inmates who commit another crime after they're released. The state says it will pay for the initiative by bringing 100 inmates back to Vermont from out-of-state prisons where they're now held.

Vermont's Department of Corrections has offered settlements to two Vermont National Guardsmen who alleged they'd been discriminated against while working at the state's prison in Springfield.   

We look at what it would mean if wolves were to repopulate the region, and how the state and federal governments might respond. Also, we check in on Vermont's inmates who are sent to prisons out of the state. And, we visit an equine massage therapist.

A round of staff cuts in Vermont government is hitting the Corrections Department and the Department for Children and Families the hardest.