MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) - A former top federal prosecutor in Vermont has been chosen to lead an investigation into conditions at the state’s women’s prison in South Burlington and other prisons in the state, the state announced Friday.
Tristram Coffin, who served as U.S. attorney from 2009 to 2015, his Burlington law firm and a corrections expert will begin their investigation in the coming week, said Agency of Human Services Secretary Michael Smith.
Smith also announced that Jim Baker, who commanded the Vermont State Police from 2006 to 2009, will serve as interim commissioner of the Vermont Corrections Department beginning Jan. 6.
The state is launching the investigation after reports of sexual misconduct and drug use at the women’s prison.
Corrections Commissioner Mike Touchette resigned last week.
Smith has told corrections officials that no form of retribution or retaliation will be tolerated against employees who have communicated, or are thought to have communicated, allegations of misconduct.
The investigation, which Smith has said he hopes can be completed within 120 days, will focus on the Chittenden Regional Correctional Facility in South Burlington, which has a capacity of 135 inmates, although investigators will have access to all of the state’s prisons.
Coffin will report directly to Smith.
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