Sheriff’s deputies will no longer transport people who are released from the Springfield prison, according to the Vermont Department of State’s Attorneys and Sheriffs.

“It’s a problem. It’s a big problem,” Matt Valerio, Vermont’s defender general, said of the decision.

Southern State Correctional Facility in Springfield is a hub for pre-trial detainees, hosting remote arraignments for people charged with crimes in Windsor and Windham counties.

Now, if a person is released after their arraignment while awaiting trial, they will be let out of the relatively rural prison to fend for themselves, according to Valerio.

“They’re released at the bottom of the hill and told ‘good luck,’” Valerio said. “When you’re left at the bottom of a hill in zero degrees, you’re going to do what you need to

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