The head of the state’s largest prison has been suspended and won’t be coming back to his post.
Corrections Commissioner Nicholas Deml said Scott Martin, the superintendent of the Northern State Correctional Facility in Newport, was placed on paid administrative leave Monday.
Deml said Tuesday that “concerns were raised” about Martin and corrections officials called in the Department of Human Resources to investigate.
“We got the initial findings of those investigations and that was enough to erode my confidence in his ability to perform his duties right now,” Deml said. “He was just not the right leader for that position.”
Deml said the concerns included the management and direction of the prison. He said he could not comment further on their specifics or how they came to light because the investigation remains ongoing.
Martin will not return to his superintendent’s position regardless of the result of the investigation, Deml told VTDigger. Asked if Martin could still work in corrections, Deml said, “What his future looks like I think will depend on the outcome of that HR investigation.”
Deml, who has been commissioner for about five months, said the department is “leaning in pretty hard” on making systemwide changes aimed at improving morale among staff and the incarcerated population.
“Some of the things that worked in the past won’t work anymore,” he said.
Mike Koehler, the prison’s assistant superintendent, will serve as the acting superintendent, Deml said.
Martin could not be reached for comment on Tuesday.
Jenney Samuelson, secretary of the state Agency of Human Services, which oversees the corrections department, said Tuesday during Gov. Phil Scott’s weekly press conference that Martin was placed on leave after a “thorough review” by the state Department of Human Resources.
“I can’t delve into it deeply,” Samuelson said, “but the concerns come out of his management and the direction and his leadership at Northern State Correctional Facility.”
Samuelson said Martin’s removal was not related to a recent article in Seven Days about the corrections department’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic and its impact on the mental health of incarcerated individuals.
The secretary also said Martin’s removal was not related to the accidental overdose death of Michael Cornell, an incarcerated individual at the prison, on New Year’s Day.
In a subsequent email to VTDigger, corrections department spokesperson Rachel Feldman said a review of Cornell’s death had identified “management issues,” but that Martin’s removal “resulted from a broader review of the management and direction of NSCF and was not the result of the death of Michael Cornell earlier this year.”
The investigation into his death is ongoing, she said.
Vermont Defender General Matthew Valerio, whose department also oversees the state Prisoners’ Rights Office, said Tuesday that he had been informed of the change by the corrections department but was not aware of the reasons behind it.
Steve Howard, executive director of the Vermont State Employees’ Association, the union representing corrections workers, said Tuesday he also did not know the specifics that led to Martin’s removal as the prison’s superintendent.
He said that staffing shortages across the corrections department have resulted in difficult working conditions for staff.
“It’s a department in need of a lot of reform,” he said.
Newport is the state’s largest prison, housing more than 300 people in custody. It also has had the most Covid-19 cases among incarcerated people with 297 reported.
Martin had been placed on paid administrative leave once before.
In December 2019, then-corrections commissioner Michael Touchette placed Joshua Rutherford, who was serving as superintendent of the Newport prison, and Martin, who had been an assistant superintendent at the facility, on paid administrative leave after saying the department received a “credible report” that warranted further investigation.
The details of that investigation were never publicly released.
Martin had been the permanent superintendent at the prison since August 2021, having previously served in the position on an interim basis starting in July 2020.
Over his career in corrections, he has worked as an assistant superintendent at the Newport prison, chief of security at Northeast Correctional Complex in St. Johnsbury and as a probation and parole officer.
Martin’s pay as the superintendent at the Newport prison was $103,000 a year.