Title 01, Title 01: General Provisions

§ 211. Official acts and resolutions The acts and resolutions printed or reproduced under 29 V.S.A. § 1115 shall be taken to be the laws and resolutions of the session of the General Assembly at which they were passed, unless the original act and legislative records show otherwis…

§ 212. Effective date of laws Laws enacted by the General Assembly shall take effect on July 1 next following the date of their passage, unless it is otherwise specifically provided. (Amended 1961, No. 228, § 1, eff. July 21, 1961; 1969, No. 207 (Adj. Sess.), § 3, eff. Jan. 1, 19…

§ 213. Pending suits unaffected No act of the General Assembly shall affect a suit begun or pending at the time of its passage, except acts regulating practice in court, relating to the competency of witnesses, or relating to amendments of process or pleadings. (Amended 2015, No.…

§ 214. Effect of amendment or repeal (a) The amendment or repeal of an act or of a provision of the Vermont Statutes Annotated shall not revive an act or statutory provision that has been repealed. (b) The amendment or repeal of an act or statutory provision, except as provided i…

§ 215. Severability of provisions The provisions of any act are severable. If any provision of an act is invalid, or if any application thereof to any person or circumstance is invalid, the invalidity shall not affect other provisions or applications that can be given effect with…

§ 271. Common law adopted So much of the common law of England as is applicable to the local situation and circumstances and is not repugnant to the Constitution or laws shall be laws in this State and courts shall take notice thereof and govern themselves accordingly.

§ 272. Equality of privilege In cases proper for the cognizance of the civil authority and the courts of judicature in this State, citizens of the United States shall be equally entitled to the privileges of law and justice with citizens of this State.

§ 273. Eligibility to hold office A person shall not be debarred on account of sex from holding any office or position of trust or responsibility under the State, including U.S. Senator and Representative to Congress or any county, town, city, village, town school district, or in…

§ 310. Definitions As used in this subchapter: (1) “Advisory body” means a public body that does not have supervision, control, or jurisdiction over legislative, quasi-judicial, tax, or budgetary matters. (2) “Business of the public body” means the public body’s governmental func…

§ 311. Declaration of public policy; short title (a) In enacting this subchapter, the Legislature finds and declares that public commissions, boards, and councils and other public agencies in this State exist to aid in the conduct of the people’s business and are accountable to t…

§ 312. Right to attend meetings of public bodies (a)(1) All meetings of a public body are declared to be open to the public at all times, except as provided in section 313 of this title. No resolution, rule, regulation, appointment, or formal action shall be considered binding ex…

§ 312a. Meetings of public bodies; state of emergency (a) As used in this section: (1) “Affected public body” means a public body: (A) whose regular meeting location is located in an area affected by a hazard or local incident; and (B) that cannot meet in a designated physical me…

§ 313. Executive sessions (a) No public body may hold or conclude an executive session from which the public is excluded, except by the affirmative vote of two-thirds of its members present in the case of any public body of State government or of a majority of its members present…

§ 314. Penalty and enforcement (a) A person who is a member of a public body and who knowingly and intentionally violates the provisions of this subchapter, a person who knowingly and intentionally violates the provisions of this subchapter on behalf or at the behest of a public …

§ 315. Statement of policy; short title (a) It is the policy of this subchapter to provide for free and open examination of records consistent with Chapter I, Article 6 of the Vermont Constitution. Officers of government are trustees and servants of the people and it is in the pu…

§ 316. Access to public records and documents (a) Any person may inspect or copy any public record of a public agency, as follows: (1) For any agency, board, department, commission, committee, branch, instrumentality, or authority of the State, a person may inspect a public recor…

§ 317. Definitions; public agency; public records and documents; exemptions (a) As used in this subchapter: (1) “Business day” means a day that a public agency is open to provide services. (2) “Public agency” or “agency” means any agency, board, department, commission, committee,…

§ 317a. Management of public records (a)(1) Public records in general and archival records in particular should be systematically managed to provide ready access to vital information, to promote the efficient and economical operation of government, and to preserve their legal, ad…

§ 318. Procedure (a)(1) As used in this section, “promptly” means immediately, with little or no delay, and, unless otherwise provided in this section, not more than three business days: (A) from receipt of a request under this subchapter; or (B) in the case of a reversal on appe…

§ 318a. Executive Branch Agency Public Records Request System (a) The Secretary of Administration shall maintain and update the Public Records Request System established pursuant to 2006 Acts and Resolves No. 132, Sec. 3 and 2011 Acts and Resolves No. 59, Sec. 13 with the informa…

§ 319. Enforcement (a) Any person aggrieved by the denial of a request for public records under this subchapter may apply to the Civil Division of the Superior Court in the county in which the complainant resides, or has his or her personal place of business, or in which the publ…

§ 320. Penalties (a) Whenever the court orders the production of any public agency records, improperly withheld from the complainant and assesses against the agency reasonable attorney’s fees and other litigation costs, and the court additionally issues a written finding that the…

§ 331. Definitions As used in the subchapter: (1) “Person who is Deaf, Hard of Hearing, or DeafBlind” means any person who has difficulty hearing, even with amplification, to the extent that the person cannot rely on hearing for communication. (2) “Proceeding” means any judicial …

§ 332. Right to interpreter; Communication Access Realtime Translation (CART) services; assistive listening equipment (a) Any person who is Deaf, Hard of Hearing, or DeafBlind who is a party or witness in any proceeding shall be entitled to be provided with a qualified interprete…

§ 333. Appointment of interpreter (a) The presiding officer in a proceeding shall appoint an interpreter after making a preliminary determination that the interpreter is able to: (1) readily communicate with the person who is Deaf, Hard of Hearing, or DeafBlind; (2) accurately in…

§ 334. Waiver No privilege recognized by law may be deemed waived or made inapplicable by reason that a communication was made through an interpreter. (Added 1987, No. 172 (Adj. Sess.), § 1.)

§ 335. Compensation An interpreter appointed under section 332 of this title is entitled to receive a reasonable fee for services, together with reimbursement of actual and necessary expenses, including travel and lodging expenses. In civil proceedings, the Court may order that c…

§ 336. Rules; information; contract services (a) The State of Vermont shall maintain contracts to operate CART services and a statewide sign language interpreter referral service to provide services to a person who has a right to an interpreter or CART services under section 332 …

§ 337. Review (a) A decision, order, or judgment of a court or administrative agency may be reversed on appeal if the court or agency finds that a person who is Deaf, Hard of Hearing, or DeafBlind who was a party or a witness in the proceeding was deprived of an opportunity to co…

§ 338. Admissions; confessions (a) An admission or confession by a person who is Deaf, Hard of Hearing, or DeafBlind made to a law enforcement officer or any other person having a prosecutorial function may only be used against the person in a criminal proceeding if: (1) the admi…

§ 339. Communications made to interpreters; prohibition on disclosure (a) An interpreter, whether or not the interpreter is a qualified interpreter, shall not disclose or testify to: (1) a communication made by a person to an interpreter acting in the capacity of an interpreter f…

§ 371. Legal holidays (a) The following shall be legal holidays: (1) New Year’s Day, January 1; (2) Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Birthday, the third Monday in January; (3) Presidents’ Day, the third Monday in February; (4) Town Meeting Day, the first Tuesday in March; (5) Memorial D…

§ 372. Arbor Day The first Friday in the month of May of each year is hereby designated as “Arbor Day.”

§ 373. American History Month That February of each year is hereby designated as American History Month, and the Governor of the State of Vermont is requested and authorized to issue annually a proclamation inviting the people of the State of Vermont to observe such month in scho…

§ 374. POW-MIA Recognition Day The third Friday in the month of September is designated as “POW-MIA Recognition Day.” (Added 1997, No. 82 (Adj. Sess.), § 3, eff. Sept. 18, 1998.)

§ 376. Health Care Career Awareness Month October of each year is designated as Health Care Career Awareness Month. (Added 2009, No. 128 (Adj. Sess.), § 31a.)

§ 377. Green Up Day; River Cleanup Month (a) The first Saturday in the month of May is designated as Green Up Day. (b) September of each year is designated as River Cleanup Month. (Added 2013, No. 117 (Adj. Sess.), § 2; 2019, No. 50, § 3.)

§ 378. Vermont Month of the Veteran November of each year is designated as the Vermont Month of the Veteran. (Added 2025, No. 5, § 2, eff. July 1, 2025.)

§ 431. Standard time; daylight saving time (a) The standard time within the State of Vermont shall be based on the mean astronomical time of 75° of longitude west from Greenwich, known and designated as “U.S. Eastern Standard Time,” except as provided in 15 U.S.C. § 260a, when st…

§ 432. Use as to laws and contracts In all laws, statutes, orders, decrees, rules, and regulations relating to the time of performance of any act by any officer or department of this State, including the Legislative, Executive, and Judicial Branches of the State government, or of…

§ 491. Coat of Arms; Crest; Motto; and Badge The Coat of Arms, Crest, Motto, and Badge of the State shall be and are described as follows: (1) Coat of Arms. Green, a landscape occupying half of the shield; on the right and left, in the background, high mountains, blue; the sky, y…

§ 492. Design of Coat of Arms The Secretary of State shall keep in the archives of his or her office a representation of the Coat of Arms according to the foregoing description.

§ 493. State Seal The State Seal shall be the Great Seal of the State, a faithful reproduction, cut larger and deeper, of the original seal, designed by Ira Allen, cut by Reuben Dean of Windsor, and accepted by resolution of the General Assembly, dated February 20, 1779. The Seal…

§ 494. Use of State Seal The Vermont Development Board may, with the prior written consent of the Governor, reproduce the seal of the State of Vermont in any State-sponsored publication whether or not advertising is included in such publication. (Amended 1959, No. 329 (Adj. Sess.…

§ 495. State Flag The Flag of the State shall be blue with the Coat of Arms of the State thereon.

§ 496. State Flags, purchase, distribution The Secretary of State shall obtain, through the Department of Buildings and General Services, State Flags. The Secretary may, on terms that he or she finds appropriate, distribute these State Flags to other states; to State officials, d…