The Vermont Statutes Online

Title 12: Court Procedure

Chapter 063: Records and Other Documents

• § 1691. Production of books and papers; subpoena duces tecum

  (a) In the trial of actions at law, and on motion and due notice, Supreme and Superior Courts may require the parties to produce any books or writings in their possession or power which contain evidence pertinent to the issue or relative to the action, and if the party fails to comply with the order, the court may render judgment against such party by nonsuit or default.

  (b) When an action is pending in court against a person as cashier, director, or other officer of a bank, for a violation of the provisions of the general banking laws of this State or on a bond for the performance of his or her duties as cashier, director, or other officer of a bank, such court may compel the production of the books, papers, and records of the bank, upon trial, by service of a subpoena duces tecum on the officers of the bank having the same in charge. (Amended 1965, No. 194, § 10, eff. July 1, 1965, operative Feb. 1, 1967; 1971, No. 185 (Adj. Sess.), § 236, eff. March 29, 1972; 1973, No. 193 (Adj. Sess.), § 3; 2009, No. 154 (Adj. Sess.), § 71.)

• § 1691a. Procedure for production of employee personnel records

  (a) Policy. It is the policy of this State that an employee’s personnel records should not be discovered by a party in a civil action without first giving the employee notice and an opportunity to object to the discovery of the records.

  (b) Definitions. As used in this section:

  (1) “Civil action” means any action commenced pursuant to Rule 3 of the Vermont Rules of Civil Procedure except an action in which employment discrimination is alleged.

  (2) “Employee” means an individual who is or was an employee of the employer within the meaning of Chapter 24 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.

  (3) “Employer” has the meaning given such term in Section 3401(d) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and includes the State or any political subdivision or instrumentality of the State.

  (4) “Personnel record” means any written or electronic record relating to an employee, including:

  (A) information regarding the employee’s job description, compensation, and employment benefits;

  (B) hiring, evaluation, work habits, promotion, and discipline records;

  (C) employment records maintained in accordance with State and federal law;

  (D) physical, medical, and psychological condition; and

  (E) personal finances.

  (c) Notice to employee. A party in any civil action seeking the production of the personnel records of an employee in such action, shall notify the employee whose records are being sought. Upon request, pursuant to Rule 26 of the Vermont Rules of Civil Procedure, the employer shall furnish to the requesting party the name and last known address of the employee whose records are specifically being sought for production for the purpose of giving such notice.

  (d) Service of notice. The notice to the employee shall be served on the employee by first class mail at the employee’s last known address at the time such disclosure is sought. Service shall be complete upon mailing of the notice.

  (e) Contents of notice. The notice shall include a copy of the request and shall inform the employee:

  (1) that a request for production of the employee’s personnel records has been made;

  (2) the name, address, and telephone number of the party or attorney making the request;

  (3) the name and address of the court in which the action is pending;

  (4) the name of the employer to whom the request has been made; and

  (5) an explanation of the employee’s rights under subsection (f) of this section.

  (f) Employee right to respond and object. Prior to the disclosure of the records to the requesting party, the employee whose records are being sought shall have 20 days after service of the notice to respond to the request. The response shall be filed with the court and may include an objection to the production of the records on the grounds that production of the records will cause the employee annoyance, embarrassment, oppression, undue burden or expense, or other grounds provided by law. A copy of the response shall be served on the requesting party.

  (g) Employee right to be heard. Before ruling on a request for a personnel record, upon request the court shall give the employee whose record is being sought an opportunity to be heard.

  (h) Protective order. If the court grants the party’s request for production of the records of the employee, the court may limit discovery as provided for in Rule 26(c) of the Vermont Rules of Civil Procedure (protective order).

  (i) No employee response or objection. The duty to produce personnel records shall be determined as provided by law without requiring the participation of the employee if:

  (1) the employee does not respond to the notice by the requesting party within 20 days; or

  (2) the employee notifies the requesting party in writing that he or she does not object to the production of the records.

  (j) Employer’s independent basis to resist production; employee’s right to review and copy records. The provisions of this section shall not preclude an employer from asserting any independent basis to resist the production of personnel records as provided by law and shall not limit the right of the employee to review and copy his or her personnel records pursuant to law. (Added 1997, No. 105 (Adj. Sess.), § 1.)

• § 1692. Certified copies of public records admissible

  Unless otherwise provided, a certified or photographic copy of a record or document required by statute to be kept by a public official shall be competent evidence in a court in this State. Such official shall be a certifying officer for such purpose.

• § 1693. Weather record

  A copy of the record of weather observations, taken under the direction of any department of the U.S. government, may be received in evidence in a civil cause in any court, if certified under oath by the officer in charge thereof at the place where the same was taken and kept. Such certified copy shall be prima facie evidence of the facts stated therein.

• § 1694. Municipal ordinances; references in prosecutions

  In a prosecution for violation of an ordinance or bylaw of a municipal corporation, a copy thereof certified by its clerk to be a lawfully enacted and existing ordinance or bylaw of such municipal corporation shall be prima facie evidence thereof. The allegation that the acts constituting the offense charged are contrary to the form of such ordinance or bylaw, in such case made and provided, shall be a sufficient reference thereto. (Amended 1971, No. 228 (Adj. Sess.), § 28, eff. July 1, 1972.)

• § 1695. Records of births, civil marriages, and deaths

  (a) A record of births, civil marriages, or deaths required by law to be kept or any certified copy thereof, shall not be competent evidence in any trial to prove a fact stated therein, except the fact of birth, civil marriage, or death.

  (b) “Fact of birth” shall include only the name of the child born, the sex thereof, the place and date of the birth, the name of the father, and the maiden name of the mother, except that in bastardy proceedings a birth certificate shall not be evidence to prove the identity of the father.

  (c) “Fact of civil marriage” shall include only the name of the parties to the civil marriage, the place and date of the civil marriage ceremony, and the name of the clergy or magistrate officiating at such ceremony.

  (d) “Fact of death” shall include only the names of the deceased person, his or her sex, and the date and place of his or her death.

• § 1696. Foreign records—births, marriages, and deaths

  A copy of the record of a birth, death, or marriage in another state or foreign country, certified under oath to be a true copy thereof, by a person who certifies under oath that he or she is the legal custodian of such record and that the laws of such state or foreign country require such birth, death, or marriage to be recorded, shall be received in the courts of this State as prima facie evidence of such birth, death, or marriage.

• § 1697. Deeds, mortgages, and other public records

  A copy of the record of a deed, mortgage, or public record of another state or foreign country shall be received by the courts of this State as prima facie evidence of such document, if such copy is certified under oath to be a true copy thereof by a person who certifies under oath that he or she is the legal custodian thereof, and that the laws of such state or foreign country require such document to be recorded.

• § 1698. Judgments

  A copy of the record of a judgment of a court of another state or foreign country shall be received by the courts of this State as prima facie evidence of such judgment, if such copy is certified under oath by the clerk of the court rendering such judgment to be a true copy thereof, that he or she is the legal custodian thereof, that the laws of such state or foreign country require such judgment to be recorded, and with a certificate under the seal of such court that he or she is such clerk or if without a seal, to be so certified.

• § 1699. Foreign laws and decisions; determination by court

  The statutes, laws, and decisions of another state may be evidenced, prima facie, in the courts of this State by a printed copy of the laws, which purports to be published by the authority of the other state. The determination of the laws shall be made by the court and not by the jury and shall be reviewable. (Amended 2021, No. 53, § 3.)

• § 1700. Uniform Business Records as Evidence Act

  (a) The term “business,” as used in subsection (b) of this section, shall include every kind of business, profession, occupation, calling, or operation of institutions, whether carried on for profit or not.

  (b) A record of an act, condition, or event shall, in so far as relevant, be competent evidence if the custodian or other qualified witness testifies to its identity and the mode of its preparation, and if it was made in the regular course of business, at or near the time of the act, condition, or event, and if, in the opinion of the court, the sources of information, method, and time of preparation were such as to justify its admission.

  (c) This section shall be so interpreted and construed as to effectuate the general purpose to make uniform the law of those states which enact it.

• § 1701. Uniform Photographic Copies of Business and Public Records as Evidence Act

  (a) If any business, institution, member of a profession or calling, or any department or agency of government, in the regular course of business or activity has kept or recorded any memorandum, writing, entry, print, representation, or combination thereof, of any act, transaction, occurrence, or event, and in the regular course of business has caused any or all of the same to be recorded, copied, or reproduced by any photographic, photostatic, microfilm, micro-card, miniature photographic, or other process which accurately reproduces or forms a durable medium for so reproducing the original, the original may be destroyed in the regular course of business unless held in a custodial or fiduciary capacity or unless its preservation is required by law. Such reproduction, when satisfactorily identified, is as admissible in evidence as the original itself in any judicial or administrative proceeding whether the original is in existence or not and an enlargement or facsimile of such reproduction is likewise admissible in evidence if the original reproduction is in existence and available for inspection under direction of court. The introduction of a reproduced record, enlargement, or facsimile does not preclude admission of the original.

  (b) This section shall be so interpreted and construed as to effectuate its general purpose of making uniform the law of those states which enact it.

• § 1702. Missing persons—finding of presumed death under Federal Missing Persons Act

  A written finding of presumed death, made by the officer or employee of the United States authorized to make such finding, pursuant to the Federal Missing Persons Act, as now or hereafter amended, or a duly certified copy of such finding, shall be received in any court, office, or other place in this State as evidence of the death of the person therein found to be dead, and of the date, circumstances, and place of his or her disappearance.

• § 1703. Report as to status

  An official written report or a record or duly certified copy thereof, made by such officer or employee, that a person is missing, missing in action, interned in a neutral country, beleaguered, besieged, or captured by an enemy, or is dead or is alive, shall be received in any court, office, or other place in this State as evidence that such person’s status is as stated therein at the time of such report.

• § 1704. Finding or report as prima facie evidence

  For the purposes of sections 1702-1704 of this title any finding, report, or record, or duly certified copy thereof, purporting to have been signed by such an officer or employee of the United States as is described in section 1702 of this title, shall prima facie be deemed to have been signed and issued by such an officer or employee pursuant to law, and the person signing same shall prima facie be deemed to have acted within the scope of his or her authority. If a copy purports to have been certified by a person authorized by law to certify the same, such certified copy shall be prima facie evidence of his or her authority so to certify.

• § 1705. HIV-related testing information

  (a) No court of this State shall issue an order requiring the disclosure of individually-identifiable HIV-related testing or counseling information unless the court finds that the person seeking the information has demonstrated a compelling need for it that cannot be accommodated by other means. In assessing compelling need, the court shall weigh the need for disclosure against the privacy interest of the test subject and the public interest which may be disserved by disclosure which deters future testing or which may lead to discrimination.

  (b) Pleadings pertaining to disclosure of HIV-related testing and counseling information shall substitute a pseudonym for the true name of the subject of the test. The subject’s true name shall be communicated confidentially to the court and those parties who have a compelling need to know the subject’s true name. All documents filed with the court which identify the subject’s true name shall not be disclosed to any person other than those parties who have a compelling need to know the subject’s true name and the subject of the test. All such documents shall be sealed upon the conclusion of proceedings under this section.

  (c) Before granting any such order, the court shall provide the individual whose test information is in question with notice and a reasonable opportunity to participate in the proceedings if he or she is not already a party.

  (d) Court proceedings as to disclosure of counseling and testing information shall be conducted in camera unless the subject of the test agrees to a hearing in open court or unless the court determines that a public hearing is necessary to the public interest and the proper administration of justice.

  (e) Upon issuance of an order to disclose test results, the court shall impose appropriate safeguards against unauthorized disclosure, which shall specify the persons who may have access to the information, the purposes for which the information shall be used, and appropriate prohibitions on future disclosure. (Added 1987, No. 194 (Adj. Sess.), § 3.)