The Vermont Statutes Online
The Statutes below include the actions of the 2025 session of the General Assembly.
NOTE: The Vermont Statutes Online is an unofficial copy of the Vermont Statutes Annotated that is provided as a convenience.
Subchapter
003
:
ACCESS TO PUBLIC RECORDS
(Cite as: 1 V.S.A. § 319)
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§ 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 public records
are situated, or in the Civil Division of the Superior Court of Washington County,
to enjoin the public agency from withholding agency records and to order the production
of any agency records improperly withheld from the complainant. In such a case, the
court shall determine the matter de novo, and may examine the contents of such agency
records in camera to determine whether such records or any part thereof shall be withheld
under any of the exemptions set forth in section 317 of this title, and the burden of proof shall be on the public agency to sustain its action.
(b) Except as to cases the court considers of greater importance, proceedings before the
Civil Division of the Superior Court, as authorized by this section, and appeals there
from, take precedence on the docket over all cases and shall be assigned for hearing
and trial or for argument at the earliest practicable date and expedited in every
way.
(c) If the public agency can show the court that exceptional circumstances exist and that
the agency is exercising due diligence in responding to the request, the court may
retain jurisdiction and allow the agency additional time to complete its review of
the records.
(d)(1) Except as provided in subdivision (2) of this subsection, the court shall assess against
the public agency reasonable attorney’s fees and other litigation costs reasonably
incurred in any case under this section in which the complainant has substantially
prevailed.
(2) The court may, in its discretion, assess against a public agency reasonable attorney’s
fees and other litigation costs reasonably incurred in a case under this section in
which the complainant has substantially prevailed provided that the public agency,
within the time allowed for service of an answer under V.R.C.P. 12(a)(1):
(A) concedes that a contested record or contested records are public; and
(B) provides the record or records to the complainant.
(3) The court may assess against the complainant reasonable attorney’s fees and other
litigation costs reasonably incurred in any case under this section when the court
finds that the complainant has violated V.R.C.P. 11. (Added 1975, No. 231 (Adj. Sess.), § 1; amended 2011, No. 59, § 5.)