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. § 320)
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§ 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 circumstances surrounding the withholding raise questions whether the agency
personnel acted arbitrarily or capriciously with respect to the withholding, the Department
of Human Resources if applicable to that employee, shall promptly initiate a proceeding
to determine whether disciplinary action is warranted against the officer or employee
who was primarily responsible for the withholding. The Department, after investigation
and consideration of the evidence submitted, shall submit its findings and recommendations
to the administrative authority of the agency concerned and shall send copies of the
findings and recommendations to the officer or employee or his or her representative.
The administrative authority shall take the corrective action that the Department
recommends.
(b) In the event of noncompliance with the order of the court, the Civil Division of the
Superior Court may punish for contempt the responsible employee or official, and in
the case of a uniformed service, the responsible member.
(c) A person who willfully destroys, gives away, sells, discards, or damages a public
record without having authority to do so shall be fined at least $50.00 but not more
than $1,000.00 for each offense. (Added 1975, No. 231 (Adj. Sess.), § 1; amended 2003, No. 156 (Adj. Sess.), § 15; 2007, No. 96 (Adj. Sess.), § 2; 2011, No. 59, § 6.)