The Vermont Statutes Online
The Statutes below include the actions of the 2024 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.
Title 24 : Municipal and County Government
Chapter 060 : Municipal Code of Ethics [Effective January 1, 2025]
(Cite as: 24 V.S.A. § 1995)-
§ 1995. Ethics training [Effective January 1, 2025]
(a) Initial ethics training. Within 120 days after the election or appointment of a member of a legislative body or a quasi-judicial body, or a chief administrative officer, mayor, town or city manager, that individual shall complete ethics training, as approved by the State Ethics Commission. A municipality shall make a reasonable effort to provide training to all other municipal officers. The officer, the officer’s employer, or another individual designated by the municipality shall document the officer’s completed ethics training.
(b) Continuing ethics training. Upon completing initial ethics training, a municipal officer shall complete additional ethics training, as determined by the State Ethics Commission, every three years.
(c) Approval of training. Ethics trainings shall at minimum reflect the contents of the Municipal Ethics Code and be approved by the State Ethics Commission. Approval of ethics trainings shall not be unreasonably withheld. Ethics trainings shall be conducted by the State Ethics Commission, the municipality, or a third party approved in advance by the State Ethics Commission. The State Ethics Commission may approve trainings that are in person, online, and synchronous or asynchronous. The State Ethics Commission shall require ethics training to be designed in a manner as to achieve improved competency in the subject matter rather than rely on fixed hours of training as a measure of completed training.
(d) Training provided by the Commission.
(1) The State Ethics Commission shall develop and make available to municipalities ethics training required of municipal officers by subsections (a) and (b) of this section.
(2) The Commission shall develop and make available to municipalities trainings regarding how to investigate and resolve complaints that allege violations of the Municipal Code of Ethics.
(e) State Ethics Commission liaisons. Each municipality, acting through its legislative body, shall designate an employee as its liaison to the State Ethics Commission. If a municipality does not have any employees, the legislative body shall designate one of its members as its liaison to the State Ethics Commission. The municipality shall notify the Commission in writing of any newly designated liaison within 30 days after such change. The Commission shall disseminate information to the designated liaisons and conduct educational seminars for designated liaisons on a regular basis on a schedule to be determined by the Commission, in consultation with the municipality. The Commission shall report any ethics training conducted by the Commission and completed by an officer to the liaison of that officer’s municipality. (Added 2023, No. 171 (Adj. Sess.), § 22, eff. January 1, 2025.)
