Act 133 (S.55) is a permanent amendment to Vermont’s Open Meeting Law that:
- permits “advisory bodies” – those that do not have supervision, control, or jurisdiction over legislative, quasi-judicial, tax, or budgetary matters – to meet electronically without a physical meeting location (i.e., remotely);
- requires all other public bodies (i.e., “nonadvisory bodies”) to record, in audio or video form, their meetings and post the recordings in a designated electronic location for a minimum of 30 days following the approval and posting of the official minutes of the meeting which was recorded;
- allows all public bodies to meet remotely in response to a state of emergency or “local incident”;
- requires all public bodies to provide local residents, members of the press, or members of the body itself electronic/telephonic or in-person meeting access options to a regularly scheduled meeting, if requested (unless it causes an undue hardship);
- requires a municipality to post on its website (if it maintains one):
- an explanation of the procedures for submitting notice of an Open Meeting Law violation to the public body or the Attorney General; and
- a copy of the text of 1 V.S.A. § 314; and
- imposes annual training requirements on selectboard chairs, town managers, and mayors.
None of these changes take effect until July 1, 2024. Until that time, all public bodies can continue holding remote meetings (see our COVD-19 Open Meeting Law FAQs), and after that time all public bodies will continue to be able to hold hybrid meetings.
The training requirements take effect on January 1, 2025.
VLCT’s staff attorneys are coordinating with the Secretary of State and the Vermont School Boards Association as part of developing new Act 133 (S.55) Open Meeting Law FAQs. Until these resources are posted, please direct any questions you may have to vlct.org/askvlct, info@vlct.org, or 1-800-649-7915.