Vermont Open Meeting Law
Open Meeting Law
The State of Vermont Open Meeting Law (1 V.S.A. ยงยง 310–314) requires that meetings of public bodies be open to the public.
A “meeting” occurs when a quorum of a public body gathers to discuss or take action on town business. This includes the Selectboard, committees, and subcommittees.
Public bodies must:
Provide advance notice of meetings
Post an agenda
Keep minutes of all meetings
Meetings are open to the public except in limited circumstances allowed by law (executive session).
For more information, please refer to the Vermont Open Meeting Law & Training Video.
Open Meeting Law Complaint Process
State law requires municipalities to
explain the process for submitting notice of an Open Meeting Law violation
to the local public body that allegedly committed the violation or to
the Vermont Attorney General.
Open Meeting Law complaints directed to the Town of Ferrisburgh must be filed
with the Town Clerk’s office by e-mail at townclerk@ferrisburghvt.org or to the Town Offices at 3279 Route 7, Ferrisburgh,
VT 05456. The written notice of complaint must allege a specific violation
of the Open Meeting Law, identify the public body that committed the
alleged violation, and request a specific cure of such violation. Upon
receipt of the written notice of alleged violation, the public body
will respond publicly to the alleged violation within 10 calendar days by:
- acknowledging the violation of this subchapter and stating an intent to cure the violation within 14 calendar days; or
- stating that the public body has determined that no violation has occurred and that no cure is necessary.
Failure of a public body to respond to a written notice of alleged violation within 10 calendar days will be treated as a denial of the violation for purposes of enforcement of the Open Meeting Law.
Act 133 (S.55) of 2024 requires all municipalities to post a copy of Title 1, Section 314 to their website, if they maintain one.