Senate committee reviews S.59 amendment to clarify disorderly-conduct rule for public meetings

Senator Bridal Palibor, speaking at a Senate Judiciary Committee meeting, said S.59 incorporates language from a Vermont Supreme Court decision into the state disorderly-conduct statute to clarify when disruptive behavior at public meetings may be charged.

"This is a bill that originated in the senate and has to do with the open meeting law," Senator Bridal Palibor said, adding that the House returned the bill with amendments and that "the one that much concerns this committee here has to do with the disorderly conduct provision." The bill text places the policy change in Title 13, Section 1026 and adds a definition that a person is guilty of disorderly conduct when, with intent or recklessly creating a risk of public inconvenience or annoyance, the person "disturbs any lawful assembly or meeting of persons" by conduct that "substantially impairs the effective conduct of an…