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VLCT warns municipalities are strained by rising public-records work, AI scraping and limited resources
Summary
Samantha Sheehan of the Vermont League of Cities and Towns told the House Energy and Digital Infrastructure committee on May 1 that Vermont municipalities face growing burdens fulfilling public-records requests, including harassment-style requests and AI-driven mass requests, and that many towns lack staff, training and funding to respond.
Samantha Sheehan, municipal policy and advocacy specialist for the Vermont League of Cities and Towns, told the House Energy and Digital Infrastructure committee on May 1 that Vermont municipalities face growing burdens responding to public-records requests and need more resources and training to manage data securely.
Sheehan, who said “we represent all 247 municipalities across the state, including the cities and towns that you live in and represent,” outlined how state public-records law requires municipalities to find, review and, where appropriate, redact records held in their custody and make them available for inspection or copying.
Sheehan told lawmakers that municipalities must apply exemptions such as the deliberative-process exemption and protections for student records, Social Security numbers and other personal data. She said some exemptions help prevent the release…
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