Legislative counsel outlines limits and gaps in Vermont Public Records Act

Tucker Anderson, legislative counsel for the Vermont General Assembly, told the House Government Operations & Military Affairs Committee on Jan. 14 that Vermont’s Public Records Act (Title 1, chapter 5, subchapter 3) secures public access while requiring agencies to balance that access with individual privacy and other statutory exemptions.

Anderson opened with the statute’s policy language and said the PRA “provides for free and open examination of records” but also contains a privacy proviso requiring agencies to weigh privacy interests against the public’s interest. He walked members through §3‑16, which authorizes inspection during specified hours and permits agencies to charge actual copying costs. Anderson quoted the statute’s inspection hours and explained the separate treatment of inspection versus copying: “a person may inspect or copy any public record, between the hours of 09:00 and 12:00 on the forenoon and between 01:00 and 04:00 in the afternoon,” he said, adding that the statute’s language has…