Vermont: Introduction to State Courts
Summary
TLDRStaff attorneys with the ACLU of Vermont provide an overview of the state court system. They explain the two-tiered structure of courts, outline which courts handle different case types, and discuss constitutional rights around public access to proceedings and records. They note presumptive openness, with some statutory exceptions like juvenile and mental health cases. They review procedural rules on media recording in courtrooms and detail how to physically or electronically access various civil and criminal case records.
Takeaways
- π The New England First Amendment Coalition (NEFAC) offers comprehensive lessons on state Freedom of Information laws to educate on accessing government information.
- ποΈ NEFAC's curriculum, unique in its coverage, is available at nefac.org and on their YouTube channel, focusing on state public record, open meeting laws, and the federal Freedom of Information Act.
- π This webinar, led by Emily Sweeney from the Boston Globe and the NEFAC, focuses on the Vermont state courts, featuring Hillary Rich and Harrison Stock from the Vermont ACLU.
- π Vermont's state court system is uniquely structured with only two levels: the trial courts (Superior Courts) and the Supreme Court, facilitating an automatic right of appeal.
- π° Each of Vermont's 14 counties has its own Superior Court with various divisions handling specific types of cases, from civil matters to criminal, environmental, and family issues.
- π The Vermont Supreme Court, consisting of five justices, oversees appeals, manages the court system, and regulates attorney and judge conduct.
- π Public and press have a qualified right of access to court proceedings, grounded in the First Amendment, ensuring transparency and fairness in the judicial process.
- π« Certain exceptions limit access to court proceedings and records, including grand jury proceedings, juvenile court proceedings, and cases involving youthful offender status.
- π· Rule 79.2 specifies the rights of media, participants, and the public regarding the use of recording devices in courtrooms, reflecting the balance between access and privacy.
- π Accessing Vermont court records involves understanding the Vermont rules for public access, differentiating between physical and electronic access, and navigating exceptions and appeals processes.
Q & A
What are the two levels of courts in the Vermont state court system?
-The two levels are the Vermont Trial Courts, also called the Vermont Superior Courts, and the Vermont Supreme Court.
How do justices get appointed to the Vermont Supreme Court?
-Justices are appointed by the governor and then confirmed by the Vermont Senate for a six-year term.
What gives the public and press a qualified right of access to court proceedings?
-The qualified right of access is primarily grounded in the First Amendment, as ruled by the U.S. Supreme Court.
What needs to happen for a court to be closed to the public in Vermont?
-To close a proceeding, a party must demonstrate closure is essential to preserve higher values or compelling interests, and that closure is narrowly tailored to serve that interest. The court must also exhaust all reasonable alternatives before closing.
What governs access to court records in Vermont?
-Access is governed by the Vermont Rules for Public Access to Court Records, created by the Vermont Supreme Court, rather than the state's Public Records Act.
Where are original court records located?
-Original records are located with the clerk of the court in the courthouse where the case was filed.
How can criminal court dockets be accessed electronically?
-Criminal court dockets can only be accessed electronically via public access terminals located inside courthouses, not remotely.
What happens if a record custodian denies access to a record?
-If access is denied, an appeal can be filed with the presiding judge of the court within 7 days.
Are there any fees for accessing or copying records?
-Inspection is free but there may be fees for copies or staff time, similar to the Public Records Act.
What types of cases have restrictions on public access?
-Access is restricted for juvenile cases, grand jury proceedings, mental health/competency cases, and attorney discipline.
Outlines
π Introduction to New England State Courts Webinar
Justin Silverman introduces the New England First Amendment Coalition's (NEFAC) webinar series, focusing on state Freedom of Information laws. He highlights the importance of accessing government information through their lessons, which cover state public record, open meeting laws, and the federal Freedom of Information Act. The webinar aims to provide a unique curriculum on these topics, available at NEFAC's website and YouTube channel. Special thanks are given to the Society of Professional Journalists Foundation, SBJ New England, the Rhode Island Foundation, and the New England Society of News Editors for their support. Emily Sweeney from the Boston Globe and NEFAC introduces the session's focus on Vermont state courts, featuring ACLU staff attorneys Hillary Rich and Harrison Stock to discuss accessing Vermont court and court records.
ποΈ Overview of Vermont State Court System
This segment provides a comprehensive look into the Vermont state court system, highlighting its unique two-level structure compared to the federal court system. The first level consists of the Vermont Superior Courts (trial courts) across Vermont's 14 counties, divided into different divisions handling various cases. The Vermont Supreme Court stands as the second level, where parties have an automatic right of appeal from the Superior Courts. The segment further details the types of cases each division handles, including civil matters, family court issues, criminal cases, probate court matters, and environmental law. It emphasizes the role of the Vermont Supreme Court in handling appeals, managing the court system, and overseeing attorney admissions and discipline. The accessibility of court proceedings and records to the public and press, grounded in the First Amendment, is underscored, with Vermont courts being presumptively open to the public.
π Exceptions to Public Access in Court Proceedings
This paragraph delves into the exceptions to the general rule of public access to court proceedings in Vermont. It outlines specific cases where proceedings are closed to the public, such as grand jury proceedings and juvenile court cases. The segment also covers the youthful offender status, which allows for confidentiality in certain cases involving individuals 21 or younger. The rigorous criteria required for closing a court proceeding to the public are discussed, emphasizing the need for demonstrating a compelling interest and exploring all alternatives before closure. The stringent standards for issuing gag orders and prior restraints on speech are highlighted, showcasing their rarity and the high bar set for their implementation.
π₯ Reporting Rights and Access to Courtrooms
This section outlines the rights related to recording and reporting in Vermont courtrooms under Rule 79.2, distinguishing between media, participants, and non-participants. It elaborates on the permissions and limitations placed on these groups regarding the use of recording devices in courtrooms. The rule aims to balance the need for public access and transparency with the integrity of court proceedings and the privacy of involved parties. Additionally, the societal benefits of public trials, such as enhancing the quality of testimony and encouraging judicial accountability, are underscored, emphasizing the importance of the presumption of access to court proceedings for the media, public, and overall democratic society.
π Accessing Court Records in Vermont
Harry Stock provides an overview of accessing court records in Vermont, emphasizing the constitutional and common law rights to these records. Unlike the public records act, access to court records is governed by the Vermont Rules for Public Access to Court Records, established by the Vermont Supreme Court. The segment explains the presumption that court records are open to the public, detailing exceptions and the duty to redact sensitive information. It guides on obtaining physical and electronic records, including the process for appealing denied access requests. The importance of public access to court records for transparency and accountability in the judiciary is highlighted.
π Electronic and Physical Access to Vermont Court Records
This segment further explores the specifics of accessing electronic and physical court records in Vermont. It differentiates between civil and criminal dockets in terms of remote access and highlights the role of public access terminals in courthouses for accessing criminal records electronically. The segment details the process for inspecting and obtaining copies of court records, including potential fees and the appeals process for denied access. The segment concludes with acknowledgments and thanks to the presenters and organizers, reinforcing the webinar's aim to educate the public on accessing Vermont court and court records.
Mindmap
Keywords
π‘New England First Amendment Coalition (NEFAC)
π‘Freedom of Information laws
π‘Vermont Superior Courts
π‘Vermont Supreme Court
π‘Public access to court proceedings
π‘Access to court records
π‘Presumptive right of access
π‘Juvenile proceedings
π‘Rule 79.2
π‘Public records act
Highlights
There are only two levels of courts in Vermont: the trial courts (Vermont Superior Courts) and the Vermont Supreme Court.
Vermont Superior Courts are divided into different divisions that handle different types of cases like civil, criminal, family, probate, etc.
Parties have an automatic right to appeal from the Superior Courts to the Vermont Supreme Court.
The public and press have a qualified First Amendment right to attend criminal court proceedings in Vermont.
There is no comprehensive statute in Vermont governing public access to court proceedings, but it is generally presumptively open.
Grand jury proceedings are an exception that are closed to the public by statute in Vermont.
It is very difficult to get a court in Vermont to close a proceeding - the bar for demonstrating need for closure is extremely high.
Media can get a registration certificate to record and transmit from Vermont courtrooms under the rules.
Citizens have a constitutional right to access Vermont court records, governed by the Vermont Rules for Public Access to Court Records.
If a court record is from a proceeding the public can access, the public presumptively can access that record.
To access a physical court record, go to the clerk's office of the court where it was filed.
Civil court dockets can be accessed online remotely but criminal ones can only be accessed electronically at courthouse terminals.
If denied access to a court record, you can appeal to the presiding judge and then the Vermont Supreme Court.
The custodian of the court records is almost always the clerk of the court where it was filed.
For older court records, the Vermont State Archives may have them and can assist with locating records.
Transcripts
I'm Justin Silverman of the New England
First Amendment Coalition thank you for
joining us for this introductory lesson
on New England state courts this lesson
is the latest of many provided by neefac
that explore State Freedom of
Information laws we want you to know how
to access government information in
these lessons are the best place to
start if you haven't already please
check out our classes on state public
record and open meeting laws as well as
the federal Freedom of Information Act
each class builds off one another and
they all collectively provide a
curriculum you won't find anywhere else
all lessons all right kneefact.org foi
guide they're also on our YouTube
channel five freedoms
before we begin today's lesson a special
thanks to everyone who is helping us
make these classes happen the society
professional journalist Foundation SBJ
New England the Rhode Island foundation
and the New England society of news
editors we appreciate everyone's support
now to introduce you to today's
instructor
Emily Sweeney hey everybody I'm Emily
Sweeney from the Boston Globe and the
New England First Amendment Coalition
and I want to thank you all for joining
us for this webinar now this session is
going to focus on state courts in
Vermont and with us is Hillary rich and
Harrison stock and their staff Attorneys
at the Vermont ACLU affiliate and
they're going to give us a general
overview of how the courts work in the
Green Mountain State
thank you guys Hillary Harry for uh
joining us today
yeah thanks so much for having us uh so
it's like that I'm Hilary Rich staff
attorney with the ACLU of Vermont here
with my colleague Harry Stark to discuss
with you all today accessing Vermont
court and court records
so since this is the first in a series
of presentation that will become more in
depth as they progress Harry and I are
going to be giving you a general
overview today of a few points we're
going to be discussing how the Vermont
state court system works including Corp
structure what court handles what
matters I'm also going to be discussing
the rules that are in place for
accessing carings so the Constitutional
basis and the judicial policies and then
Harry's going to be covering how to
access court records and the rules
associated with that and we'll also have
time at the end to answer any questions
that you might have
so first I wanted to give you a broad
overview of what the Vermont state court
system looks like so unlike the federal
court system that has three levels the
Vermont state courts are a little unique
because there's only those two levels uh
so at the first level is the Vermont
trial courts uh also called Vermont
Superior Courts
um and you can see then right above that
is the Vermont Supreme Court
so Vermont again because there's only
these two levels parties actually have
an automatic right of appeal from the
Superior Court to the Vermont Supreme
Court and you can see on the slide that
there's sort of a range of different
positions that are appointed elected or
staffed by state employees and now we're
going to be discussing kind of those two
levels in more detail
uh so looking first at level one the
Vermont Superior Courts or Vermont trial
courts
the Vermont's 14 counties actually has
its own Superior Court that's divided
into different divisions and they handle
different kinds of cases so the chief
Superior judge assigned a presiding
judge to each of the units and judicial
assignments lasts for about a year and
so that means that throughout the course
of your case uh your judge could
actually change
so looking at the specific divisions
there is a Civil Division that handles
civil matters like land disputes
foreclosure medical malpractice breach
of contract addiction and there's also a
small claims court that handles uh
claims under five thousand dollars this
is where the ACLU does most of it's
litigating you know bringing civil
rights actions
there's also a family court and they
handle the stereotypical you know Family
Matters like divorce civil union
dissolution separation child support and
custody and parentage uh this is the
court that also determines how the state
will care for people who have mental
illnesses and developmental disabilities
there's a criminal court uh that does
the misdemeanors and felonies
um they also have special treatment
courts that deal with drug issues
specifically and this is the court that
also approves or declines like search
and arrest warrants
there's the probate court and
conceptually there seems like there's a
little bit of overlap with the family
court but they are separate divisions
Probate Court specifically handled
emancipation adoptions guardianships
death birth and marriage records and the
probate of the states trust and wills
the environmental Court obviously
handled environmental law and there's a
Judicial Bureau that covers cases
relating to civil violation so um things
like Traffic courts and Municipal
ordinances that happened at the judicial
Bureau
so not only does each Court have its own
uh type of case that it oversees but
they also each have their own rules and
their own filing fees the judicial
Bureau 65 Civil Division 295 so quite a
range uh when you're going to court
so let's say a party is dissatisfied
with their outcome at Superior Court
they then can appeal to the Vermont
Supreme Court uh there are five justices
on the Vermont Supreme Court uh one
chief justice and four Associates
um they become a Justice by being uh
appointed by the governor and then
confirmed by the Vermont senate for a
six-year term and actually each of these
justices was recently reappointed for
another six years
um the duties are listed on this live
they include handling appeals from the
lower courts also they deal with appeals
from State and Municipal agencies but
cases are heard either by three justices
or the full five and then they'll issue
written decisions
this court also creates rules for
procedure they manage the court system
and they oversee attorney admission and
the discipline of all judges and
attorneys licensed in Vermont
so now that we've covered you know what
court does what let's talk more
generally about uh how you have rights
around accessing these courts
so the public and the Press do have a
qualified right of access to court
proceeding and what that means is there
is a right to access but that right is
not Limitless
uh the right is primarily grounded in
the First Amendment and the U.S Supreme
Court has explicitly held at the press
and public have a First Amendment right
to attend criminal proceedings
um so the Sixth Amendment right you may
be aware gives people a right to a
public trial but that right attaches
just to the accused it doesn't really
vest any rights in the press or public
so when we're talking about the public
and press we're usually talking just
about the First Amendment
um so although the First Amendment
doesn't explicitly mention the rate of
access to the court the U.S Supreme
Court has held that the right to attend
criminal proceedings is really implicit
in free speech and it serves an
important function in a Democratic
Society uh to make sure that trials are
fair this is really a long-standing
right that goes back to Colonial days
but the Supreme Court uh only
acknowledged it first in the 1980s and
first they found a right to attend
criminal trials and later they expanded
that right to attend jury selection and
preliminary proceedings
now the Supreme Court has never actually
recognized a right of access to civil
proceedings although several States and
lower federal courts
but in Vermont most criminal and civil
hearings are open to the public
so there's no comprehensive rule or
statute governing public access to court
proceedings in Vermont uh but the
Vermont Supreme Court has repeatedly
recognized the generally accepted
practice as well as the Public's
constitutional and common law right of
access to court records and to court
proceedings so therefore Vermont court
proceedings are presumptively open to
the public with closure being the
exception rather than the rule
and both of these quotes are from a case
called Date B Talman which was before
the Vermont Supreme Court in 1987. now
in that case a defendant had been
accused of murder and asked the court to
actually just feel the probable cause at
the David and close the courtroom during
a suppression hearing and the media
actually intervened in that case and
went before the Vermont Supreme Court
and the Supreme Court sided with the
media they said it was wrong for the
media to have then denied access without
the defendant having really presented
any evidence of why closure was
necessary
so generally we see that there is a
presumptive right of access to the
courts in Vermont and typically you
don't need to request access for
criminal civil or appellate proceedings
there's the caveat that for remote
hearings you might need to request the
link from the court administrator but
they should not make you jump through
any Hoops to attend in person or
remotely
but let's talk about exception so we can
see in some of these exceptions uh and
in court decision they recognize that
the First Amendment rights are really
important but there is some tension with
other rights at stake uh you know we
want to ensure that a defendant has an
unbiased jury we want to protect
Witnesses we want to make sure that
juvenile offenders are receiving
Rehabilitation at their privacy is
respected
so there are specific exceptions uh to
the rule of presumptive access
one of those exceptions is for Grand
Jury proceedings
although uh there is a presumptive right
to access jury selection uh grand jury
proceedings themselves are closed and
there's actually a statute that defines
who is even allowed to be in the room
during grand jury proceedings uh jurors
themselves have to take an oath to keep
their deliberations in Grand Jury
proceedings at secret
there is also a statute that closes the
court during a juvenile court
proceedings
um a Vermont statute actually prohibits
even publicizing a child's involvement
in Juvenile Justice proceedings without
their consent
and uh as of July 1st 2018 anyone who is
21 or younger who was charged with a
crime in Vermont can petition for
something called youthful offender
status at that point of the petition
records are transferred from Criminal
Court to Family Court uh and the case is
confidential until that family court
judge makes a ruling on whether youthful
offenders status applies uh at that
point if they say this case deserves
useful offender status it remains
confidential if not it goes back to
Criminal Court where it's fair game for
Public Access once again
um but there are situations in which a
party might want the court closed but a
statute doesn't apply
and it is very difficult in Vermont for
a party to get the court to close
um to resent the presumption of openness
a party-seek enclosure has to
demonstrate that closure is essential to
preserve higher values or a compelling
interest uh and that closure is narrowly
tailored to serve that interest
so before closing a proceeding a Child
Court must exhaust all reasonable
alternatives to closure and to make
specific findings detailing the need for
it
also looking at uh prior restraints or
so-called gag orders similarly very high
burden uh the U.S Supreme Court and
Vermont courts agree gag orders are
extremely disfavored uh the Supreme
Court of the U.S have actually said that
prior restraints on speech and
publication are the most serious and the
least tolerable infringement on First
Amendment rights and are presumed to be
unconstitutional
Vermont courts agree
um in a case where they actually
rescinded a prior restraint order they
held that these orders were
inappropriate except under the most
extreme and compelling circumstances and
that any order must be narrowly tailored
to cover only the improper disclosure
that would occur in the absence of an
order so a very high bar to clear
so now that you've made it into the
courtroom uh let's talk a little bit
about you know the reporting rights that
you have once you are there I actually
the courts in Vermont recently adopted
um some new rules related to this
specifically rule 79.2
um that covers uh possession and use of
recording devices in a courtroom and
they divide uh sort of attendees into
different categories there's different
rights that attach if you're member of
the media if you are a participant or
like a party or if you're just a
non-participant non-media who's there to
observe
and so these rules apply in both the
civil and criminal context on the slide
the language is taken from the Civil
rules specifically
uh and this states that for the media uh
media obtain a permanent or a one-time
registration certificate that allows
them to orally and Visually record and
transmit uh when they're in the
courtroom the rule also includes how you
get that certificate it's not supposed
to be difficult at all uh the rule also
has a section that discusses um if there
are multiple media present who want to
record there can be an area that's
specified for them and they sort of have
to Duke it out amongst themselves how
they want to pool coverage at that point
there are also rules for parties and for
non-participants generally a
non-participant member of the public
they can possess the device but their
use is much more limited but all those
are specified in that rule 79.2
um so overall in terms of access there's
this really strong and Court recognized
societal interest in public trials uh
the second circuit which is the federal
court that covers Vermont has explicitly
stated that openness and Court
proceedings May improve the quality of
testimony induce unknown witnesses to
come forward with relevant testimony
cause all child participants to perform
their duties more conscientiously and
generally give the public an opportunity
to observe the judicial system so this
presumption of access is recognized as
an incredibly important rights that
benefits not only the child itself but
also Society at large and now I'm going
to hand hand it over to Harry to be
covering uh court records specifically
thanks so much Hillary really appreciate
it and thanks Emily thanks Justin the
rest of defect for having us here today
um we're really thrilled to talk to you
all so Hillary has given you a
comprehensive overview of the types of
Courts and the way that the court system
works here in Vermont I'm going to talk
very generally about court records and
essentially how to think about access to
court records there are a number of
exceptions and details for specific
records much like the public records act
and so what we're hoping to cover today
is just a very high level overview of
sort of how you should go about thinking
about whether or not a particular type
of record is publicly accessible where
you might go who you might ask to get
that record
so in terms of just the background rule
much like the public access to court
proceedings themselves citizens have a
constitutional and common law right of
access to court records that derives
from the same case that Hillary just
talked about
interestingly
in the way that that right is
effectuated it's not actually
effectuated by Statute but by something
called the Vermont rules for public
access to court records and that's a
comprehensive set of rules of access to
court records that's created by the
Vermont Supreme Court
what's important to note here is that
this is not actually covered by
Vermont's public records act which is a
little bit confusing because for those
of you that are familiar with the text
of the act the ACT actually says it
applies to any branch of Vermont
government of course the Judiciary is a
branch but the Vermont Supreme Court has
made clear that the Vermont rules for
public access to court records is
actually the authority that that governs
access to court records and so for any
specific question or any particular type
of record that you're seeking the place
to look if you can is within the Vermont
rules for public access to Port records
themselves
in terms of background presumptions and
background rules the bottom line policy
in general is that court records should
be open to any member of the public for
inspection or to obtain copies what that
means is that any member of the public
can show up and request access to a
publicly accessible court record without
showing identification and without
showing a particular need for the record
as we'll talk about in a minute Public
Access is not necessarily synonymous
with the ability to obtain a record
anywhere remotely but it's a question of
who essentially has a right to seek the
underlying records themselves and the
answer is that absent a particular
provision or a particular rule
saying that those records are not
available any member of the public
shall be allowed to access a record for
an inspection or to obtain copies and if
you're wondering what types of records
are publicly accessible versus which
records representatively withheld the
good
news is that essentially that tracks the
rules that Hillary was just talking
about and so if you have access to a
proceeding you almost certainly have
access to a record of that proceeding
and so the rules are essentially the
same if you can be in a courtroom to
witness a particular event or a
particular proceeding you should be able
to obtain records from that proceeding
we can move to the next slide please
again there are exceptions to this
presumptive access some of this tracks
very closely the types of proceedings
which are not public so as Hillary
talked about these are juvenile
proceedings these are grand jury
proceedings in addition there's a couple
of very particular subject matter areas
which are essentially walled off from
public access this includes essentially
any proceeding about mental health or
competency as well as attorney
discipline
in addition there are particular types
of information that if they appear in a
record that is otherwise
public
there's a duty to redact that
information and so folks are probably
familiar with these categories of
information from Freedom of Information
Acts or public records act these are
things like personal identify
identifiers for juveniles
Social Security numbers passport numbers
and the like and so even if you have
access to a particular record
the court administrator has the right
and in fact the duty to redact that
information before providing that record
for inspection or for copying
next slide please
all right so now that we we've talked a
little bit about what kinds of records
are uh accessible how do you actually go
about getting them and if you want a
physical record and sort of where the
underlying original resides is with the
custodian and the quarter office where
the record was filed so this means that
going back to what Hillary was talking
about earlier for any particular case
the first thing to find out is what kind
of court was this filed in and where
geographically was it filed that's where
the original record is going to be and
if you want a physical copy that's the
place to go
the custodian is almost always the clerk
of the court which means that they're
open for for business hours
uh any time that the court is open and
you just go to the clerk's office as if
you were filing a complaint or you're
filing an action and you request public
access to a particular record
the one kind of a large exception which
I think is it's actually a bonus for
tracking down particular records is that
a number of older records usually reside
with the Vermont state archives almost
anything from pre-1945 is likely to be
there uh and without
involuntarily signing up a number of
State archivists for
um
to assist with any records requests my
personal experience is that in general
they've been extremely enthusiastic very
helpful and are just subject matter
experts in terms of where particular
records might reside so for anything
older or anything a little bit unusual
uh if you call up the Vermont state
archives and you speak to an archivist
they can probably tell you whether or
not that record exists in estate
archives or where you might go about
filing it
in terms of accessing physical records
you can do it anytime that the court is
open and that applies equally to civil
and criminal records so any record in
which you might be able to sit in a
proceeding and you have presumptive
right of access you can get that
physical record from the clerk of court
next slide please Laurie
thanks so much and so now I want to talk
a little bit about electronic records
and I think what's critical here is that
there's a difference in terms of the way
that the rules talk about electronic
records and remote access to particular
dockets so I think when most of us think
about
electronic access to court records we
think of something like the federal
Pacer the public access to court
electronic records which means that you
or I sitting at home in front of an
Internet uh connection
can essentially log on and view these
records uh as if we are there in person
and that's not actually the case in
Vermont uh in terms of civil dockets any
of those can be accessed remotely so you
can go to something called Odyssey which
is essentially Vermont's equivalent of
Pacer and you can look at any docket for
a civil case under Odyssey but for
criminal dockets you can't actually
access that information remotely instead
you can access it electronically which
means you can access it at a public
access terminal in a courthouse and the
difference between a public access
terminal and courthouse and actually
going to physically inspect the record
from the clerk's office is that any one
Public Access terminal in one courthouse
is connected to the electronic records
at others and so for example if I wanted
a particular criminal record in say
Windsor County I could go to a public
access terminal in Chittenden County and
get that information but unfortunately
none of that information is available
remotely in the same way that it is on
Pacer so in terms of just rules of thumb
civil dockets you can access them
remotely anywhere criminal dockets you
should probably plan on going to a
courthouse and finding a public access
terminal if you're not going to go to
the courthouse in which the case was
filed
next slide please
all right so what what happens once you
actually get there uh as I mentioned
anyone can expect the records free of
charge but if you want to take a copy
home and you need staff time to help
find a record
you may have to pay for that and those
fees and those fee Provisions are
borrowed from the public records Act
if you're seeking a record and either
the custodian won't won't give you the
record or a Dax part of the record that
you think has been unlawfully withheld
you have seven days to appeal at and
what you do is you essentially file a
piece of paper with the presiding judge
of the court in which the case was filed
so that means even if you're looking at
the record in a different County you
want to be filing that appeal in the
county in which the record the physical
record is held if you're dissatisfied
with the way that the presiding judge
handles that appeal you then have 30
days to file an action with the Vermont
Supreme Court
Harrison and Hillary I want to thank you
so much for giving us a great walk
through a general overview of the state
court system and uh yeah thanks to
everybody who tuned in live uh I
appreciate it
thanks so much happy to be here all
right thank you guys thanks again
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