Vt. Pub. Access Ct. R. 1
These rules govern the release of case and administrative records held by the Vermont Judiciary, or any component, whether in electronic or physical form. These rules cover the complementary responsibilities to provide public access or special access to judicial-branch records and to protect the confidentiality of case information where such confidentiality is required by statute, rule, or court order. They must be liberally construed to implement these policies.
Vt. Pub. Access Ct. R. 1
Reporter's Notes
These rules amend and replace the Rules for Public Access to Court Records, adopted effective May 1, 2001, and replace the Rules Governing Dissemination of Electronic Case Records, effective June 1, 2002. The order adopting these amendments to the Rules for Public Access to Court Records abrogates the Rules Governing Dissemination of Electronic Case Records. Both underlying sets of rules were amended before their replacement. These rules cover records in both physical and electronic form and their adoption is timed to coincide with the implementation of a new case-management system that will support electronic filing and electronic case files in all dockets and all courts.
In many parts, these rules retain the content of the former rules. In other parts, they amend the prior version or adopt entirely new content because of the shift to electronic case records. The Reporter's Notes explain the relevant antecedent rules, if any, and in some instances repeat the original notes so that the full intent can be derived without going back to the former rules and their Reporter's Notes.