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Vermont meeting agendas and notices: what to post, where, and when

Short answer

A Vermont board posts an agenda at least 48 hours before a regular meeting and 24 hours before a special one: on its official website, if one exists, and in or near the municipal office and at least two other designated public places. A special meeting is announced to a newspaper or radio station serving the area and to anyone who asked in writing, and members are notified. An emergency meeting needs some public notice as soon as possible beforehand.(1 V.S.A. § 312(d)(1); 1 V.S.A. § 312(c)(2); 1 V.S.A. § 312(c)(3))

This guide explains the law in plain words; it is not legal advice. For a question about your board, ask your municipal attorney.
By Clarivis · Checked against 1 V.S.A. §§ 310, 312, 312a and 313, and 24 V.S.A. § 4461(a) on Sat, Oct 24, 2026.

Where this fits in your meeting cycle: Clarivis is software that helps a board follow these steps: it counts each agenda's posting deadline and the minutes deadline, records the posting with its link on the municipal website (as Clarivis reads the law, the board's website when it has none of its own), flags an executive session item until a Statutory basis is selected, and drafts the minutes for your board to correct and approve; it does not post the agenda or tell a newspaper or radio station for you, and it does not check the duties to post a recording of the meeting, the remote-attendance rules or the yearly training.

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Questions on this page

Where does the agenda go, and how far ahead?

To the board's official website, if one exists, and to at least three posting places, before every regular and special meeting:

Statute text

“At least 48 hours prior to a regular meeting, and at least 24 hours prior to a special meeting, a meeting agenda shall be: (A) posted to a website, if one exists, that the public body maintains or designates as the official website of the body; and (B) in the case of a municipal public body, posted in or near the municipal office and in at least two other designated public places in the municipality or a neighboring municipality.”

1 V.S.A. § 312(d)(1)

As Clarivis reads the law, the municipal website counts as the board's website.

The time and place of regular meetings are clearly designated by statute, charter, regulation, ordinance, bylaw, resolution or other determining authority of the board, and are available to anyone who asks (§ 312(c)(1)). During a declared state of emergency, or a local incident after the board's highest-ranking officer makes a written finding, an affected board may post the agenda in two publicly accessible designated electronic locations, or in one such location and one designated public place, instead of the two other public places; it still posts at the municipal clerk's office and gives a copy to the newspapers of general circulation for the municipality (§ 312a).

How are the hours counted?

As clock hours, counted back from the time the meeting starts. Vermont's law states no weekend or holiday exclusion, so every clock hour counts, Saturdays, Sundays and holidays included.

On that reading, the agenda for a Monday 7 p.m. regular meeting must be posted by 7 p.m. the Saturday before; if the municipal office is closed that weekend, post the agenda there before it closes on Friday. For a Tuesday 7 p.m. regular meeting after a Monday holiday, the deadline is 7 p.m. on the Sunday, so post before the office closes on the Friday before. A special meeting on a Monday at 7 p.m. needs its agenda posted by 7 p.m. on the Sunday, so if the municipal office is closed that weekend, post it there before the office closes on Friday. When in doubt, post earlier; nothing in the law stops a board from giving more notice than the minimum.

What must the agenda say?

Enough detail about the specific matters the board will discuss:

Statute text

“A meeting agenda shall contain sufficient details concerning the specific matters to be discussed by the public body.”

1 V.S.A. § 312(d)(3)

An executive session on the agenda is listed in a set way:

Statute text

“Whenever a public body includes an executive session as an item on a posted meeting agenda, the public body shall list the agenda item as “proposed executive session” and indicate the nature of the business of the executive session.”

1 V.S.A. § 312(d)(3)

What else does a special meeting need?

A public announcement, a posted notice and notice to each member who has not waived it, all at least 24 hours ahead:

Statute text

“The time, place, and purpose of a special meeting subject to this section shall be publicly announced at least 24 hours before the meeting. Municipal public bodies shall post notices of special meetings in or near the municipal clerk’s office and in at least two other designated public places in the municipality or a neighboring municipality, at least 24 hours before the meeting. In addition, notice shall be given, either orally or in writing, to each member of the public body at least 24 hours before the meeting, except that a member may waive notice of a special meeting.”

1 V.S.A. § 312(c)(2)

"Publicly announced" has its own meaning: notice to a newspaper or radio station serving the area, and to anyone who asked in writing to be told of special meetings.

Statute text

“Publicly announced” means that notice is given to an editor, publisher, or news director of a newspaper or radio station serving the area of the State in which the public body has jurisdiction, and to any person who has requested under subdivision 312(c)(5) of this title to be notified of special meetings.

1 V.S.A. § 310(7)

Telling a television station alone, or posting online alone, does not meet it. Anyone may ask in writing to be told of special meetings; the request lasts for the calendar year it is made in, and one made in December also covers the next year (§ 312(c)(5)).

What about an emergency meeting?

Some public notice, as soon as possible before the meeting:

Statute text

“Emergency meetings may be held without public announcement, without posting of notices, and without 24-hour notice to members, provided some public notice thereof is given as soon as possible before any such meeting.”

1 V.S.A. § 312(c)(3)

Only for a real emergency:

Statute text

“Emergency meetings may be held only when necessary to respond to an unforeseen occurrence or condition requiring immediate attention by the public body.”

1 V.S.A. § 312(c)(3)

The law names no place for this notice, and gives no number of hours.

What if the board meets only to go into executive session?

It is still a meeting with an agenda. The vote to go into executive session is taken in an open meeting (§ 313(a)), so the board first meets in public. Unless it is an emergency meeting, a meeting called only for an executive session is a special meeting: post the agenda, listing the "proposed executive session", at least 24 hours before, and give the special-meeting announcement and notices above. If your board meets at its regular time and place only to go into executive session, it is a regular meeting: post the agenda at least 48 hours before. In Clarivis, choose Special as the Meeting type for a meeting called only for an executive session, or Regular if it is held at the board's regular time and place; Clarivis then counts that type's deadline.

A board's deliberations in a quasi-judicial proceeding are not an executive session. The open-meeting and executive-session rules do not extend to them (§ 312(e)), and a development review panel's deliberative sessions need not be open to the public (§ 4461(a)). The law defines a quasi-judicial proceeding (§ 310(8)); one kind is a case that decides the legal rights of parties, heard with a chance to present evidence and cross-examine witnesses, ending in a written decision that can be appealed.

Can the agenda change at the meeting?

Yes, within limits:

Statute text

“(A) Any addition to or deletion from the agenda shall be made as the first act of business at the meeting. (B) Any other adjustment to the agenda may be made at any time during the meeting.”

1 V.S.A. § 312(d)(4)

The law states no vote count for the change. A board that wants to add an item before the meeting may instead post the updated agenda again in time for the deadline.

Checklist for each meeting

  • The agenda gives enough detail about the specific matters to be discussed.
  • Any executive session is listed as "proposed executive session", with the nature of its business.
  • A regular meeting: the agenda is on the board's official website, if one exists, and in or near the municipal office and in at least two other designated public places, at least 48 hours before.
  • A special meeting, or a meeting called only for an executive session at a time or place other than the board's regular one: the same, at least 24 hours before; its time, place and purpose announced to a newspaper or radio station serving the area and to anyone who asked in writing; a notice posted in or near the municipal clerk's office and in at least two other designated public places; and each member given notice unless they waive it.
  • An emergency meeting: some public notice as soon as possible before it.
  • At the meeting, any addition or deletion is the first act of business.

What the law does not settle

These are questions to take to your municipal attorney; this guide does not answer them.

  • Whether a court would leave out a weekend or holiday from the 48-hour or 24-hour count. Clarivis counts every clock hour, as the plain words read.
  • Whether the municipal website counts as the board's website when the board has none of its own, as Clarivis reads it.
  • How much detail is "sufficient details" for a particular item.
  • What counts as an unforeseen occurrence for an emergency meeting.
  • Whether a particular hearing is a quasi-judicial proceeding, so that the board's deliberations fall outside the open-meeting and executive-session rules.
  • Whether an online-only news outlet counts as a newspaper for the special-meeting announcement.

How Clarivis helps

Clarivis is software that helps a board follow these steps; it does not post the agenda or tell a newspaper or radio station for you.

  • Counts the deadline for each meeting's agenda in clock hours: the regular-meeting time when the Meeting type is Regular, and the special-meeting time when it is Special. It counts no deadline for an emergency meeting.
  • Checks each agenda item and suggests more detail where a matter may be too thin for the public to know what to expect. It is advice; the board decides.
  • Prints the agenda as a document with the board's details.
  • Records the posting. After the agenda is posted, select Mark agenda posted… and enter the link to it on the municipal website; the meeting then shows Notice posted. For a special meeting, the same step also records that a newspaper or radio station was told. The dialog needs that link, so a municipality needs a website before it can record a posting in Clarivis. It does not record the notice to anyone who asked in writing or to the members.
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