Online and phone meetings in Vermont: who may join, the physical place and public access
Short answer
Members of a Vermont board may attend a regular, special or emergency meeting by phone or video. Each remote member identifies themselves and must hear and be heard. A non-unanimous vote is taken by roll call. If a quorum is remote, the agenda names a physical place for the public, with a member or staff person there, unless the body is advisory. Residents, members and reporters may ask in writing, two business days ahead, for access to a regular meeting.(1 V.S.A. § 312(a)(2); 1 V.S.A. § 312(j)(1))
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.
See how Clarivis helpsQuestions on this page
Can a board meet by phone or video?
Yes. One or more members may attend a regular, special or emergency meeting by electronic or other means, without being at the meeting place, as long as the rest of the law is met:
Statute text
“As long as the requirements of this subchapter are met, one or more of the members of a public body may attend a regular, special, or emergency meeting by electronic or other means without being physically present at a designated meeting location.”
A remote member takes part fully, in discussion and in voting. The agenda rules are the same as for any meeting; see the notice and agenda guide.
What must a remote member do?
Statute text
“Each member who attends a meeting without being physically present at a designated meeting location shall: (i) identify himself or herself when the meeting is convened; and (ii) be able to hear the conduct of the meeting and be heard throughout the meeting.”
How are votes taken?
Statute text
“If one or more members attend a meeting by electronic or other means, such members may fully participate in discussing the business of the public body and voting to take an action, but any vote of the public body that is not unanimous shall be taken by roll call.”
So when any member is remote and the vote is not unanimous, the chair calls each member by name. Minutes record the individual vote of each member when a roll call is taken (§ 312(b)(1)). See the minutes guide.
What if a quorum is remote?
Statute text
“If a quorum or more of the members of a public body attend a meeting without being physically present at a designated meeting location, the agenda required under subsection (d) of this section shall designate at least one physical location where a member of the public can attend and participate in the meeting. At least one member of the public body, or at least one staff or designee of the public body, shall be physically present at each designated meeting location. The requirements of this subdivision (D) shall not apply to advisory bodies.”
So the agenda names the place, and a member or a staff person is there. The sentence speaks of a quorum or more, so it does not by its words reach a meeting where fewer than a quorum is remote. An advisory body, one without supervision, control or jurisdiction over legislative, quasi-judicial, tax or budgetary matters (§ 310), is exempt.
Who may ask for a physical place or electronic access?
A resident of the area, a member of a public body or a member of the press may ask for it for a regular meeting:
Statute text
“A resident of the geographic area in which the public body has jurisdiction, a member of a public body, or a member of the press may request that a public body designate a physical meeting location or provide electronic or telephonic access to a regular meeting, but not to a series of regular meetings, special meetings, emergency meetings, or field visits.”
The request is in writing, at least two business days ahead, and the body cannot ask why:
Statute text
“The request shall be made in writing, as specified by the public body, not less than two business days before the date of the meeting. The public body shall not require the requestor to provide a basis for the request.”
The body must grant it unless one of three things applies:
Statute text
“The public body shall grant the request unless: (A) there is an all-hazards event as defined in 20 V.S.A. § 2 or a state of emergency declared pursuant to 20 V.S.A. §§ 9 and 11; (B) there is a local incident as defined in section 312a of this subchapter; or (C) compliance would impose an undue hardship on the municipality.”
Can an advisory body or an emergency meeting be fully online?
Yes. A quorum or more of an advisory body may attend any of its meetings by electronic or other means, with no one present at or staffing a physical place. It must then use an electronic platform the public can join directly, including by telephone, and put the access information in the published agenda or notice (§ 312(a)(5)). A quorum or more of any public body may likewise attend an emergency meeting electronically (§ 312(a)(4)):
Statute text
“A quorum or more of the members of any public body may attend an emergency meeting of the body by electronic or other means without being physically present at or staffing a designated meeting location.”
What if a storm or other local incident stops the meeting?
The law defines a local incident:
Statute text
“Local incident” means a weather event, loss of power or telecommunication services, public health emergency, public safety threat, received threat that a member of the public body believes may place the member or another person in reasonable apprehension of death or serious bodily injury, or other event that directly impedes the ability of a public body to hold a meeting electronically or in a designated physical location.
During a local incident or a declared state of emergency, an affected body may meet with a quorum remote and no physical place for the public:
Statute text
“A quorum or more of an affected public body may attend a regular, special, or emergency meeting by electronic or other means without designating a physical meeting location where the public may attend.”
For a local incident, a written finding comes first:
Statute text
“Before a public body may meet under the authority provided in this section for meetings held during a local incident, the highest ranking elected or appointed officer of the public body shall make a formal written finding and announcement of the local incident, including the basis for the finding.”
A body is "affected" only if its regular meeting place is in the area hit and the emergency or incident stops it meeting in a physical place (§ 312a(a)(1)). When it meets electronically this way, it must use technology that lets the public attend and take part, including by telephone, put the access information in the published agenda, and, if applicable, announce and post that the meeting will not be held in a hybrid fashion (§ 312a(e)). It may post its agenda or special-meeting notice in two designated electronic locations instead of the two designated public places, but a municipal body still posts in or near the clerk's office and gives a copy to the newspapers of general circulation (§ 312a(g)). Read the full section with your municipal attorney before relying on it.
Does a meeting with remote members have to be recorded?
A local body that is not advisory records every meeting, in audio or video, and posts the recording for at least 30 days after the minutes are posted. Site inspections and field visits are left out, and a municipality that proves undue hardship is exempt (§ 312(a)(6)). The duty applies whether or not a member is remote. See the minutes guide.
Checklist
Before the meeting
- The agenda is posted as for any meeting (§ 312(d)(1)).
- If a quorum or more will be remote, the agenda names at least one physical place where the public can attend and take part, unless the body is advisory (§ 312(a)(2)(D)).
- If an advisory body will meet with no physical place, it uses an electronic platform the public can join directly, including by telephone, and the agenda or notice gives the access information (§ 312(a)(5)).
- A member, staff person or designee will be at each place named, unless the body is advisory.
- A written request for access to a regular meeting, received at least two business days ahead, is granted, unless there is an all-hazards event or declared state of emergency, a local incident, or an undue hardship the body can prove (§ 312(j)(3), § 312(j)(4)).
At the meeting
- Each remote member says who they are when the meeting is convened, and can hear and be heard throughout (§ 312(a)(2)(C)).
- A vote that is not unanimous, with any member remote, is taken by roll call (§ 312(a)(2)).
- A local body that is not advisory records the meeting and posts the recording (§ 312(a)(6)).
- Minutes list all members present and record each member's vote when a roll call is taken (§ 312(b)(1)).
What the law does not settle
Questions to take to your municipal attorney; this guide does not answer them.
- How to hold an executive session when a member is online.
- Whether a vote with an abstention is "unanimous" for the roll-call rule.
- What happens to the quorum and to a pending vote when a remote member's connection drops; the law requires each remote member to be heard throughout but does not say.
- How the defined test for "undue hardship" (significant difficulty or expense, weighed against the size, staff, resources and compliance costs of the entity, § 310(9)) applies to a particular request; the public body must prove it (§ 312(j)(4)).
How Clarivis helps
At the meeting, Clarivis records how each member attended; it does not run the call, post the agenda or make the recording for you.
- Remote is its own attendance state. A member is recorded present, remote or absent, and remote is never folded into present.
- No reason asked. For Vermont, Clarivis does not ask why a member is remote, and it counts a remote member in the attendance count.
- Names the duties it does not check. The meeting's Compliance step lists the remote-attendance rules among the duties Clarivis does not check, including the physical place and the request for access.
Related guides
- Vermont meeting agendas and notices: what to post, where, and whenThe agenda 48 or 24 hours ahead, where it goes, the special-meeting announcement
- Vermont meeting minutes: what they must include and when they are dueWhat minutes record, available and posted within 5 calendar days
- Executive session in Vermont: when a board can meet in private, and what followsThe listed purposes, the motion and the majority vote, no binding action inside
- What counts as a meeting in Vermont: quorum, email and chance encountersA quorum and board business; scheduling email and social events are left out
This guide for other states
Sources
- 1 V.S.A. § 312, right to attend meetings of public bodies (Open Meeting Law): legislature.vermont.gov/statutes/section/01/005/00312
- 1 V.S.A. § 312a, meetings of public bodies: state of emergency: legislature.vermont.gov/statutes/section/01/005/00312a