Vt. Ct. Admin'r Directive TC-4 1

5 is amended as follows (new matter underlined; deleted matter struck through):

Note: Listed below are provisions of statutes and court rules that may grant a specific right

of access to judicial branch case records for which public access otherwise is limited, along

with a summary of each. The summaries are provided for reader convenience and are not

legally binding. Readers should review the text of the statutes and court rules before

applying them. This list may not include all such specific rights of access.

APPENDIX to Rule 5: Statutes and Court Rules Providing Specific Access to Court

Records

Citation Description

2019, No. 167 (Adj. Sess.), § 31(f) A special index of expunged marijuana cases

(uncodified) and related documents are confidential except

by petition of the person who is the subject of

the case or permission of the Chief Superior

Judge for research purposes pursuant to the

Rules for Public Access to Court Records.

3 V.S.A. § 163(e)(3) A special index of juvenile cases expunged after

completion of diversion together with

expungement orders is confidential except by

petition of the person who is the subject of the

case or permission of the Chief Superior Judge

for research purposes pursuant to the Rules for

Public Access to Court Records.

3 V.S.A. § 164(g)(3)(C) A special index of criminal cases expunged after

completion of diversion is not publicly

accessible except by petition of the person who

is the subject of the case or permission of the

Chief Superior Judge for research purposes

pursuant to the Rules for Public Access to Court

Records.

12 V.S.A. § 1705 Any document bearing true name of subject of

proceeding as to disclosure of HIV counseling

and testing information may be disclosed only

to parties with a compelling need to know and

then sealed at conclusion of the proceedings.

13 V.S.A. § 1460(a) Records in cases seeking an injunction against a

juvenile to stop hate-motivated conduct are

made not publicly accessible by incorporation

of 33 V.S.A. § 5117, including its specific access

provisions.

13 V.S.A. § 4824 A finding that a person is mentally ill and

dangerous to himself or others is not publicly

accessible under 18 V.S.A. § 7103 but must be

provided to the National Instant Criminal

Background Check System, established by

Section 103 of the Brady Handgun Violence

Prevention Act of 1993.

13 V.S.A. § 5236(f) Financial information provided by a defendant

pursuant to 13 V.S.A. § 5236(d), (e) is not

publicly accessible in the trial and Supreme

Court but is available for review by the person

who submitted it.

13 V.S.A. § 5566(c) DNA profile information related to a petition for

postconviction DNA testing is confidential.

except for use and dissemination consistent

with 13 V.S.A. § chapter 182 and 20 V.S.A.

chapter 113.

13 V.S.A. § 7606(d)(3) A special index of criminal cases expunged by

court order pursuant to Chapter 230 of Title 13

is not publicly accessible except by petition of

the person who is the subject of the case or

permission of the Chief Superior Judge for

research purposes pursuant to the Rules for

Public Access to Court Records.

13 V.S.A. § 7607 A special index of criminal cases sealed by court

order pursuant to Chapter 230 of Title 13 is not

publicly accessible except by petition of the

person who is the subject of the case or

permission of the Chief Superior Judge for

research purposes pursuant to the Rules for

Public Access to Court Records.

13 V.S.A. § 7609 A special index of sentences for sex offenses

that require registration that are expunged by

court order pursuant to 13 V.S.A. § 7609(a) is

not publicly accessible and may be accessed

only by the Director of the Vermont Crime

Information Center and an individual

designated for the purpose of providing

information to the Department of Corrections

in the preparation of a presentence

investigation.

14 V.S.A. § 2 A will filed with the probate division for

safekeeping is not publicly accessible during

the life of the testator but may be accessed by

others in accordance with instructions of the

testator and by the testator’s duly authorized

legal guardian or attorney-in-fact in the

presence of the judge or register.

14 V.S.A. § 3067(e) Professional evaluation of the need for a

guardian is confidential except that it will be

provided to the respondent, the respondent’s

attorney, the petitioner, and the guardian upon

appointment, and the court may determine that

“any other individual, including the proposed

guardian” has a “strong interest in the welfare

of the respondent” and allow access to that

person.

14 V.S.A. § 3098(c)(i) Information regarding a child’s immigration

status related to a petition for classification as a

special immigrant juvenile is confidential,

provided that it is available for inspection by

the court, the subject child, the parties, their

attorneys, and the child’s counsel and guardian.

15 V.S.A. § 788 In case where relief-from-abuse order has been

entered, address and employment information

provided to court for child support purposes is

confidential except that court may release such

information for good cause shown.

15A V.S.A. §§ 3-203, 3-208, 6-102, Title 15A provides for adoption proceedings,

6-104 relinquishment proceedings, proceedings to

terminate parental rights in certain

circumstances and proceedings to gain certain

information relating to an adoption. For all

these proceedings, the in-court events are

closed to the public and the records are not

publicly accessible. However, some statutory

provisions allow designated nonparties, and

parties in some circumstances, to have access to

records that may be possessed by the court in

specified circumstances.

18 V.S.A. § 5112(d) Records of a proceeding where the probate

division authorizes a new birth certificate

because of a change of gender identity are not

publicly accessible.

18 V.S.A. § 7103 Proceedings under Part 8 of Title 18--generally

mental-health and developmental-disabilities

related proceedings--are closed to the public

and the records of the proceedings are not

publicly accessible. The statute provides that

certain persons have a specific right of access

generally or to specific records or information.

18 V.S.A. §§ 9306(c), 9309(b) Records in proceedings to appoint a guardian

for a person who is developmentally disabled

are not publicly accessible except where the

respondent or the representative of the

respondent consents to access by a person. The

Department of Mental Health shall release an

evaluation of a person to a developmental

services agency, if necessary, for the purpose of

obtaining or improving services to the person.

28 V.S.A. §§ 204, 204a; V.R.Cr.P. Generally, presentence investigation reports,

32(c) including any supervised-community-sentence

plan, 28 V.S.A. § 352(c), are not publicly

accessible, 28 V.S.A. § 204(d)(1). The court shall

permit inspection of reports, redacted to

remove information that may compromise the

safety or confidentiality of any person, by the

State's Attorney and the defendant or inmate

and his or her attorney. The court may allow

inspection of the presentence investigation

report or parole summary or parts thereof by

other persons having a proper interest,

whenever the best interest or welfare of the

defendant or inmate makes that action

desirable or helpful, 28 V.S.A. § 204(d)(2)(B), or

by a state or federal prosecutor conducting a

criminal investigation if the court finds that the

records may be relevant to the investigation. Id.

§ 204(f).

33 V.S.A. §§ 5110, 5117, 5118, Records in juvenile proceedings are generally

5119, 5122 not publicly accessible, subject to an extensive

list of persons who have a specific right of

access to some of or all the information under

circumstances described in the statutory

sections.

V.R.Cr.P. 6(e) A transcript of proceedings before the grand

jury is not publicly accessible and “records,

orders, and subpoenas relating to grand-jury

proceedings must be kept under seal to the

extent and as long as necessary to prevent

disclosure of a matter occurring before a grand

jury.” V.R.Cr.P. 6(e)(5). Limited exceptions

apply to other prosecuting attorneys and on

court order.

Rules Governing Establishment Records related to complaints to the lawyer

and Operation of the Professional professional responsibility program are not

Responsibility Program, publicly accessible before the filing of a formal

Administrative Order No. 9, Rule disciplinary proceeding. The Professional

7(D), 8, 16 Responsibility Board may provide access to (a)

A lawyer or judicial admission or disciplinary

agency of this or another jurisdiction or (b) Any

agency or person to which the attorney has

submitted a waiver of confidentiality.

Deliberations and work product of the Board,

hearing panel, and their counsel remain

confidential. Proceedings related to disability

inactive status are confidential. Operations of

the Bar Assistance Program are confidential,

subject to limited disclosure exceptions.

Rules for the Disciplinary Control Records of the Judicial Conduct Board are not

of Judges, Rule 6(7), (9) publicly accessible unless a formal disciplinary

complaint is filed against a judge. If a

disciplinary matter has proceeded beyond the

stage of an initial inquiry, the chair may provide

information about the proceedings to officers

involved in impeachment, retention, or judicial

appointment proceedings.

Rules Governing the Assignment Any proof of income furnished in support of

and Payment Therefore by the eligibility for public defender services is

Defender General, Administrative confidential, but available for review by the

Order No. 4 § 5 clerk, judicial officer, and person who

submitted.

Rules Governing Qualification, Certain information about jurors and provided

List, Selection and Summoning of by jurors in response to a questionnaire is not

All Jurors, Rules 4(c) & 10; 4 publicly accessible. Any electronic record of

V.S.A. § 955; V.R.Cr.P. 24(a)(2); questionnaire responses is not publicly

V.R.C.P. 47(a)(2) accessible. The information is available to the

parties, and the “physical record” of the

information is publicly available with names

and addresses redacted.