1. Salaried official must be paid upon request. Most towns vote to pay some of its officers an hourly rate, (with a maximum total) and others a salary. Salaried officials are entitled to the entire salary that has been voted in the budget. Note also that when an official is voted a salary at town meeting, there is no rule addressing how that individual is to be paid. In theory, a clerk, treasurer, constable or other elected official who is voted a salary could demand payment of the entire year’s salary at the start of the new fiscal year. That is because a salary is not related to the hourly work of an official - and if it is voted by the electorate, the town is obligated to pay the full amount on demand.

2. The clerk is not the clerk of the selectboard. There is no statutory requirement that the town clerk be the clerk of the selectboard, however, some clerks take the minutes of the board’s meetings. In many towns the selectboard hires another person to take the minutes of its meetings.

3. The selectboard may not set hours for town clerk. Because the clerk is an independently elected official, the clerk sets his/her own hours, deciding what he or she believes will best serve the people of the town. No law would permit the selectboard to compel the town clerk to work a specific number of hours per week or specific times during the week. Usually the selectboard budget contains a recommendation for the clerk’s compensation. That compensation obviously influences the amount of hours worked by the clerk, but the clerk determines what those hours are.

4. Voters may not adopt ordinance. Vermont law does not give the voters the power to petition for the adoption of an ordinance. However, although Vermont law permits voters to disapprove of an ordinance adopted by the board, it does not permit voters to initiate an ordinance by petition. 24 V.S.A. § 1972 provides that the select board adopts town ordinances, and gives voters forty-four days to petition the board for a vote on whether to disapprove the ordinance. If the ordinance is disapproved by the voters, it does not go into effect. Voters who want to see a particular regulation in place must convince the selectboard that it is in the best interest of the town. The only exception to this rule is conflict of interest ordinances. Voters may propose, by petition, an ordinance governing the ethics of board members and other local officials.

5. A board may only go into executive session upon a motion and vote. An executive session is a closed meeting within a public meeting. Boards cannot enter executive session without first meeting in public session and then voting to close the meeting, and then only for very specific reasons. A majority of the members of a local board (a two-thirds majority of a state board) must agree to enter for the reasons stated. This motion and vote must then be included in the minutes of the meeting, making a permanent record of the session and its reasons. No action may be taken in executive session.

6. Justice of the peace terms begin February 1st. Although justices of the peace have been elected in November, the term of office for the newly elected JPs does not begin until February 1. A person elected as a JP can take the oath and return the oath of office to the town clerk at any time after receipt of the Certificate of Election, but the person cannot perform any duties of a JP until February 1.

7. Oath of Office. A justice of the peace is not fully qualified to serve until he or she has taken the oath of office and the oath of allegiance and has filed a notarized copy of those oaths with the town clerk. The Secretary of State provides copies of these oath forms to every newly elected justice. 4 V.S.A. § 491. (In January we will be mailing JP handbooks and oath forms to newly elected justices. The guide and forms can also be obtained from our website www.sec.state.vt.us.)

8. Governor appoints to fill JP vacancies. The governor may appoint a successor whenever a vacancy occurs in the office of justice of the peace. A vacancy can occur by resignation, death, and insanity. A vacancy can also occur when the JP moves to another state. Moving to another Vermont town in Vermont does not create a vacancy. In most cases, however, a justice will resign when he or she leaves town. Governors usually appoint a member of the party of the former justice of the peace to fill the vacancy - although not always the person recommended by the party. 17 V.S.A. § 2623.

9. A justice of the peace who performs duties before filing a copy of his or her oath may be fined. Under 4 V.S.A. § 491, a justice must file a copy of his or her oath with the town clerk’s office before performing his or her formal duties. Because the term of office begins on February 1, a justice of the peace can deliver the oath copy any time after February 1, as long as no official duties have been performed prior to filing the copy with the town clerk’s office. There is no automatic fine if a justice fails to file the oath. It is only when a justice willfully neglects to file the oath copy with the town clerk that he or she may be fined not more than $100, and then only after a prosecution is brought by the attorney general or the district attorney.

10. Only clerk or assistant may record or certify documents on behalf of the town. By law, there are certain duties that must be fulfilled by the town clerk. However, the law recognizes that the clerk may require some assistance in the performance of his or her duties. Accordingly, 24 V.S.A. § 1170 and 1171 permits the clerk to appoint one or more assistants who are specifically authorized to perform the recording and filing duties of the clerk, to issue licenses and certified copies of record and to perform all other duties of the clerk in his or her absence. Note that implicit in this statute is the understanding that someone who is not appointed or sworn as an assistant town clerk may not perform these functions.

11. Town can require landowners to connect to sewer system. When a town or city extends its sewer system, it can adopt an ordinance to require all adjacent property owners to connect to the public system and abandon private septic systems. 24 V.S.A. § 3509. The Sewage commissioners may require that the owners of buildings, subdivisions or developments abutting a public street be connected to the municipal sewage system.

12. Water and sewer delinquencies can be collected either by the delinquent tax collector or by disconnecting service. Municipalities with water and sewer systems may choose to collect delinquent payments in the same manner as their delinquent taxes are collected or by using the Uniform Water Disconnect statute. 24 V.S.A. § 3504, 5141 et seq. If collected as a tax, the town or city’s delinquent tax collector may bring a tax sale to collect the amount owed. Often the water/sewer charge is collected along with any delinquent taxes owed on the property. In the alternative, the municipality can shut off the water if a person fails to pay their charges. This is a more complicated process, and provides the resident an opportunity to appeal a decision to shut off water.

13. Interest on delinquent water or sewer payments may only be charged after vote. Water or sewer commissioners in a town can charge interest on delinquent payments for water and/or sewer ONLY if the voters of the municipality have approved an article in the warning to collect interest on overdue taxes in the town. 24 V.S.A. § 5151 and 32 V.S.A. § 5136. The article stays in effect until voted otherwise at a subsequent meeting. Similarly, the trustees or prudential committee of a fire district or water district must place an article on the warning for voters to collect interest on overdue payments for water and sewer before interest can be collected.

14. Town treasurer should not make out checks without warrant signed by the board. In one town the selectboard asked the treasurer to bring already filled out checks to the selectboard meeting prior to the board’s approval of the individual expenditures. 24 V.S.A. § 1576. The treasurer was correct to decline. Indeed, Vermont law only permits the treasurer to make payments based on properly signed orders of the board or based on certified minutes of the board, signed by both the board’s clerk and chair or by a majority of the board, clearly setting out the amount, and to whom payment is to be made. 24 V.S.A. § 1623.

15. Selectboard may authorize one or more members to draw orders without meeting. Sometimes a board needs to pay bills between meetings. In this case the board can, by vote, authorize one or more of its members to sign orders. The orders must be very specific, and a report must be given to the board so the entire board can know what was paid. 24 V.S.A. § 1623.

16. Selectboard may acquire land for conservation or to strengthen local business. Vermont law permits the legislative body to acquire property or accept land donated for a number of purposes, some of which are set out in 10 V.S.A. § 6301. These purposes include encouraging and assisting the maintenance of present uses of agricultural, forest and other undeveloped land, and to prevent the acceleration of residential and commercial development. It also includes preserving scenic natural resources; strengthening the base of the recreation industry and increasing employment, income, business, and investment; and planning for orderly growth.

17. Open government laws apply to RDCs. A regional development corporation approved by the commissioner of commerce and community development is subject to Vermont’s open meeting and public record laws. 1 V.S.A. § 310 et seq. Vermont law does, however, provide a special exemption to allow regional development corporations to meet in executive session to consider proposed transactions or agreements in "furtherance of development purposes." 24 V.S.A. § 2786. This allows the corporations to meet privately with potential developers to discuss opportunities for establishing operations up until a contract or agreement is signed.

18. Board may rule that committee executive sessions may exclude non-committee members. When a board sets up committees the open meeting law will apply to the meetings of the committee. 1 V.S.A. § 312. Committees may go into executive session where appropriate. The law does not directly address whether a committee may exclude members of the board from its executive session. However, the board has the authority to establish its own rules or policies about who may attend committee executive sessions. It may be particularly important to have a clearly defined rule for large boards that have personnel committees that conduct employee evaluations. The law would permit a board to decide that only members of that particular committee may attend an executive session, or conversely, that any board member may attend.

19. Board member who discloses confidential information cannot be kept from executive session. The law governing executive sessions does not require board members to keep the discussions confidential – although this is certainly best practice. Consequently, there is no authority to keep any board member out of an executive session — even if that board member breaches confidentiality. Note that where a board member has breached confidentiality – particularly in a personnel matter - it may be wise to ask the board’s attorney to send that board member a letter explaining the potential liability the municipality could face as the result of the breach.

20. Non voting ex-officio members of planning commissions do not count toward quorum requirement. The selectboard may serve as non-voting, ex-officio members of the planning commission. 24 V.S.A. § 4322. Although they can be part of the board, they do not vote. This means that their number will not count when factoring the numbers necessary to be present to form a quorum, and their presence will not count toward that quorum. Accordingly, in a board that has seven appointed (or elected) commissioners and five non-voting (selectboard) members, whenever there are four voting commissioners present there is a quorum. (For general guidance on how to treat ex-officio board members see, Roberts Rules of Order, § 48.)

21. Minutes of meetings must be available within five days. The open meeting law requires that minutes be taken at all public meetings. 1 V.S.A. § 312. This requirement applies to all public bodies – which not only includes the elected or appointed board itself, but any committees of the board. 1 V.S.A. § 310(3). Minutes of public meeting must be made available to members of the public within 5 days of the meeting, even if they are only in draft form.

22. Formal approval of minutes not required by law. One town was concerned that minutes of a prior meeting were not ever approved because the new board members did not want to approve minutes of the prior board meeting which they had not participated. While it is good practice to approve the minutes of the previous meeting of a board, Vermont law does not require this approval. Approval of minutes will give the minutes a greater presumption of accuracy if at a later date the minutes are needed to prove legal action of the town. However, failure to have approval will not, alone, call into question the legality of the board’s decisions.

23. Minutes of meetings are not transcripts. Vermont law requires minutes to be kept of all public meetings. The minutes are the legal record of the action taken at the meeting. Accordingly, the minutes must note all topics and motions that arise at the meeting. At a minimum the law requires the minutes to list all "members of the public body present; all other active participants in the meeting, all motions, proposals and resolutions made, offered and considered, and what disposition is made of same; and the results of any votes, with a record of the individual vote of each member if a roll call is taken." 1 V.S.A. § 312(b). The minutes should not be a transcript of the meeting or reflect what was said by individuals in discussion because this often causes confusion and disagreement and it is not required for the legal record.

24. Minutes of meetings do not need to be posted. The law does not require minutes of meetings to be posted in the municipality. Rather, minutes must be available to the public on request within five working days of the meeting. 1 V.S.A. § 312.

25. Town can hold annual meeting in neighboring municipality. No law requires town meeting to be held within the town boundaries.  On occasion a town will move its meeting to a neighboring community because it needed a larger space or a facility that was accessible to people with disabilities. 

For more information about the Secretary of State’s Office’s Civics Programs or to order materials
visit www.sec.state.vt.us or contact Olivia Gay at 802-828-1296
or email olivia.gay@sec.state.vt.us

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December 2 (Thursday) - Last day for U.S. Congressional candidates to file FEC 30-day post-general reports (Oct. 20-Nov. 28), 2 U.S.C. § 434(a)(2)

December 15 (Wednesday) - Deadline for filing post election campaign finance reports with the Secretary of State by candidates for statewide office, state senator, state representative, political committees, and political parties who have expended or received $500.00 or more.

Also deadline for filing forty-day post election campaign finance reports by county office candidates who have made expenditures or received contributions of $500.00 or more. County candidates (probate judge, assistant judge, state’s attorney, sheriff, high bailiff and justice of the peace) shall file with the county clerk with whom his or her nomination papers were filed. Copies of these reports must be forwarded by the county clerks to the secretary of state within five days of receipt. 17 V.S.A. §§ 2811, 2821(c), 2831

If a filing deadline falls on a Saturday, Sunday or legal holiday, then the deadline shall be extended to the next business day. 17 V.S.A. § 2103(13) Candidates for the state senator or state representative must also file such reports with the clerk of the candidates’ respective senate or house district (the same clerk where the candidate files nominating petitions). 17 V.S.A. § 2811(e)

Table of Contents     |     Past Issues of Opinions     |     Secretary of State's Homepage

Table of Contents     |     Past Issues of Opinions     |     Secretary of State's Homepage