Vermont Attorney General Opinions
Free plain-English summaries of attorney general opinions issued in Vermont, with full citations and the original source on every page.
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Did Vermont Governor Phil Scott's Executive Order 06-25 (which addresses housing construction by relaxing wetland permits and letting builders use older energy standards) effectively repeal or modify the wetlands and energy statutes the legislature enacted?
Partly. The Order is lawful to the extent it directs agencies to begin rulemaking. It exceeds the Governor's authority to the extent it tries to immediately change wetlands or building energy law…
When 56 voters in Vermont's Bennington-1 House District received the wrong ballot in November 2024 (because of voter checklist errors after reapportionment) and the certified margin of victory was only 23 votes, what should the Vermont House of Representatives do under its constitutional power to judge the elections of its own members?
The AG's role under 17 V.S.A. § 2605(b)(1) is to investigate and report facts to the House Clerk, not to decide the election. The AG concluded that 56 registered voters in the Bennington-1 District…
After Vermont consolidated school districts under Act 46 in 2015 and the State Board of Education involuntarily merged some districts that voted not to merge, can the towns in those involuntarily-merged districts now use 16 V.S.A. § 724 to vote to withdraw from the merger?
The Attorney General’s Office declined a formal opinion but predicted that a court would likely find the State Board lacks authority under § 724(c) to process withdrawal from an involuntarily formed…
When Vermont's 2014 Act 90 repealed the old campaign finance contribution limits with one effective date and added new limits with a different effective date in 2015, what limits applied during the gap?
The pre-Act 90 limits applied through December 31, 2014. The repeal-versus-replacement effective dates created a literal gap (no limits) that the legislature did not intend. Drafting records and…
After Vermont voters amended the state constitution to let people who turn 18 by general election day vote in 'the primary election,' does that include both the presidential primary in March and the state primary in August?
Yes. Although the constitutional language uses the singular 'the primary election,' both the presidential primary and the state primary are nominating processes preceding the general election. The…
Can members of the Vermont State Teachers' Retirement Board be personally sued and held financially liable for ordinary mistakes in their investment or benefit decisions?
No, not for ordinary negligence. Vermont treats retirement board members as state employees under 3 V.S.A. § 1101 and 12 V.S.A. § 5602: the state defends them at state expense, and lawsuits for…
Did Vermont's industrial hemp bill, H. 267, become law when the Governor took no action on it after the legislature had already adjourned?
Yes, it more likely than not became law. Under Vt. Const. ch. II § 11, a bill becomes law if the Governor neither signs nor returns it within five days after presentation. The narrow adjournment…
Could Vermont's nineteenth-century abortion statute, 13 V.S.A. § 101, be applied to physician assistants and advanced practice nurses, or only to people without medical training?
The statute did not apply to licensed physicians, osteopaths, physician assistants, or advanced practice nurses if the procedure was within their approved scope of practice. It could be applied to…
After Entergy bought Vermont Yankee in 2002, did Entergy keep the company-specific exemption that let Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Corp. store spent fuel on site without legislative approval?
The AG concluded that Entergy's dry cask storage was not exempt from chapter 157. Section 6505 named Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Corporation; on the separate assignment question, the AG predicted…
Could the Vermont legislature adopt instant runoff voting for governor and other statewide offices by ordinary statute, or did it need a constitutional amendment first?
AG Sorrell concluded that voter approval of a constitutional amendment was legally required before instant runoff voting could be applied to elections for governor, lieutenant governor, and…
Did Vermont's banking commissioner have authority to issue rules requiring opt-in consent before banks, insurers, and securities firms shared customer financial or health information, and could she go beyond Gramm-Leach-Bliley's federal opt-out floor?
Yes on both counts. The commissioner's general rulemaking authority under 8 V.S.A. §§ 10 and 15(a), plus specific grants in Title 8 and the Securities Act, supported all three rules. GLB § 507…
When a Vermont sheriff's department is sued and the county-purchased liability policy has a $10,000 deductible, who pays the deductible?
The county. 24 V.S.A. § 73 obligated the county to provide liability insurance for the sheriff and deputies, and the AG concluded that the deductible was an operating cost of the sheriff's…
After Vermont passed its fingerprinting law, did liquor control investigators still get access to Criminal Information Center records, or were they suddenly cut off because their division didn't spend half its budget on criminal justice?
Yes, they still got access. AG Sorrell's office concluded that the new statute's term 'criminal justice agency' should not be read so literally as to cut off police agencies that the legislature had…
Could a Vermont sheriff charge a service-of-process fee for finding the right address or otherwise locating someone, even if no service was actually made?
No. The fees in 32 V.S.A. § 1591(1) were payable only on presentation of a return of service. The activity that triggered the flat fee was the actual service of process, not the preparatory work of…
Could a Vermont town clerk lawfully refuse to issue civil union licenses, and what penalties applied if she did?
No. Under Act 91 § 5, a town clerk had to issue civil union licenses to qualified applicants. The opinion identified possible civil remedies and fact-dependent criminal liability for wrongful…
Can the Vermont State House restrict the display of a publication with sexually explicit cartoons in its public cafeteria?
The State House cafeteria was a designated public forum, so any restriction on speech had to be narrowly drawn. Vermont could limit minors' access to material depicting intimate sexual activity, but…
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Attorney general opinions in Vermont are written by the Vermont Attorney General's office in response to questions from state agencies, legislators, and prosecutors. They are not binding like court decisions, but courts and agencies treat them as persuasive guidance on how state law applies. Every opinion above has a plain-English question and short answer, plus a link to the full original text.