Vermont Court Records

What is Included in Vermont Public Court Records

Criminal Court Cases

Assault & Battery, Domestic Violence, Parole Violation, Probation Violation, Sexual Assault, Robbery, Manslaughter, Murder, Drug Offenses, And More...

Civil Court Cases

Bankruptcies, Legal Judgments, Lawsuits, Tax & Property Liens, Contract Disputes, Probates, Family Law, Small Claims, Evictions, And More...

Traffic Court Cases

Driving Under Influence, Driving While Intoxicated, Speeding Tickets, Traffic Citations, Reckless Driving, Driving Without a License, License Suspensions, Criminal Driving Violations, Accidents, And More...

Vermont Court Record Lookup

Vermont VT court records are public documents and therefore available to anyone online by performing Vermont court records search. These documents are instrumental to executing a judge’s decision, whether collecting a judgement, entering a treatment program, reclaiming a suspended driver’s license, finding Vermont criminal records or establishing child custody.

Trial Court

Vermont’s judiciary was reorganized in 2010 under the state superior courts, or trial courts, which has a branch in each of the state’s 14 counties. Within the superior court are divisions tasked with family, probate, criminal, and civil proceedings, including child support in Vermont. Appeals of some cases are heard by panels of superior court judges.

Probate courts in Vermont have jurisdiction over vital records, emancipation, wills, estates, guardianships, adoptions, and similar issues.

Also within these Vermont courthouses are an environmental bureau and a judicial bureau. The judicial bureau handles civil violations charged by police including traffic, environmental, animal cruelty, alcohol and tobacco, and waste disposal. This court has statewide jurisdiction.

State Civil Records

Vermont court records online of civil cases are currently accessable through Vermont court case lookup. A request sent to the clerk of the court where the case was heard should yield official documents, except those restricted by confidentiality laws, including juvenile cases and those that name victims of certain crimes.

The superior courts deal with about 3,300 felony cases per year, including about 300 DUI cases each year. In these courts, the number of misdemeanor cases has fallen by about 3,000 over the past several years. In particular, drug-related offenses are down from nearly 1,300 to around 450 annually.

Appellate court

The state supreme court is the court of last resort, overseeing the state judiciary and hearing appeals of contested case decisions.

Federal court

Each state has at least one branch of U.S. District Court or federal court. This is where bankruptcy petitions, violations of federal law, multi-state lawsuits, and the like are settled. 

Vermont Notable Court Cases

In 2001, a man by the name of Michael Brillon was arrested in Vermont on charges of felony assault. He was appointed a public defender and sat waiting in jail for three years before he was convicted by a jury in 2004. During this three-year period, he was appointed a minimum of six different defenders, who left the case for a variety of reasons. Brillon fired some of them, others withdrew because he threatened their lives, and still others were released by the court.

The original trial court denied the motion to dismiss Brillon's case under claims to his right to a speedy trial, as guaranteed by the Sixth Amendment. Brillon's attorney appealed to the Vermont Supreme Court, which vacated his conviction and said the State did not afford him the speedy trial he had a right to. Vermont's Supreme Court stated in its opinion that the three-year wait for trial was "'extreme" and the factors of "'length of delay, reason for delay, defendant's assertion of his right and prejudice to the defendant" all pointed to violations of his rights. It went on to explain the delays were largely the fault of the State because they did not assign willing counsel during his incarceration.

In 2009, the U.S. Supreme Court reversed the Vermont Supreme Court decision, stating that the delays are not the sole fault of assigned counsel, but attributed to the defendant's wishes, citing Brillon's several continuances and delays at trial court due to his own disruptive behavior. There was a six-month period where he was not assigned counsel that could be attributed to the State, but the other two and a half years he did have counsel that acted on his behalf and were representing him as they were legally bound.

Vermont Civil Case Statistics

Civil Caseload
Civil Caseload 15,242
Caseloads per 100.000 Population
Caseloads per 100.000 Population 2,440
Clearance Rate
Clearance Rate 83%
Small Claims Caseload
Small Claims Caseload 3,696

Civil Caseloads for Vermont, the sum of all civil cases reported by the state, account for 81,688 total cases at the year end of 2016, which makes it 2,440 cases per 100.000 population.

The clearance rate for the state is about 83% which makes up by dividing the outgoing to incoming civil cases and expressing the result in a percentage.

Civil Court Incoming & Outgoing Cases 2012-2016

The number of civil court caseloads in 2016 has decreased since 2012, being 15,242 vs. 18,643, which is by 18.2 % lower than 5 years ago. The same picture is seen with clearance rates, it’s lower compared to 2012, by 32.2% being 12,704 compared to 18,743.

State Small Claims & Rates Timeline

Year: Small Claims Max. Limit Small Claims Caseload per 100.000 Population Percent of Total Civil Caseload
2012$50006,3121,00834%
2013$50005,20383029%
2014$50006,4931,03655%
2015$50005,87393833%
2016$50003,69659224%

The caseload for small claims has decreased since 2012, going from 6,312 cases a year to 3,696 of 2016. The maximum limit of small claim charges has stayed the same at $5,000 in 2016 compared to the $5,000 that was registered 5 years ago.

Accordingly the small claims rate has decreased- 592 cases per 100 000 population compared to the 1,008 of 2012. The total percentage of civil caseloads accounts 11.3% for the state of Vermont for 2016.

Criminal Caseloads by Type

Criminal Caseloads for Vermont sum in 16,060 cases at the year end of 2016 which has a share of 78% of misdemeanor and 21% of felony charges. Total criminal cases have decreased in Vermont compared to the criminal caseload of 2012 - 17,342 cases. Felonies and misdemeanors have changed since 2012 by -5% and +1% accordingly.

The Proportion of Felony and Misdemeanor Caseloads

Criminal Incoming Court Cases by type 2012-2016

Criminal Caseloads Timeline

Domestic Relations Caseloads & Clearance Rates

The state’s domestic relations caseload has counted 12,170 cases which is 1,948 court cases per 100.000 population. It has decreased since 2012, the difference in caseloads is 8,877 for the last 5 years, being 21,047 in 2012.

State Court Holidays

Holiday: Date:
New Year's DayMonday, January 1, 2018
Martin Luther King, Jr's BirthdayMonday, January 15, 2018
Presidents' DayMonday, February 19, 2018
Town Meeting DayTuesday, March 6, 2018
Memorial DayMonday, May 28, 2018
Independence DayWednesday, July 4, 2018
Bennington Battle DayThursday, August 16, 2018
Labor DayMonday, September 3, 2018
Veterans' Day (Observed)Monday, Nov 12, 2018
Thanksgiving DayThursday, November 22, 2018
Christmas Day Tuesday, December 25, 2018

Supreme Court Caseloads & Clearance Rates