The following definitions apply to these rules:
(a) "Administrative record" means any judicial-branch record pertaining to the administration of the Judicial Branch or any court, board, or committee appointed by the Supreme Court, or any other entity within the Judicial Branch.(b) "Archives" or "archival records" mean public records that have continuing legal, administrative, or informational value, as referenced at 3 V.S.A. § 117(a)(2).(c) "Case management system" means an electronic- record -repository database maintained and managed by the Vermont Judiciary and administered by the respective courts to track information used to manage the courts' caseload, such as case numbers, party names and identifiers, attorneys for the parties, titles of all records filed in a case, and all scheduled events in a case.(d) "Case record" means any judicial-branch record pertaining to a case or controversy. Any judicial-branch record that fits both this definition and the definition of an administrative record is a case record.(e) "Confidential" as applied to a case record means that such information is exempt from public access by law, including a state or federal statute, administrative or court rule, a prior court order placing the information under seal, or precedential decision of the Supreme Court. To the extent reasonably practicable, restriction of access to confidential information is implemented in a manner that does not restrict access to any portion of the record that is not confidential.(f) "Court-generated record " means any record generated by a judicial officer or other court personnel, or by masters, receivers, guardians ad litem, and neutrals required to file a report, under the applicable rules of procedure in all actions and proceedings entered in the Supreme Court, the Superior Court, or the Judicial Bureau. (g) "Electronic case file" means an assemblage of the items pertaining to a single case or matter under a single docket number electronically submitted to the Judiciary's electronic filing system and stored in its temporary data store by a registered user via the electronic filing system, sent by interface from another agency, or electronically filed by the court via the electronic filing system and any paper or fax record that was scanned by the court and electronically stored in the data store.(h) "Electronic-case-record compilation" means an electronic record pertaining to more than one electronic case record.(i) "Electronic-case-record report" means an electronic-case-record compilation that extracts and displays data from more than one electronic case record for the purpose of providing information about the operation of the Vermont Judiciary or any of its components.(j) "Electronic-data-dissemination contract" means an agreement between the Court Administrator and any entity, except a court or court employee, that provides information which is not publicly accessible under these rules. The data dissemination contract must specify terms and conditions concerning the data including but not limited to restrictions, obligations, and cost recovery.(k) "Electronic filing" means the process of transmitting a record from a registered filer's computer, using the Judiciary's Internet-based electronic-filing system, to file the record in the court's case file.(l) "Electronic means" means any method of direct electronic transmission of a t record from the sender's computer or electronic filing system to the recipient's computer or electronic filing system.(m) "Electronic record" means a judicial-branch record that exists in electronic form, irrespective of whether it also exists in physical form.(n) "Judge" means a Supreme Court Justice; a superior, probate, or assistant judge; a magistrate; or a hearing officer.(o) "Judicial-branch record" means a record that is in the possession, custody, or control of the Judiciary or was in the possession of the court for purposes of a court decision. All judicial-branch records are either administrative records or case records.(p) "Judicial officer" for purposes of these rules means a judge, as defined in (n), and a master or parent coordinator to the extent that the appointment order specifies that the master or parent coordinator has access to specified records not accessible by the public.(q) "Nonelectronic means" is any method of transmitting a record for filing or service by any means (including electronic facsimile transmission) other than by direct electronic transmission from the sender's computer or electronic filing system to the recipient's computer or electronic-filing system.(r) "Physical record" means a judicial-branch record that exists in physical form, irrespective of whether it also exists in electronic form.(s) "Presiding judge" means the superior or probate judge assigned to the court, and, if more than one such judge is assigned to the court, the judge designated as presiding by the Chief Superior Judge. With respect to the Supreme Court, the "presiding judge" means the Chief Justice or a justice appointed by the Chief Justice to act as a presiding judge. With respect to the judicial bureau, "presiding judge" means a hearing officer of the bureau as designated by the Chief Superior Judge for trial courts. With respect to a board or committee appointed by the Supreme Court, "presiding judge" means the chair of that board or committee.(t) "Public access" means the right of any person to view or copy a record without providing identification or a reason for access.(u) "Public" or "member of the public" means any individual, group, or entity, including the print or electronic media or their representatives, who seeks access to any judicial-branch record.(v) "Public-purpose agency" means an agency or department of state or local government or a nonprofit agency whose principal function is research or to provide services to the public.(w) "Record" means any written or recorded information, regardless of physical form or characteristics , made or received pursuant to law or in connection with the transaction of any official business by the court. It includes all evidence received by the court in a case.(x) "Record custodian" means the person responsible for the safekeeping of a record.(y) "Seal" or "sealing" means to physically and electronically separate the record in a manner that ensures confidentiality of the record and limits access only to those persons who are authorized by law or court order to view the record. A "sealed" file or record is retained and not destroyed unless a court issues an order to expunge the record.(z) "Special right of access" means a specific right of access provided by statute, court rule, or other source of law to an authorized person to obtain a record not accessible by the public or to obtain a record by a means not available to the public. (aa) "Standardized report" means an electronic case records report which is produced from case management system data by selection from a menu of preprogrammed reports.(bb) "State records center" or "records center" means the component of the Statewide Records and Information Program which holds inactive analog State public records in accordance with record schedules pursuant to 3 V.S.A. § 117(c)(5).(cc) "Statistical report" means an electronic-case-record compilation which complies with Rules 6(j), 10, and 11.(dd) "Registered filer" means an attorney, a represented party, or any other person who is permitted or required under the Vermont Rules for Electronic Filing to file documents electronically, or a self-represented party who elects or is ordered under that rule to file electronically and has registered through the electronic-filing system as provided in the Vermont Rules for Electronic Filing. The term includes any other person authorized to file documents electronically under the Vermont Rules for Electronic Filing.(ee) "Remote Access" means access over the Internet by a computer or other electronic device that is outside the Judiciary network. (ff) "Vermont State Archives and Records Administration" means the division within the Office of the Secretary of State which is charged with administering a Statewide Records and Information Management Program pursuant to 3 V.S.A. § 117(b), including but not limited to taking legal custody of state archival records pursuant to 3 V.S.A. § 117(a)(2). Amended May 1, 2019, eff. 7/1/2019; amended October 10, 2023, eff. 1/1/2024.Reporter's Notes
Definitions now contained in Rule 2 are either new or derived from former Rule 3 of the Rules for Public Access to Court Records and Rule 2 of the former Rules Governing Dissemination of Electronic Case Records.
Reporter's Notes-2024 Amendment
Rule 2 is amended to modernize and simplify the definition of "record" and to omit the use of the word "document." Subdivision (g), which defined document, is deleted and the subdivisions that follow it are renumbered accordingly. The word "document" is replaced with "record" in most places where it appears in the rule. The exception is subdivision (dd) (formerly (ee)), which defines a registered filer. That definition is based on the Vermont Rules for Electronic Filing, which continue to use the term document to refer to a record. The new definition of "record" is modeled on the definition of "public record" in Title 1 of the Vermont Statutes.