Home > State/Circuit Guides > Vermont

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Detailed Guide: Vermont

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Allows Cameras? Yes (with permission)
Exceptions: None

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Audio or Video Webcast? Yes
Media Guide Available? Yes
Allows Cell Phones to Record Video? Yes (with permission)

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Extended media coverage of Supreme Court proceedings is permitted without the consent of the full court, but the Chief Justice has discretion to prohibit coverage. Audio recording of conferences between members of the Court, between co-counsel or between counsel and client is prohibited. Only two television cameras, each operated by one cameraperson, and one still photographer, using not more than two cameras, are permitted in the Supreme Court at any one time.

At the trial level, coverage is permitted in the courtroom and in immediately adjacent areas that are generally open to the public. Consent of parties and witnesses is not required, but the trial judge has discretion to prohibit, terminate, limit or postpone coverage on the judge’s own motion or on a motion of a party or request of a witness.

Coverage of jurors is prohibited, except in the background when courtroom coverage would be otherwise impossible. While the rules do not ban coverage of specific types of cases, the reporter’s note accompanying the rule suggests that coverage may be inappropriate for sex offense, domestic relations, trade secret cases or offenses in which the victim is a minor. This issue is left to the discretion of the trial judge to evaluate on a case-by-case basis. No proceeding that is closed to the public, by statute, may be covered. Only one television camera, operated by one cameraperson, and one still photographer, using not more than two cameras, are permitted in the courtroom at any one time. The media are responsible for any pooling arrangements. There is no right to an interlocutory appeal of a decision to prohibit or limit coverage.

Administrative Directive No. 28 governs the use of electronic devices in the courthouse. Under this directive, individuals may bring with them into the courthouse all cell phones, pagers, computers, and other electronic devices. These devices must be turned off before the individual enters the courtroom. Inside the courtroom, an individual may only take out and use electronic devices with the judge’s permission. An individual may use the recording devices on cell phones, like cameras and video recorders, only with the consent of the person being photographed.

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Links: Authority
• Rule 79.2: Vermont Rules of Civil Procedure: Possession and Use of Recording and Transmitting Devices
• Rule 35: Vermont Rules of Appellate Procedure: Possession and Use of Recording and Transmitting Devices
• Administrative Directive No. 28: Electronic Devices in a Courthouse
• Administrative Directive No. 46: Standards for Use of Recording and Transmitting Devices

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Links: Other
• Vermont Supreme Court Youtube
• Vermont Courts Media Guide
• Vermont Judiciary Resources for Media

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Last edited: December 13, 2022