Vermont
Vermont Court Records: How to Search, What's Public, and How to Seal Them (2026)
Independently fact-checked against primary sources (last audited August 10, 2026). · 3 primary sources cited on this page. How we verify our legal content
Vermont runs its court records through a single online Public Portal, and it is genuinely free for basic lookups. The catch is not cost, it is reach: whole categories of case, criminal, family, and probate, are kept off the portal by statute, the portal is geographically restricted, and Vermont rewrote its sealing and expungement rules in a major 2025 overhaul that flipped which offenses qualify for which remedy. This guide covers all three.
Information last verified on 2026-08-10. This article has not yet been reviewed by a licensed lawyer.
Vermont's Public Portal: What Anonymous Users Can See
Vermont's Judiciary confirms directly that "anonymous public users may access limited types of case and hearing information. No registration is required for this level of access." The word limited is carrying a lot of weight there, and the Judiciary's Public Portal User Guide spells out exactly how much.
Anonymous users can view case summaries, meaning docket sheets, in Civil Division and Judicial Bureau cases. That is the whole of it. The User Guide is blunt about the rest: "Document images (filings, orders, hearing notices, etc.) are NOT available to anonymous public users." So you can confirm a civil case exists, see the parties and the docket entries, and read the hearing dates, but you cannot open the complaint, the motions, or the judge's order from home. Those require a registered account with approved elevated access.
The registered tiers are also not a single tier, and the difference matters. A case party, meaning a plaintiff, defendant, petitioner, or respondent, can request elevated access to their own case, but only if the email address they register with already matches an email on file for them in the court's case management system, which in practice means an address they wrote on a document they filed. A Vermont-licensed attorney registers for a different role entirely. Per the User Guide, the Attorney role "allows them to view case information for cases in which they are counsel of record along with all other public criminal, family, probate, civil and appellate cases." That broader access is what 12 V.S.A. § 5(b) requires the Court to give Vermont attorneys in good standing, and it does not depend on having an email on file in each case. Attorneys licensed only in other states get a narrower grant, "access only to public civil and traffic cases," unless they appear pro hac vice in a particular Vermont case.
A Geographic Restriction Worth Knowing
Vermont's Public Portal comes with a restriction that is easy to run into without warning. The court's own notice states: "Due to cybersecurity concerns, the Public Portal is only available to court users physically located in the United States (including U.S. territories) and Canada." If you are trying to search Vermont court records from outside North America, whether traveling or living abroad, the portal itself will not be reachable, and you will need to contact the relevant court directly instead.
Coverage: Which Courts Are Included
Vermont's Public Portal runs on the Odyssey case management platform, and the main limit on what a member of the public can find there is not a rollout schedule that will eventually catch up. It is a statute. Under 12 V.S.A. § 5(a), "The Court shall not permit public access via the internet to criminal, family, or probate case records." The Judiciary's own User Guide states the consequence without hedging: "Criminal, Family and Probate case information is not available remotely to anonymous public users based on statutory restrictions (12 V.S.A. Section 5)."
That means checking back later will not help. A Vermont criminal docket, a divorce or parentage file, or a probate estate is not going to surface on the portal for a member of the public, because the law forbids the Court from putting it there. What anonymous users do get is the Civil Division and the Judicial Bureau, the latter being where traffic tickets and municipal violations are handled.
If the case you need is criminal, family, or probate, the public route is in person. The User Guide is explicit: "You may view public Criminal, Family or Probate case records at courthouse Public Access Terminals." The other route is a written request to the court where the case was filed, covered in the next section. Neither is closed to you. The online one simply is not the one to use.
Sealing vs. Expungement: Vermont's Definitions
Getting these two terms right matters in Vermont, because the state's usage runs the opposite direction from what some readers might expect. Vermont's Judiciary defines expungement this way: "All the records related to the criminal charge will be removed from any accessible court database. If there was a paper file, it will be physically destroyed." Sealing is different: "Records related to the criminal charge are not viewable in any accessible court database. If there was a paper court file, it will be placed in a confidential file." In plain terms, expungement destroys the file in Vermont, while sealing hides it without destroying it.
A major revision, Act 60 of 2025, took effect July 1, 2025 and changed which offenses land in which category. Vermont's Judiciary confirms the overhaul "reduced the number of offenses eligible for expungement while expanding eligibility for sealing." That means a description of Vermont's rules written before mid-2025 is likely describing a system that no longer exists. Because the specific list of offenses that currently qualify for each track runs long and is best confirmed against the current statute, see the Vermont expungement laws guide for the eligibility detail rather than relying on an older summary.
Certified Copies and Search Methods
To request records, Vermont's Judiciary directs people to fill out a Request for Access to Court Records form and send it, by email, mail, or hand delivery, to the court where the case was filed. Paper copies cost 25 cents per page with a $1.00 minimum, and certified copies cost $5.00. Records that are no longer stored at the courthouse can carry an additional retrieval fee. Payment is by check or money order payable to the Vermont Superior Court, or by credit card over the phone by arrangement.
Public access terminals in most Vermont courthouses are not merely a convenience for people who live nearby. They are the free public route to the two things the portal withholds: criminal, family, and probate case records, and document images in any case type. At a terminal you can search by case number or party name at no charge, though printing anything you find carries a fee. The Judiciary gives the same answer to anyone whose portal role does not reach a record: "Certain case information is available at courthouses at the Public Access Terminals, or by requesting copies of records from the court."
Using Vermont Court Records the Right Way
These tools are built for checking your own case, verifying a matter you are personally involved in, or general public transparency, not for compiling background information on someone else. If a Vermont court record is being used to screen a job applicant or tenant, that use is governed separately by the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act. Under 15 U.S.C. § 1681c, records of criminal convictions are exempt from the standard seven-year reporting limit and can be reported indefinitely unless Vermont has sealed or expunged them under its current, post-2025 rules.
Related Resources
Court Records by State covers the full 50-state picture. See also How to Look Up Court Records, Are Court Records Public?, Vermont Expungement Laws, Vermont Background Check Laws, Vermont Warrant Search, and Vermont Public Records Laws.
Disclaimer
This article provides general information about Vermont's public court record tools and its 2025 sealing and expungement overhaul. It is not legal advice. Portal coverage, fees, and statutes change; verify current details with the Vermont Judiciary or a Vermont attorney before relying on anything here for a specific situation.
Last updated: 2026-08-10. Portal facts and fees reflect their published status as of August 2026.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Vermont's Public Portal free?
Yes, and no registration is required, but what anonymous users get is narrow: case summaries, meaning docket sheets, in Civil Division and Judicial Bureau cases only. Document images such as filings, orders, and hearing notices are not available to anonymous users at all, and criminal, family, and probate cases are not viewable online by the public under 12 V.S.A. § 5.
How do I look up a Vermont criminal, divorce, or probate case?
Not on the Public Portal. 12 V.S.A. § 5(a) bars the Court from giving the general public internet access to criminal, family, or probate case records, so those dockets will not appear online for you no matter how long you wait. View them at a courthouse Public Access Terminal, or send a Request for Access to Court Records form to the court where the case was filed.
Can I download a filing or an order from the Public Portal without an account?
No. The Judiciary's Public Portal User Guide states that document images, including filings, orders, and hearing notices, are not available to anonymous public users. Anonymous access stops at the docket sheet. Document images require a registered account with approved elevated access, or a trip to a courthouse public access terminal.
Do Vermont attorneys get more portal access than case parties?
Yes, and the two tiers work differently. A case party qualifies for elevated access only if the email address used to register already matches an email on file for them in the court's system. A Vermont-licensed attorney instead requests the Attorney role, which reaches cases where they are counsel of record plus all other public criminal, family, probate, civil, and appellate cases. Attorneys licensed only in other states are limited to public civil and traffic cases unless admitted pro hac vice.
Can I access Vermont's Public Portal from outside the United States or Canada?
No. Due to cybersecurity restrictions, the portal is only available to users physically located in the United States, including its territories, or Canada.
What's the difference between expungement and sealing in Vermont?
Expungement physically destroys the paper file and removes all records from any accessible database. Sealing hides the records from public view but does not destroy them.
What changed in Vermont's sealing and expungement law in 2025?
Act 60 of 2025, effective July 1, 2025, reduced the number of offenses eligible for expungement while expanding eligibility for sealing. Descriptions of Vermont's rules from before mid-2025 are likely outdated.
How much does a certified copy of a Vermont court record cost?
Certified copies cost $5.00. Plain paper copies cost 25 cents per page with a $1.00 minimum, and older records stored off-site may carry an additional retrieval fee.
How do I search for a case at a Vermont courthouse in person?
Public access terminals in most Vermont courthouses let you search by case number or party name at no charge. Printing anything you find carries a separate fee.
Can I use Vermont court records to screen a tenant or job applicant?
You can search public records, but using them for an employment or housing decision is separately governed by the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act. This guide addresses personal lookups, not screening compliance.
Updates
Corrected the portal section to explain that Vermont criminal, family, and probate case records are barred from public internet access by statute (12 V.S.A. § 5) rather than awaiting a rollout, noted that anonymous users cannot open document images in any case, and separated the attorney access tier from the case-party email-on-file rule.
Independently fact-checked against the cited primary sources
The Law Behind This Article
This article rests on the statutory provisions below, held in our own legal record and retrieved from the official source. Tap a section to read the operative text.
Vermont Statutes Annotated, Title 12: Court Procedure, Chapter 1: Rules of Court
§ 5Dissemination of electronic case recordsIn forcecited in 2 of our articles
(a) The Court shall not permit public access via the internet to criminal, family, or probate case records. The Court may permit criminal justice agencies, as defined in 20 V.S.A. § 2056a, internet access to criminal case records for criminal justice purposes, as defined in 20 V.S.A. § 2056a. (b) Notwithstanding subsection (a) of this section, the Court shall provide licensed Vermont attorneys in good standing with access via the internet, through the Judiciary’s public portal website or otherwise, to nonconfidential criminal, family, and probate case records. (c) This section shall not be construed to prohibit the Court from providing electronic access to: (1) court schedules of the Superior Court or opinions of the Criminal Division of the Superior Court; (2) State agencies in accordance with data dissemination contracts entered into under Rule 12 of the Vermont Rules for Public Access to Court Records; or (3) decisions, recordings of oral arguments, briefs, and printed cases of the Supreme Court. (Added 2007, No. 165 (Adj. Sess.), § 1; amended 2009, No. 154 (Adj. Sess.), § 65; 2013, No. 67, § 9; 2019, No. 40, § 1; 2023, No. 46, § 7, eff. June 5, 2023; 2025, No.
Official text (excerpt) · last checked 2026-09-08 · Read the full text in our law library · Verify at legislature.vermont.gov
Cited in 1 court opinions in our collectionLatest citing opinion in our collection: 2023
Opinions citing this section in our collection:
- state v. charter oak (Vermont Superior Court 2023)“…This case presents another opportunity to consider whether 12 V.S.A. § 5 11 or 10 V.S.A. § 8015 applies to a dir…”
Identified automatically from the court opinions citing this section — not a ranking of which case controls.
Also relied on in: Vermont Warrant Search: How to Check If You Have a Warrant (2026)
United States Code Title 15
§ 1681cRequirements relating to information contained in consumer reportsIn forcecited in 61 of our articles
Except as authorized under subsection (b), no consumer reporting agency may make any consumer report containing any of the following items of information: Cases under title 11 or under the Bankruptcy Act that, from the date of entry of the order for relief or the date of adjudication, as the case may be, antedate the report by more than 10 years. Civil suits, civil judgments, and records of arrest that, from date of entry, antedate the report by more than seven years or until the governing statute of limitations has expired, whichever is the longer period. Paid tax liens which, from date of payment, antedate the report by more than seven years. Accounts placed for collection or charged to profit and loss which antedate the report by more than seven years. Any other adverse item of information, other than records of convictions of crimes which antedates the report by more than seven years.
Official text (excerpt) · last checked 2026-09-16 · Read the full text in our law library · Verify at uscode.house.gov
Cited in 383 court opinions in our collectionLatest citing opinion in our collection: 2026
In the courts (editorial summary, independently checked):Katz v. Donna Karan Co. (2017) addressed the FACTA truncation rule in 1681c(g) and affirmed dismissal for lack of Article III standing, treating material risk of harm as a fact question. Edward Seamans v. Temple University (2014) held the seven-year window in 1681c(a)(4) is extended for an education loan only until that loan is repaid.
Opinions citing this section in our collection:
- Katz v. Donna Karan Co. (Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit 2017, 872 F.3d 114)✓A shopper sued two stores whose receipts printed the first six digits of his credit card number; the Second Circuit affirmed dismissal for lack of standing, seeing no clear error in the finding that those digits show only the card issuer, not a material risk of identity theft.
- Edward Seamans v. Temple University (Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit 2014, 744 F.3d 853)✓A defaulted university loan kept appearing on a borrower's credit reports after he repaid it because the school never reported the delinquency date; the Third Circuit held the Higher Education Act suspends section 1681c(a)(4)'s aging-off rule only until repayment.
- Gonzales v. Arrow Financial Services, LLC (Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit 2011, 660 F.3d 1055)✓A debt buyer offered to settle health club debts over seven years old, saying that if it was reporting the account the bureaus would be told it was settled; the Ninth Circuit, treating those debts as unreportable under section 1681c(a)(4), called that implication misleading.
Identified automatically from the court opinions citing this section — not a ranking of which case controls.
Also relied on in: How Long Does a Felony Stay on Your Record? (2026), Background Check Laws by State (2026 Guide), Alabama Background Check Laws (2026 Guide)
Sources and References
- Vermont Judiciary, Expungement and Sealing of Criminal Records(vtcourts.gov).gov
- Vermont Judiciary, Public Portal(vtcourts.gov).gov
- Vermont Judiciary, Requests for Access to Court Records(vtcourts.gov).gov
- Cornell Legal Information Institute, 15 U.S.C. § 1681c (FCRA obsolete information)(law.cornell.edu)
- Vermont General Assembly, 12 V.S.A. § 5 (Electronic access to case records)(legislature.vermont.gov)
- Vermont Judiciary, Public Portal User Guide v4.1 (October 8, 2025)(vtcourts.gov)