Municipal Charter Changes

Pursuant to 17 V.S.A. § 2645, the clerk of any municipality that voted to amend its charter, within 10 days after the meeting, shall certify to the Secretary of State each separate proposal contained within the charter proposal, showing the facts as to its origin and the procedure followed, which shall include:

1. • If the charter proposal was made by the legislative body, the minutes recorded by the legislative body that detail the origins and intent of each separate proposal;
   • If the charter proposal was made by voter petition, the body of the petition and evidence of the required number of petition signatures;
2. A copy of the official certified copy of the charter proposal filed with the clerk of the municipality pursuant to subdivision (a)(2) of this section;
3. Copies of the warnings and published notices for each of the public hearings held pursuant to subdivision (a)(3) of § 2645;
4. Minutes recorded by the legislative body that detail each of the public hearings held pursuant to subdivision (a)(3) of § 2645;
5. Copies of warnings and published notices for the meeting to vote on the charter proposal; and
6. A copy of the ballot and the results of the vote or votes on the charter proposal.

Certified copies of the above should be mailed to the Secretary of State at:

Vermont Secretary of State’s Office
Elections Division
128 State Street
Montpelier, VT 05633-1101

After confirming that the clerk of the municipality has certified each of the documents as listed above, the Secretary of State shall file the certificate and deliver copies of it to the Attorney General, the Clerk of the House, the Secretary of the Senate, and the chairs of the committees concerned with municipal charters of both houses of the General Assembly.

Please direct questions regarding filing to the Elections Division at the Secretary of State’s Office.

Any other questions about adopting or amending municipal charters may be directed to Jenny Prosser, General Counsel and Director of Municipal Assistance.

Does your Municipality have a Charter? Pre-1986 charters can be found here. Changes since 1998 can be found here.