2023 Vermont Statutes › Title 33 - Human Services › Chapter 59 - Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children [Contingently Enacted] › § 5910. Organization and operation of the Interstate Commission [Contingently enacted]

§ 5910. Organization and operation of the Interstate Commission [Contingently enacted]
(a) Bylaws.
(1) Within 12 months after the first Interstate Commission meeting, the Interstate Commission shall adopt bylaws to govern its conduct as may be necessary or appropriate to carry out the purposes of the Compact.
(2) The Interstate Commission’s bylaws and rules shall establish conditions and procedures under which the Interstate Commission shall make its information and official records available to the public for inspection or copying. The Interstate Commission may exempt from disclosure information or official records to the extent they would adversely affect personal privacy rights or proprietary interests.
(b) Meetings.
(1) The Interstate Commission shall meet at least once each calendar year. The chairperson may call additional meetings and, upon the request of a simple majority of the member states, shall call additional meetings.
(2) Public notice shall be given by the Interstate Commission of all meetings, and all meetings shall be open to the public, except as set forth in the rules or as otherwise provided in the Compact. The Interstate Commission and its committees may close a meeting, or portion thereof, where it determines by two-thirds vote that an open meeting would be likely to:
(A) relate solely to the Interstate Commission’s internal personnel practices and procedures; or
(B) disclose matters specifically exempted from disclosure by federal law; or
(C) disclose financial or commercial information that is privileged, proprietary, or confidential in nature; or
(D) involve accusing a person of a crime, or formally censuring a person; or
(E) disclose information of a personal nature where disclosure would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy or physically endanger one or more persons; or
(F) disclose investigative records compiled for law enforcement purposes; or
(G) specifically relate to the Interstate Commission’s participation in a civil action or other legal proceeding.
(3) For a meeting, or portion of a meeting, closed pursuant to this provision, the Interstate Commission’s legal counsel or designee shall certify that the meeting may be closed and shall reference each relevant exemption provision. The Interstate Commission shall keep minutes that shall fully and clearly describe all matters discussed in a meeting and shall provide a full and accurate summary of actions taken and the reasons therefore, including a description of the views expressed and the record of a roll call vote. All documents considered in connection with an action shall be identified in such minutes. All minutes and documents of a closed meeting shall remain under seal, subject to release by a majority vote of the Interstate Commission or by court order.
(4) The bylaws may provide for meetings of the Interstate Commission to be conducted by telecommunication or other electronic communication.
(c) Officers and staff.
(1) The Interstate Commission may, through its executive committee, appoint or retain a staff director for such period, upon such terms and conditions and for such compensation as the Interstate Commission may deem appropriate. The staff director shall serve as secretary to the Interstate Commission but shall not have a vote. The staff director may hire and supervise such other staff as may be authorized by the Interstate Commission.
(2) The Interstate Commission shall elect from among its members a chairperson and a vice chairperson of the executive committee and other necessary officers, each of whom shall have such authority and duties as may be specified in the bylaws.
(d) Qualified immunity; defense and indemnification. The Interstate Commission’s staff director and its employees shall be immune from suit and liability, either personally or in their official capacity, for a claim for damage to or loss of property or personal injury or other civil liability caused or arising out of or relating to an actual or alleged act, error, or omission that occurred, or that such person had a reasonable basis for believing occurred within the scope of Commission employment, duties, or responsibilities, provided that such person shall not be protected from suit or liability for damage, loss, injury, or liability caused by a criminal act or the intentional or willful and wanton misconduct of such person.
(1) The liability of the Interstate Commission’s staff director and employees or Interstate Commission representatives, acting within the scope of such person’s employment or duties for acts, errors, or omissions occurring within such person’s state, may not exceed the limits of liability set forth under the constitution and laws of that state for state officials, employees, and agents. The Interstate Commission is considered to be an instrumentality of the states for the purposes of any such action. Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to protect such person from suit or liability for damage, loss, injury, or liability caused by a criminal act or the intentional or willful and wanton misconduct of such person.
(2) The Interstate Commission shall defend the staff director and its employees and, subject to the approval of the Attorney General or other appropriate legal counsel of the member state, shall defend the commissioner of a member state in a civil action seeking to impose liability arising out of an actual or alleged act, error, or omission that occurred within the scope of Interstate Commission employment, duties, or responsibilities, or that the defendant had a reasonable basis for believing occurred within the scope of Interstate Commission employment, duties, or responsibilities, provided that the actual or alleged act, error, or omission did not result from intentional or willful and wanton misconduct on the part of such person.
(3) To the extent not covered by the state involved, member state, or the Interstate Commission, the representatives or employees of the Interstate Commission shall be held harmless in the amount of a settlement or judgment, including attorney’s fees and costs, obtained against such persons arising out of an actual or alleged act, error, or omission that occurred within the scope of Interstate Commission employment, duties, or responsibilities, or that such persons had a reasonable basis for believing occurred within the scope of Interstate Commission employment, duties, or responsibilities, provided that the actual or alleged act, error, or omission did not result from intentional or willful and wanton misconduct on the part of such persons. (Contingently added 2021, No. 101 (Adj. Sess.), § 2.)