Vermont overhauls public records law.

• Position: OPEN RECORDS - Brief article

In the transparency department, Vermont has notoriously ranked among the worst in the United States. But with the recent revamp of its public records law, citizens will see a marked improvement in their ability to access government data.

For one, the new law will make it easier for those individuals who are wrongly denied access to public records to recoup their legal fees, according to the Bennington (Vt.) Banner. In such cases, the law requires judges to award court costs to those individuals who are denied records--a dramatic change from the state's previous law, which stated that a judge "may" award legal fees.

There is one exception written into the law, however; if the...