Certification by unauthorized person; penalty; validity of civil unions (a) An unauthorized person who knowingly undertakes to join others in a civil union shall be imprisoned not more than six months or fined not more than $300.00 nor less than $100.00, or both. (b) A civil union certified before a person falsely professing to be a justice or a member of the clergy shall be valid, provided that the civil union is in other respects lawful, and that either of the parties to a civil union believed that he or she was lawfully joined in a civil union. (Added 1999, No. 91 (Adj. Sess.), § 5.)
Vermont Legal Code
§ 5166
Vermont Title 18 — Vermont law
Source: https://legislature.vermont.gov/statutes/section/18/106/05166· Version 2026