(a) There is created a Vermont Motor Vehicle Arbitration Board consisting of five members and three alternate members to be appointed by the Governor for terms of three years. Board members may be appointed for two additional three-year terms. One member of the Board and one alternate shall be new car dealers in Vermont, one member and one alternate shall be persons active as automobile technicians, and three members and one alternate shall be persons having no direct involvement in the design, manufacture, distribution, sales, or service of motor vehicles or their parts. Board members shall be compensated in accordance with the provisions of 32 V.S.A. § 1010. Administrative support for the Board shall be provided as determined by the Secretary of Transportation.

(b) The Board shall adopt rules under the provisions of 3 V.S.A. chapter 25 to implement the provisions of this chapter.

(c) The Board may issue subpoenas to compel the attendance of witnesses to testify under oath and to produce documents.

(d) The Board shall render a decision within 30 days of the conclusion of a hearing in a contested matter, and within 30 days of the manufacturer's answer in an uncontested matter. The Board has authority to issue any and all damages as are provided by this chapter. (Added 1983, No. 211 (Adj. Sess.), § 1; amended 1985, No. 260 (Adj. Sess.), § 4; 1987, No. 123 (Adj. Sess.), eff. Jan. 29, 1988; 1989, No. 157 (Adj. Sess.), § 2, eff. April 30, 1990; 1999, No. 18, § 30, eff. May 13, 1999; 2007, No. 19, § 1; 2013, No. 57, § 22, eff. May 30, 2013; 2015, No. 23, § 95; 2015, No. 50, § 32, eff. June 3, 2015.)