Adding to minutes after a meeting

[Guest Jeff demaat]

Can something be added to the minutes of the meeting after the fact. For instance: if it is agreed that mr x will be responsible for some duty and later you find that statement was not part of the minutes. Can an addendum be made to the minutes to reflect that it was discussed that mr x would be responsible? If so how? Thanks.

[George Mervosh]

Can something be added to the minutes of the meeting after the fact. For instance: if it is agreed that mr x will be responsible for some duty and later you find that statement was not part of the minutes. Can an addendum be made to the minutes to reflect that it was discussed that mr x would be responsible? If so how? Thanks.

 

If you are referring to the unapproved draft the Secretary will prepare for your next meeting, the Secretary can simply put the correct information into his draft for presentation at the next meeting.  If you are referring to minutes that have already been approved, but need correcting, the motion to amend them will have to be done in a meeting, and the correction is only listed in the minutes of the meeting where the correction took place.  RONR (11th ed.), p. 305ff and FAQ#16  http://www.robertsrules.com/faq.html#16

[Timothy]

Can something be added to the minutes of the meeting after the fact. For instance: if it is agreed that mr x will be responsible for some duty and later you find that statement was not part of the minutes. Can an addendum be made to the minutes to reflect that it was discussed that mr x would be responsible? If so how? Thanks.

 

If the society voted for Mr. X to do a particular job or even if he is elected by unanimous consent, but the minutes don't reflect that, then they can and should be corrected. Be careful, however, about including comments from discussion in the minutes. The wording of your question sounds almost like that is what you are talking about. If, for example, the motion is "to paint the building" and someone asks who is going to do it, someone might say, "That's something Mr. X can do." It wouldn't go in the minutes because it isn't part of the motion, but a lot of people would assume he would, even though Mr. X may not have agreed to do it.

[Edgar Guest]

Can an addendum be made to the minutes to reflect that it was discussed that mr x would be responsible?

 

As Mr. Fish suggests, discussions don't belong in the minutes. Either before or after the fact.

[Gary Novosielski]

If the society voted for Mr. X to do a particular job or even if he is elected by unanimous consent, but the minutes don't reflect that, then they can and should be corrected. Be careful, however, about including comments from discussion in the minutes. The wording of your question sounds almost like that is what you are talking about. If, for example, the motion is "to paint the building" and someone asks who is going to do it, someone might say, "That's something Mr. X can do." It wouldn't go in the minutes because it isn't part of the motion, but a lot of people would assume he would, even though Mr. X may not have agreed to do it.

 

And even if it were not included in the minutes, there's nothing to prevent Mr. X from agreeing to it anyway.

[Gary c Tesser]

 ...  If you are referring to minutes that have already been approved, but need correcting, the motion to amend them will have to be done in a meeting, and the correction is only listed in the minutes of the meeting where the correction took place.  RONR (11th ed.), p. 305ff and FAQ#16  http://www.robertsrules.com/faq.html#16

I'm among those who favor a marginal note where the original inaccuracy appears.  Maybe just a post-it (Reg. Penna. Dept. Agr.) note; haven't we agreed that that's no really so bad, and potentially useful?

[Dan Honemann]

Yes, it's a good idea to make a marginal notation in the minutes that have been amended indicating that they were amended on such-and-such a date. 

[Kathryn Tanner]

A member of my organization has requested an ADDENDUM (not an amendment) to minutes, calling it a "point of order" that a committee meeting was inappropriate.  This objectionable committee meeting was held prior to the board meeting that is the subject of the minutes she wants to "addend."  I cannot see such a case discussed anywhere.  Some of the members think she has a right to "addend" minutes, whether or not the majority of the board agree with her assertions in the addendum.  Can you give me some authoritative advice about this?

[Bruce Lages]

A point of order can only be made at a properly called meeting. If this member is trying to claim, outside of the meeting in question, that the meeting of another body was inappropriate, that does not belong in the minutes. She can make her point at the next meeting, although I suspect it may already be too late to raise the issue.

For future reference, please start a new thread for a new topic, no matter how similar to a previous topic, rather than adding a question to a 4 year old thread.

[Josh Martin]

3 hours ago, Kathryn Tanner said:

A member of my organization has requested an ADDENDUM (not an amendment) to minutes, calling it a "point of order" that a committee meeting was inappropriate.  This objectionable committee meeting was held prior to the board meeting that is the subject of the minutes she wants to "addend."  I cannot see such a case discussed anywhere.  Some of the members think she has a right to "addend" minutes, whether or not the majority of the board agree with her assertions in the addendum.  Can you give me some authoritative advice about this?

No, the member has no right to “addend” minutes. The addendum (which it seems to me is, in fact, a form of amendment) would only be included if the board agrees to it, and the board should not do so. The minutes are a record of what was done at the meeting. They certainly should not include a statement made some time after the meeting. Additionally, a Point of Order may only be raised during a meeting. If and when the member does so, the Point of Order, the chair’s ruling on the point and his reasoning, and any subsequent appeal, will be included in the minutes of the meeting where the Point of Order is raised.

Since it is not clear why the board member believes that the committee meeting was inappropriate, or what the relationship is between this committee and the board, I cannot say whether the point should be ruled well taken, whether the point is timely, or whether the board is even the proper body to decide this question.

Edited May 15, 2018 at 10:19 PM by Josh Martin

[Gary Novosielski]

If this allegedly improper committee meeting was not addressed at the last board meeting, it does not belong in or added to the board's minutes.  And I fail to see why minutes of the board meeting would include goings on at a committee meeting.  Board  minutes reflect decisions made at board meetings.

But if the committee in question reports to the board, the member can raise a point of order, or move to instruct or discharge the committee, or whatever else is needed, at the following board meeting.  Any of those motions would end up in the minutes of the board  automatically, without the need for  a special addendum.  It may be that a point of order would no longer be timely, but even so, the chair's ruling and reasoning would end up in the minutes.