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Minutes Approval


Guest Tina

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Our Board and Executive Committee has not seen or approved minutes from any of our meetings this fiscal year despite requesting them several times.  All action taken during Board meetings goes to our Annual Convention Delegates for final approval.  If the Board has not approved any minutes from our meetings, can the action items still be presented to convention delegates for final approval?

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Approving the minutes merely indicates that they are an accurate record of what took place at the meeting. That doesn't sound like the same thing as approving "action items".

 

And failure to approve minutes doesn't invalidate any business conducted at the meeting(s) in question. It just means there is, as yet, no official record (though clearly that's not a good thing).

 

And the minutes are usually approved by the body that was meeting. That is, the board would approve minutes of board meetings and the executive committee would approve minutes of executive committee meetings.

 

But perhaps you're asking about something else.

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Our Board and Executive Committee has not seen or approved minutes from any of our meetings this fiscal year despite requesting them several times.  All action taken during Board meetings goes to our Annual Convention Delegates for final approval.  If the Board has not approved any minutes from our meetings, can the action items still be presented to convention delegates for final approval?

 

Yes, the convention may still approve the board's actions, notwithstanding that the board has not approved (or even seen) any of its minutes.

 

This issue notwithstanding, the board and the Executive Committee need to get and approve the minutes of its meetings ASAP. Since you have requested the minutes several times with no success, it sounds like you might need to get a new Secretary, and have that person recreate the minutes from earlier meetings. See FAQ #20 for more information.

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Yes, the convention may still approve the board's actions, notwithstanding that the board has not approved (or even seen) any of its minutes.

 

This issue notwithstanding, the board and the Executive Committee need to get and approve the minutes of its meetings ASAP. Since you have requested the minutes several times with no success, it sounds like you might need to get a new Secretary, and have that person recreate the minutes from earlier meetings. See FAQ #20 for more information.

Thank you for replying!  One more question, if you could, I have been looking in my RONR to find something about committee reports within the minutes only saying SEE ATTACHED.  One set of minutes simply had the name of the committee and then see attached as the report.  Is this within Robert's Rules?  I have always felt that minutes should include any action items in full writing rather than just "see attached". Thank you!

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If the report is for information only, it is "received and placed on file" (see the sample minutes in RONR 11th ed., p. 472, ll. 19-20).

 

"When a committee report is of great importance or should be recorded to show the legislative history of a measure, the assembly can order it "to be entered in the minutes," in which case the secretary copies it in full in the minutes." (p. 471, ll. 13-17)

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Thank you for replying!  One more question, if you could, I have been looking in my RONR to find something about committee reports within the minutes only saying SEE ATTACHED.  One set of minutes simply had the name of the committee and then see attached as the report.  Is this within Robert's Rules?  I have always felt that minutes should include any action items in full writing rather than just "see attached". Thank you!

An "action item" (that is, a motion) should be included in the minutes in full, although I have no objections to attaching the full text of an especially lengthy motion as a separate page. A complete revision to the bylaws, for instance, might be better suited as an attachment.

A committee report is not necessarily an "action item." If any motions arise from the report, those motions should be included in the minutes, but there is no need to include the report in its entirety. If the committee report is for information only, there's no need to include it at all, except to note that the report was received and placed on file.

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