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Executive Session


Guest John T.

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Regarding Executive Sessions the following is present in RONR p. 95 starting on line 30 and carrying over to p. 96 is the following:

·         "Whenever a meeting is being held in executive session, only members of the body that is meeting, special invitees, and such employees or staff members as the body or its rules may determine to be necessary are allowed to remain in the hall.  Thus, in the case of the a board or committee meeting being held in executive session, all persons – whether or not they are members of the organization  - who are not members of the board or committee (and who are not otherwise specifically invited or entitled to attend) are excluded from the meeting."

Thus upon the motion and duly adopted by a majority vote of the Board to enter into executive session, could the Board then decide real time who can attend the Executive Session?  This Board in question does not have any current rules or regulations regarding who can or cannot join executive sessions.  The Board routinely has non-board members attend meetings (counsel, various advisers, some donors, friends, etc) and they are curious if they can exclude non-board members by a vote of the Board after the Board votes to go into an executive session.  

I have never seen this scenario in action and curious if there are any further rules that govern this scenario.  Any assistance would be appreciated.  Also if there are references to other areas in RONR I should be looking if you could that in your response that would be great. 

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4 minutes ago, Guest John T. said:

. . . Thus upon the motion and duly adopted by a majority vote of the Board to enter into executive session, could the Board then decide real time who can attend the Executive Session?  This Board in question does not have any current rules or regulations regarding who can or cannot join executive sessions.  The Board routinely has non-board members attend meetings (counsel, various advisers, some donors, friends, etc) and they are curious if they can exclude non-board members by a vote of the Board after the Board votes to go into an executive session. 

Yes, the board can decide "in real time" (from time to time during the meeting) which non members can be in attendance.  It doesn't matter whether this happens prior to or during the executive session.  The board can change its mind during the meeting about who can be present and can allow different guests to be present for different parts of the meeting. 

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3 hours ago, Guest John T. said:

Q1.) Thus upon the motion and duly adopted by a majority vote of the Board to enter into executive session,

could the Board then decide real time who can attend the Executive Session?  

Q2.) They [the board members] are curious if they can exclude non-board members by a vote of the Board

after the Board votes to go into an executive session.  

A1.) Yes. Of course. -- Nonmembers (of the body which is meeting) have no right to attend. So, the proper members of the body are free to exclude/include whom they wish. "Cherry picking" they call it.

A2.) After (invoking executive session)? Yes.

And while we are at it . .

Before (invoking executive session)? Yes.

Because non-members have no right to attend, the board is free to kick out non-board members even when no executive session is invoked.

***

Extreme example:

If someone is chewing gum, or if someone looks beady-eyed, the board is free to exclude any non-board member from the meeting room. --The guests/visitors are not members of the body which is meeting. So they have no right to be there in the first place.

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