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Correction to minutes post approval


Jamies

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I have been unable to locate a rule regarding correction of spelling errors post approval and distribution of minutes. Does RONR address this?

Scenario: The board meets once a month via teleconference. The board then approves the minutes via electronic process and then distributes to the membership. The general membership does not have access to review the minutes any time prior to approval by the board. Following distribution this past month, a member contacted me, the Recording Secretary, to notify me that her name had been spelled incorrectly in one of the committee reports, and she would like the minutes amended to reflect the correct spelling of her name. This mention did not require any action, so there was no motion made, simply a note regarding correspondence she had sent to the board.

What is the rule/proper procedure for correcting spelling errors in the minutes post approval and distribution?

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4 minutes ago, Jamies said:

I have been unable to locate a rule regarding correction of spelling errors post approval and distribution of minutes. Does RONR address this?

Scenario: The board meets once a month via teleconference. The board then approves the minutes via electronic process and then distributes to the membership. The general membership does not have access to review the minutes any time prior to approval by the board. Following distribution this past month, a member contacted me, the Recording Secretary, to notify me that her name had been spelled incorrectly in one of the committee reports, and she would like the minutes amended to reflect the correct spelling of her name. This mention did not require any action, so there was no motion made, simply a note regarding correspondence she had sent to the board.

What is the rule/proper procedure for correcting spelling errors in the minutes post approval and distribution?

See the second paragraph of FAQ #16.

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Thank you for the response. While I somewhat understand what is being stated here:

If it becomes necessary to correct minutes after they have initially been approved, such correction can be made by means of the motion to Amend Something Previously Adopted. In this event, since the motion to Amend Something Previously Adopted is a main motion, the exact wording of that motion, whether adopted or rejected, should be entered in the minutes of the meeting at which it was considered. [RONR (11th ed.), p. 469, ll. 4-8; p. 475, ll. 18-24; see also p. 151 of RONRIB.]

I am questioning the fact that the correction is being made to a record of an email that was sent to the board (something that was simply said), and was not in a motion (something was done). Unless, of course, the minutes in its entirety is what was "Previously Adopted" and therefore is what is being amended.

I would hate to set a precedent of making motions to correct minutes that have already been adopted for something as simple as a name being misspelled when not involved in a main motion during a previous meeting; however, on the other hand, I do want to ensure that I am following correct protocol. I asked a similar question a couple of months ago, while that scenario addressed a members concern that information had not been disseminated to the appropriate individuals and inaccurate information had been relayed to the member who posed the question. That inaccurate information was included in the minutes as a record of that correspondence. I was told that the minutes were a record of what was done and not what was said; therefore, the minutes did not need to be corrected. I'm wondering if this was accurate.

 

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15 minutes ago, Jamies said:

I am questioning the fact that the correction is being made to a record of an email that was sent to the board (something that was simply said), and was not in a motion (something was done). Unless, of course, the minutes in its entirety is what was "Previously Adopted" and therefore is what is being amended.

 

1.  The minutes in their entirety are what was previously adopted and is now being amended.

2.  The contents of an email sent to the board, together with anything said about it, does not belong in the minutes.  The ideal motion to amend here would be to strike this whole business.  

If a name is misspelled, one would hope that would be caught prior to adoption, but, indeed, if not, it should be corrected.  Your organization can avoid much of this hassle, though, by not including things in the minutes that do not belong there.

18 minutes ago, Jamies said:

I asked a similar question a couple of months ago, while that scenario addressed a members concern that information had not been disseminated to the appropriate individuals and inaccurate information had been relayed to the member who posed the question. That inaccurate information was included in the minutes as a record of that correspondence. I was told that the minutes were a record of what was done and not what was said; therefore, the minutes did not need to be corrected. I'm wondering if this was accurate.

I do not remember the particulars of this question.  If inaccurate answers are given, and for whatever reason, what was said is included in the minutes, then it would indeed be improper to change the minutes to reflect the "correct" answer rather than the one given at the meeting.  Ideally, though, neither should be in the minutes.

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1 hour ago, Jamies said:

Thank you for the response. While I somewhat understand what is being stated here:

If it becomes necessary to correct minutes after they have initially been approved, such correction can be made by means of the motion to Amend Something Previously Adopted. In this event, since the motion to Amend Something Previously Adopted is a main motion, the exact wording of that motion, whether adopted or rejected, should be entered in the minutes of the meeting at which it was considered. [RONR (11th ed.), p. 469, ll. 4-8; p. 475, ll. 18-24; see also p. 151 of RONRIB.]

I am questioning the fact that the correction is being made to a record of an email that was sent to the board (something that was simply said), and was not in a motion (something was done). Unless, of course, the minutes in its entirety is what was "Previously Adopted" and therefore is what is being amended.

Yes, the minutes are what is being amended.

1 hour ago, Jamies said:

I would hate to set a precedent of making motions to correct minutes that have already been adopted for something as simple as a name being misspelled when not involved in a main motion during a previous meeting; however, on the other hand, I do want to ensure that I am following correct protocol.

The procedure described above applies to all cases where the minutes are amended after they are approved, regardless of how minor the correction is. For something as minor as a spelling error, my suggestion would be to leave it alone.

1 hour ago, Jamies said:

I asked a similar question a couple of months ago, while that scenario addressed a members concern that information had not been disseminated to the appropriate individuals and inaccurate information had been relayed to the member who posed the question. That inaccurate information was included in the minutes as a record of that correspondence. I was told that the minutes were a record of what was done and not what was said; therefore, the minutes did not need to be corrected. I'm wondering if this was accurate.

The minutes are a record of what is done, not what was said. For that reason, this information should not have been included in the minutes at all. If such information is nonetheless included, however, it should be an accurate record of what happened at the meeting. So if inaccurate information was given at the meeting, then that's what goes in the minutes.

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