Minutes Signature

[Guest KCP]

Do minutes still have to be printed out and signed or can electronic copies be kept and an electronic signature used?

[Chris Harrison]

Do minutes still have to be printed out and signed or can electronic copies be kept and an electronic signature used?

RONR p. 451 says:

The minutes should be kept in a substantial book or binder.

which suggests that the minutes must be in a physical form.

[Gary Novosielski]

Do minutes still have to be printed out and signed or can electronic copies be kept and an electronic signature used?

RONR says minutes should be kept "in a substantial book or binder". But there's no rule against keeping electronic copies too, since they would greatly facilitate searching past minutes.

[Rev Ed]

RONR requires a hardcopy - which is probably a good idea if the computer crashes or a the electronic information is otherwise compromised. However, an electronic version may be a good idea as a back-up and as suggested as a way to provide a quick search of past Minutes.

[Chris Harrison]

If you do store the minutes electronically as well as having them in hard copy you will want to make sure that they both say the same thing. For example if the paper minutes from a meeting months before gets amended and you don't update the electronic copy it will be confusing for a member in the future who notices the discrepancy between the hard and the e-copy.

[Rev Ed]

And while RONR would indicate that the hardcopy is the default legit version, if an e-copy is to be retained, it is perhaps advisable that the organization adopt a rule indicating that the hardcopy is the official version, but that e-copies are retained for ease of access and information only.

[Gary Novosielski]

And while RONR would indicate that the hardcopy is the default legit version, if an e-copy is to be retained, it is perhaps advisable that the organization adopt a rule indicating that the hardcopy is the official version, but that e-copies are retained for ease of access and information only.

Since RONR already says that, I don't see the advantage. Duplicating rules leads to trouble down the road.