Meeting Minutes

[Guest Dee Griffin]

How soon after a meeting should the minutes be distributed? Do they have to be approved before distribution?

[David A Foulkes]

How soon after a meeting should the minutes be distributed? Do they have to be approved before distribution?

RONR does not require the minutes be distributed prior to the meeting at which they are to be approved, although it does allow that it can be done so that all members might have read them prior to the approval meeting.

Reading and Approval of Minutes. The chair says, "The Secretary will read the minutes." However, in organizations where copies of the minutes of each previous meeting as prepared by the secretary are sent to all members in advance, the chair announces that this has been done, and the actual reading of them aloud is omitted unless any member then requests that they be read. (RONR 11th ed., p. 354 ll. 9-15)

After any proposed corrections have been disposed of, and when there is no response to the chair's inquiry, "Are there any corrections [or "further corrections"] to the minutes?" the chair says, "There being no corrections [or "no further corrections"] to the minutes, the minutes stand [or "are"] approved [or "approved as read," or "approved as corrected"]." The minutes are thus approved without any formal vote, even if a motion for their approval has been made. The only proper way to object to the approval of the secretary's draft of the minutes is to offer a correction to it. It should be noted that a member's absence from the meeting for which minutes are being approved does not prevent the member from participating in their correction or approval. (RONR 11th ed. p. 354 l. 34 - p. 355 l. 11)

[Guest Dee Griffin]

If conflict arises on whether to distribute the minutes before the meeting or at the meeting, what method is used to resolve the issue?

[Chris Harrison]

If conflict arises on whether to distribute the minutes before the meeting or at the meeting, what method is used to resolve the issue?

Unless the body has ordered the minutes be (or not be) distributed before the meeting it would be up to the Secretary to decide (RONR nether requires nor prohibits the minutes be sent out prior to the meeting). At the meeting if a member wants to have a hard-and-fast rule as to when the minutes are first seen they can make a motion and majority rules.

[g40]

How soon after a meeting should the minutes be distributed? Do they have to be approved before distribution?

To whom would the minutes be distributed? It is very common that the DRAFT minutes be distributed to the members of a board, so that board members can review the draft and make corrections. This can save time during the actual meeting.

[Guest Edgar]

It is very common that the DRAFT minutes be distributed to the members of a board, so that board members can review the draft and make corrections.

There's a board?

[Gary Novosielski]

And if you do decide to distribute the minutes to anyone before they are approved, you should clearly mark them as a "DRAFT" copy, because they are subject to being corrected before they are approved.

[Robert B Fish]

In some (many?) instances on this board, questions about immediate distribution of minutes suggest an underlying issue about the approval and content of the minutes. The purpose of the minutes is to record permanently what was DONE by the organization at a particular meeting. When you start using the minutes for other purposes - such as getting absent members up to speed on the discussion at the meeting or informing the membership or serving as a filing system for reports, then issues like these arise.

Two notes from RONR: if the organization meets less frequently than quarterly, the assembly should authorize a committee to approve the minutes for the assembly. (However, there is NO RESTRICTION against a group that meets more frequently doing that as well.) The minutes should be mainly a record of what was DONEat the meeting and not what was SAID by the members.

-Bob

[Guest Mary Schmidt]

It has been the practice of our church board and several other organizations I've belonged to for the President of the organization to review the minutes for accuracy and grammatical correctness before they are distributed to the board members. Does such a practice violate Robert's Rules of Order?

[Guest Jill]

The Board as a whole should review and approve the minutes. It is not a job that solely belongs to the President. Either a reading and subsequent corrections/approval at the beginning of the meeting by all members, or a distributed draft of the minutes prior to or at the meeting (which seems to be common practice these days) to be read and approved by all members.

Itdoes not violate any rules per RONR 11th ed. for the President to review the draft copy prior to distributing/reading the minutes for approval.

Reading and approval of minutes: RONR (11th ed.), pp. 354-355, 473-475.

[Guest Edgar]

It is very common that the DRAFT minutes be distributed to the members of a board . . .

It has been the practice of our church board . . .

The Board as a whole should review and approve the minutes . . .

The OP makes no mention of a board.

[David A Foulkes]

The OP makes no mention of a board.

I believe the board rode in on the piggy's back.