Amending Meeting Minutes

[moose67]

Here is my issue at my clubs February meeting we had one board member object to a portion of the minutes and motioned  the sentence in question be struck from the minutes, and replaces with different language. We agreed on new language.

 

The president’s way of changing minutes, he simply put a line through the sentence in question, wrote the new language below and initialed the correction.

 

So fast forward to April and now we are approving the February meeting minutes. And I have copied the paragraph into my minutes and double struck the sentence in question. And below that area have the motion made with the language and who made the motion and seconded and so on. stricktly for reference of what was changed.

 

So the guy who originally made the motion goes off that he wanted me to completely remove the language. I could simply remove the reference point from my February minuets so they will pass inspection. That still leaves a set of minutes from January.

 

I guess it all boils down to what is the best or accepted way to amend/correct meeting minutes? Do you remove, rewrite and bring back to another meeting or is lining out an error or change acceptable

 

[Sean Hunt]

If the change is made at the meeting at which the minutes are approved, then the Secretary should ensure that the official copy of the minutes reflects the change (the President has nothing to do with this). The uncorrected version has no official status of any form, so there is no particular reason to include the deleted text. If this is what happened, then the February minutes should not reflect the nature of the change, only that the January minutes were approved with corrections.

If the change is made after the initial approval, then it must be made through a motion to Amend Something Previously Adopted. In this case, the full content of the motion would have to be recorded in the February minutes. The original text would have to still be preserved, as the record of what was approved can't be erased.

[moose67]

So let me ask a follow up for clarification, lets say I am presenting a set of minuets for review someone says I have issue with this sentence “ the chairman is being reprimanded for his actions” I make the motion that we strike that wording and replace it with  ‘the chairman is being given a warning for his actions.

 

Are normal practice would be to line out the word or sentence to be changed, and below that paragraph let’s say the Secretary would then write in the change and initial it.

 

Is that acceptable, or do I have to rewrite that section and bring the changed copy back to a later meeting, personal I feel the first way is the best because it shows the change and what it was replaced with. The issue is a chairman wants the wording completely removed so no one can see the lined out wording.

[Guest Edgar]

Let's differentiate between draft minutes that have been corrected prior to approval and approved minutes which have been amended after approval.

 

In the first instance, the approved minutes should not show any signs of correction, In other words, the secretary should prepare a "clean" copy, as corrected.

 

In the second instance, the approved minutes remain unchanged and the amendments are recorded in the minutes of the meeting at which the amendments were adopted.

 

As for the example you cite, you should record the exact language of the motion that was made. If it was a motion to "reprimand", don't change it into a motion to "give a warning" Record what was actually done, not what you, or anyone else, thinks should have been done.

[elliek]

The problem I have with our secretary is that she writes all the he said, she said stuff and some stuff is offensive.  I have asked her repeatedly to change her way, but she doesn't listen.  She sends out a draft, and I changed one of our meeting minutes completely leaving out all the unnecessary wording.  Needless to say, others who support the secretary balked at the changes.    

 

I don't know whether she's making necessary changes in her copy or not.    Any suggestions how to handle that?  Maybe, ask for a copy with changes listed?

[g40]

The Secretary should include/apply all changes/corrections as 'approved' by the Board. That means, in your case, if you offer 'corrections' and there are no objections or other corrections by other Board members, the secretary should make those changes/corrections. As a member of the Board, you certainly do have a right to see the final 'approved as corrected' minutes, and insist that corrections be done properly. The changes do not need to be listed, but the final document should include all corrections.

 

Based on what you describe and her 'attitude', frankly it would not surprise me if she just ignores any corrections she does not like.

[Josh Martin]

The president’s way of changing minutes, he simply put a line through the sentence in question, wrote the new language below and initialed the correction.

 

Are the minutes handwritten? If so, this is the appropriate procedure. Most people draft their minutes on a computer now, however, and in such a case the draft minutes should simply be changed to incorporate any corrections made by the assembly. So in this case, the language should have been completely removed and replaced with the new language.

 

So let me ask a follow up for clarification, lets say I am presenting a set of minuets for review someone says I have issue with this sentence “ the chairman is being reprimanded for his actions” I make the motion that we strike that wording and replace it with  ‘the chairman is being given a warning for his actions.

 

If a motion was adopted to reprimand the chair or give him a warning, the exact wording of the motion should be in the minutes, whether or not anyone likes it. If no motion was adopted on this subject, neither of these sentences should be in the minutes.

 

Is that acceptable, or do I have to rewrite that section and bring the changed copy back to a later meeting, personal I feel the first way is the best because it shows the change and what it was replaced with. The issue is a chairman wants the wording completely removed so no one can see the lined out wording.

 

The latter is the appropriate procedure unless this is impractical for some reason (such as if the minutes are handwritten, which is not a common practice these days).

 

The problem I have with our secretary is that she writes all the he said, she said stuff and some stuff is offensive.  I have asked her repeatedly to change her way, but she doesn't listen.

 

Such information should not be included. The minutes are a record of what was done, not what was said. If the secretary is unable to understand this, get a new secretary. See FAQ #20.

 

If some of what was said is offensive, this may also suggest that the chair needs to do a better job of enforcing the rules of decorum.

 

I don't know whether she's making necessary changes in her copy or not.    Any suggestions how to handle that?  Maybe, ask for a copy with changes listed?

 

You don't technically have a right to a copy under RONR (although some organizations grant such requests), but you can certainly ask to see the minutes.

 

Also, for future reference, it's generally best to post a new question as a new topic, even if an existing topic is similar.