Approval of Minutes

[Jose Cruz]

There has been a long discussion on when do the minutes get approved in accordance with Robert Riles of Order. Our meetings are held monthly in which at the end of the meeting the minutes are read and approved. Although there is no rule prohibiting this I believe is impractical as members can not actually make any corrections of what they can not see written. So my question is According to Robert Rules of Order when are the minutes approved and what is the rule number so I may educate the members of my organization in the proper procedures of approving the minutes. Thank you in advanced.

[jstackpo]

The standard order of business -- RONR, page 26  --  shows reading and approval of minutes as the first item of business.

Edited March 8, 2019 at 11:07 AM by jstackpo

[Hieu H. Huynh]

Also see "1. Reading and Approval of Minutes" in RONR 11th ed., pp. 354-355.

[Benjamin Geiger]

It makes sense that reading and approving the minutes would occur at the beginning of the meeting. It provides a reminder of where the organization left off at the last meeting. Plus, without the current meeting having already happened, it's easier to remember the last meeting.

[Josh Martin]

4 hours ago, Jose Cruz said:

There has been a long discussion on when do the minutes get approved in accordance with Robert Riles of Order. Our meetings are held monthly in which at the end of the meeting the minutes are read and approved. Although there is no rule prohibiting this I believe is impractical as members can not actually make any corrections of what they can not see written. So my question is According to Robert Rules of Order when are the minutes approved and what is the rule number so I may educate the members of my organization in the proper procedures of approving the minutes. Thank you in advanced.

In the assembly where meetings are held monthly, the minutes would be approved at the beginning of the next meeting. For a reference, take a look at the bottom of RONR, 11th ed., pg. 473.

12 minutes ago, Benjamin Geiger said:

It makes sense that reading and approving the minutes would occur at the beginning of the meeting. It provides a reminder of where the organization left off at the last meeting. Plus, without the current meeting having already happened, it's easier to remember the last meeting.

The situation seems to be even stranger, since it appears the minutes of a meeting are being approved at the end of the same meeting. As the OP notes, “members can not actually make any corrections of what they can not see written.” If the minutes were not approved until the next meeting, whether at the beginning or the end, this presumably would not be a problem.

[Benjamin Geiger]

2 minutes ago, Josh Martin said:

The situation seems to be even stranger, since it appears the minutes of a meeting are being approved at the end of the same meeting.

Ah, I misunderstood the situation, then. I read it such that the minutes for the March meeting would be approved at the end of the April meeting.

[Joshua Katz]

While I agree that the minutes appear as the first item, not the last, in the standard order of business, I see no prohibition on adopting them at the end of the meeting. It seems somewhat impractical, but if the Secretary can have them written up and read them at the end, what's the problem, from a parliamentary perspective? In fact, there are instances where RONR does envision approving minutes (happy?) at the same meeting, such as short executive sessions. 

As to the second question, that members cannot see them written, RONR does not require they be distributed in a written form; reading them out loud is fine (if annoying), and members can correct them by paying attention as they are read. It is possible, though, that something else is being done incorrectly, making it impossible for them to make corrections. If so, please let us know.