Are non board members allowed to attend board meetings?

[Guest Chris]

May anorganizations members attend board meetings?

[Bruce Lages]

Non-members may attend a board meeting only if the board grants permission - by a majority vote - or if the organization's rules, or applicable law, stipulate that such attendance is permitted. If the board grants permission to attend, it may also rescind that permission for any or all non-members at any time. Permission to attend does not automatically include permission to speak at these meetings.

Edited May 31, 2019 at 08:21 PM by Bruce Lages
added reference to applicable law

[Guest Evidence in RRO]

@Bruce Lages - can you please cite the page/paragraph, etc of your quote above?

I am in need of citation, and I cannot find it.

Thanks so much!

[Guest Marie (pjbmmb@aol.com)]

On 5/31/2019 at 4:19 PM, Bruce Lages said:

Non-members may attend a board meeting only if the board grants permission - by a majority vote - or if the organization's rules, or applicable law, stipulate that such attendance is permitted. If the board grants permission to attend, it may also rescind that permission for any or all non-members at any time. Permission to attend does not automatically include permission to speak at these meetings.

@Bruce LagesCan you please point me to the Article # or section where your reply from 5/31/19 is found? I am in dire need to CITE this. Thank you!

[Shmuel Gerber]

On 11/23/2022 at 4:51 PM, Guest Marie (*****@*****.tld) said:

@Bruce LagesCan you please point me to the Article # or section where your reply from 5/31/19 is found? I am in dire need to CITE this. Thank you!

RONR (12th ed.) 9:25:    "Attendance at an Executive Session or Other Closed Session. Whenever a meeting is being held in executive session, only members of the body that is meeting, special invitees, and such employees or staff members as the body or its rules may determine to be necessary are allowed to remain in the hall. Thus, in the case of a board or committee meeting being held in executive session, all persons—whether or not they are members of the organization—who are not members of the board or committee (and who are not otherwise specifically invited or entitled to attend) are excluded from the meeting. When it is desired to similarly restrict attendance at a particular meeting without imposing any obligation of secrecy (or to remove a previously imposed restriction on attendance), this may also be done by majority vote (see also 61:6–7)."

9:28:    "A deliberative assembly or committee is normally entitled to determine whether nonmembers may attend or be excluded from its meetings (even when not in executive session). Many public and semipublic bodies, however, are governed by sunshine laws—that is, their meetings must be open to the public. Normally, such laws have no application to private, nongovernmental bodies."

[Bruce Lages]

Thank you, Mr. Gerber, for answering our guests' requests. I wasn't able to respond before you did.

 

[Guest Specific Citations]

Do you have the specific Article or clause or page that can be specifically referenced?

[Shmuel Gerber]

On 11/23/2022 at 8:25 PM, Guest Specific Citations said:

Do you have the specific Article or clause or page that can be specifically referenced?

The latest edition of Robert's Rules is "Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised", 12th edition. Although the printed edition has page numbers, the standard method for citing text is by paragraph number, as I did above for RONR (12th ed.) 9:25.

The second quotation is from the same book, paragraph 9:28.