Amending the Minutes

[Guest windyMagician]

I am part of a parliamentary body with legal authority in my jurisdiction, but we currently do not have a parliamentarian, so I am seeking advice here. We abide by, in order of precedence, our constitution, our statutes, our rules and procedures, and then Robert's Rules of Order.

Our meeting minutes include summaries of what was said during debate. I spoke during debate at our last meeting, and we received the draft minutes today. The minutes include a blatant misrepresentation (whether or not it was intentional I think is irrelevant) of what I said. At our next meeting, I would like to make a motion to amend the minutes to reflect what I actually said. However, I know that fellow members of the body are likely to object to this motion (what was said in debate was highly controversial.)

I am wondering whether if the motion to amend the minutes is debatable or not. I would like the opportunity to explain why I'm moving to amend the minutes so that others are not confused by those objecting and vote against the motion. 

Thanks in advance!

 

[Rob Elsman]

Yes, the subsidiary motion to Amend the minutes is debatable, since the presumed main motion is debatable.

[Scott Fischer]

I agree with Mr. Elsman.

Do those instruments which supersede RONR in your organization require the minutes to record what was said? If not, then I would recommend you also bring up the following, "In an ordinary society, the minutes should contain mainly a record of what was done at the meeting, not what was said by the members. The minutes should never reflect the secretary's opinion, favorable or otherwise, on anything said or done." RONR (11th ed.), p. 468, ll. 16-20

[Josh Martin]

18 hours ago, Guest windyMagician said:

I am wondering whether if the motion to amend the minutes is debatable or not. I would like the opportunity to explain why I'm moving to amend the minutes so that others are not confused by those objecting and vote against the motion. 

It should first be noted that, so far as RONR is concerned, the minutes should not contain what is said, which would solve this problem, and other problems in this nature which will undoubtedly arise in the future. It is conceivable, however, that your organization’s rules or applicable law provide otherwise for your assembly. To the extent that recording what is said is required, it certainly would be desirable that it is recorded as accurately as possible.

Setting that aside, yes, the motion is debatable.

[Dan Honemann]

When draft minutes are presented for approval, corrections to them may be proffered and agreed to. They may be amended only after they have already been approved.

[Alex Meed]

11 hours ago, Daniel H. Honemann said:

When draft minutes are presented for approval, corrections to them may be proffered and agreed to. They may be amended only after they have already been approved.

But is my recollection correct that a motion to correct minutes is procedurally similar to a motion to amend a main motion? And if so, am I correct in then concluding that a motion to correct is debatable?

(I'm not sure I've ever managed to fit the word "correct" into a single paragraph that many times...)

Edited March 11, 2020 at 04:45 AM by Alex M.

[Atul Kapur]

Yes. "Corrections, when proposed, are usually handled by unanimous consent (pp. 54-56), but if any member objects to a proposed correction—which is, in effect, a subsidiary motion to Amend—the usual rules governing consideration of amendments to a main motion are applicable (see 12)." RONR 11th ed., p. 354, lines 29-33