Quorum

[Angie N]

Hello,

I have a couple of questions regarding  lack of quorum and meeting minutes. If there is no quorum at a meeting and only discussion, what should be included in the minutes? The discussions? 

Also since there was no quorum do the minutes still have to be approved at the following meeting? 

Can you please reference RONR? 

Thank you!

[Hieu H. Huynh]

The minutes should not include discussions. See FAQ #15.

[Atul Kapur]

It is still an official meeting even if there is not quorum. Therefore, all the items on pages 468 - 470 that apply should be recorded. As you were told above, discussion is not one of the items on that list.

These will likely be shorter minutes than usual, but they're still official minutes of an official meeting and should be approved at the next meeting.

[Josh Martin]

3 hours ago, Angie N said:

I have a couple of questions regarding  lack of quorum and meeting minutes. If there is no quorum at a meeting and only discussion, what should be included in the minutes?

The first paragraph of the minutes includes the kind of meeting (regular, special, etc.), the name of the society or assembly, the date and time of the meeting (and the place, if it is not always the same), the fact that the regular chairman and secretary were present (or the names of the persons were substituted for them. All of these things are still applicable for a meeting without a quorum. (Ordinarily, the first paragraph also contains information regarding the approval of the minutes of the previous meeting, but that can't be done in the absence of a quorum.)

The last paragraph includes the hour of adjournment. This is still applicable for a meeting without a quorum. All the paragraphs in the middle involve the business that was conducted, so there won't be any of those.

So the minutes might look something like this:

"The regular monthly meeting of the L.M. Society was held on Saturday, April 11, 2020, at 8:30 P.M., at the Society's building, the President being in the chair and the Secretary being present.

The meeting was adjourned at 9:00 P.M."

While RONR does not strictly require it, some people advise adding a note that a quorum was not present. If you do this, I suggest placing it at the end of the first paragraph.

3 hours ago, Angie N said:

The discussions? 

No.

3 hours ago, Angie N said:

Also since there was no quorum do the minutes still have to be approved at the following meeting?

Yes.

3 hours ago, Angie N said:

Can you please reference RONR? 

See RONR, 11th ed., pgs. 468-473.

Edited April 12, 2020 at 12:50 AM by Josh Martin