Special Orders and General Orders

[J. Moore]

When a special order or a general order is made for a particular time and that time arrives, RRO states the chair simply announces it. So, if the society is in the midst of debating some other matter, how is the other matter put aside?  Must there be a motion of some kind?  Does the secretary simply note what the last point made in the debate was so that it may be returned to after disposal of the special/general order?  And after the special/general order has been disposed of, does the chair just say something to the effect of, discussion now resumes on the matter that was interrupted?

[Dan Honemann]

On 10/31/2021 at 10:16 AM, J. Moore said:

When a special order or a general order is made for a particular time and that time arrives, RRO states the chair simply announces it.

Well, this is generally true for special orders (read RONR, 12th ed., 41:41 and 41:53-54 very carefully for exceptions), but it is not true with respect to general orders. As to general orders, see 41:49-50.

 

[Gary Novosielski]

On 10/31/2021 at 10:16 AM, J. Moore said:

When a special order or a general order is made for a particular time and that time arrives, RRO states the chair simply announces it. So, if the society is in the midst of debating some other matter, how is the other matter put aside?  Must there be a motion of some kind?  Does the secretary simply note what the last point made in the debate was so that it may be returned to after disposal of the special/general order?  And after the special/general order has been disposed of, does the chair just say something to the effect of, discussion now resumes on the matter that was interrupted?

Pretty much, at least for Special Orders.  Read the sections @Dan Honemann cited, for details. 

But on your point regarding the secretary: The secretary should not be noting in the minutes any points made in debate, then or any other time.  If a question is interrupted by a Special Order, or for some other proper purpose, all that needs to be noted is who had the floor, and how much time remained at that point.  And that could simply be recorded on a slip of paper.  It would not go in the minutes.

[Rob Elsman]

I do not fully agree with Mr. Novosielski in every aspect.  There are instances when the secretary would enter the interruption on the minutes.  For example, if the interrupting special order was not disposed of when the assembly adjourned, the secretary would need to enter the interruption on the minutes for the sake of clarity.

[J. Moore]

Thank you all for your replies.  I was looking for how the actual mechanics of breaking off and taking up special orders are done.  I have read and re-read all the relevant sections (and others, besides!); of course, I do know that the secretary does not transcribe minutes verbatim so that was poor writing on my part.  You have helped to make the process much clearer.

[Gary Novosielski]

On 11/1/2021 at 3:00 PM, J. Moore said:

Thank you all for your replies.  I was looking for how the actual mechanics of breaking off and taking up special orders are done.  I have read and re-read all the relevant sections (and others, besides!); of course, I do know that the secretary does not transcribe minutes verbatim so that was poor writing on my part.  You have helped to make the process much clearer.

Glad to help.  As @Rob Elsman correctly points out, it may be necessary to return to the question that was pending and was then interrupted, under Unfinished Business at the next meeting, so the Secretary should be sure that the minutes reflect what was pending at the time that the Special Order was taken up.  That way, if the assembly can't get back to it in the same meeting, they'll know where they left off. 

But in that event, I believe it won't matter who had the floor or how much time remained, since the restrictions on speeches and their length and number are reset on that new day.