Minutes Postponement

[Bonnie E.]

In my organization, the entire proceedings (speeches, reports, etc.) are recorded and published verbatim in a Proceedings book following each annual 3-day session. When reading of the previous meeting minutes is called for, the Secretary moves that, since the proceedings of the session were printed and distributed to the membership, the minutes not be read (RONR 41:9). This is approved every year.

This year, however, the book will not be printed and distributed at the time of our 2022 session because the person who was head of the organization has refused to submit their annual report, which is required and is part of the Proceedings book. (Side note: if it is not received by a set date, the book will be printed without it.)

Rather than make our Secretary read every word of the previous session, is it appropriate under Robert's for her to move the following: "In order to produce a correct version of the minutes of the 2021 ________ Session in the form of the printed Proceedings, I move that the reading of these minutes be postponed until the 2023 ___________ Session." (RONR 41:13n3)?

[Dan Honemann]

On 5/4/2022 at 12:49 PM, Bonnie E. said:

In my organization, the entire proceedings (speeches, reports, etc.) are recorded and published verbatim in a Proceedings book following each annual 3-day session. When reading of the previous meeting minutes is called for, the Secretary moves that, since the proceedings of the session were printed and distributed to the membership, the minutes not be read (RONR 41:9). This is approved every year.

What is recorded in this Proceedings book, however, does not constitute the minutes. Doesn't your secretary also prepare a set of minutes for each meeting? It is these minutes which should be approved.

[Bonnie E.]

No. There are no other minutes. The recorded proceedings of the annual session are the minutes.

[George Mervosh]

On 5/4/2022 at 3:08 PM, Bonnie E. said:

No. There are no other minutes. The recorded proceedings of the annual session are the minutes.

In reality, there are no minutes in your assembly's case then.  See RONR (12th ed.), 48:16, particularly the last sentence which states:  "Any such record or transcript of the proceedings prepared for publication, however, does not take the place of the minutes, and it is the minutes which comprise the official record of the assembly's proceedings."

If there is a Secretary in your organization they should compose a set of minutes in accordance with the rules in §48 for approval.

Edited May 4, 2022 at 08:03 PM by George Mervosh
Added last sentence.

[Gary Novosielski]

On 5/4/2022 at 3:08 PM, Bonnie E. said:

No. There are no other minutes. The recorded proceedings of the annual session are the minutes.

No, they are not.  It means you currently have no minutes, which is problematic to say the least.

[Tim Wynn]

On 5/4/2022 at 12:49 PM, Bonnie E. said:

In my organization, the entire proceedings (speeches, reports, etc.) are recorded and published verbatim in a Proceedings book following each annual 3-day session. When reading of the previous meeting minutes is called for, the Secretary moves that, since the proceedings of the session were printed and distributed to the membership, the minutes not be read (RONR 41:9). This is approved every year.

This year, however, the book will not be printed and distributed at the time of our 2022 session because the person who was head of the organization has refused to submit their annual report, which is required and is part of the Proceedings book. (Side note: if it is not received by a set date, the book will be printed without it.)

Rather than make our Secretary read every word of the previous session, is it appropriate under Robert's for her to move the following: "In order to produce a correct version of the minutes of the 2021 ________ Session in the form of the printed Proceedings, I move that the reading of these minutes be postponed until the 2023 ___________ Session." (RONR 41:13n3)?

As already mentioned, actual minutes should be created. These minutes should be concise, containing what was DONE at the meeting, not what was SAID. If it is not practical for an assembly to approve its minutes in a session and the next session will not be held within a quarterly time interval, the assembly should authorize a board or committee to approve them. The organization should not wait two years to approve its minutes. In fact, the organization should not be in the practice of waiting a year to approve its minutes. See the references below:

 

"Exceptions to the rule that minutes are approved at the next regular meeting (or at the next meeting within the session) arise when the next meeting will not be held within a quarterly time interval, when the term of a specified portion of the membership will expire before the start of the next meeting, or when, as at the final meeting of a convention, the assembly will be dissolved at the close of the present meeting. In any of these cases, minutes that have not been approved previously should be approved before final adjournment, or the assembly should authorize the executive board or a special committee to approve the minutes." 

 

Under this procedure, the board or committee will have the authority to make any necessary corrections and to approve the minutes, giving the organization an official record of what was done in the annual meeting. Otherwise, the organization will be sailing for a year without any official record of the annual meeting. Keep in mind that not only should the minutes of the 2021 annual meeting be approved, but the assembly should also authorize a board or committee to approve the minutes of the 2022 annual meeting, rather than allowing them to go a full year without approval.