The Right of Members of the Society to Attend Executive Board Meetings

[Roman.76]

Hello everyone!

Would someone help me find the rule in RONR regarding the right of members of the society to attend meetings of the executive board (of the same society)?  Is there such a right and does the board have the authority to exclude anyone (including members of the society) from its meetings?

Please let me know if more information is needed.  Thank you in advance for your time and assistance!

[George Mervosh]

On 10/20/2023 at 10:13 AM, Roman.76 said:

Hello everyone!

Would someone help me find the rule in RONR regarding the right of members of the society to attend meetings of the executive board (of the same society)?  Is there such a right and does the board have the authority to exclude anyone (including members of the society) from its meetings?

Please let me know if more information is needed.  Thank you in advance for your time and assistance!

There is no such right under the rules in RONR.  The board decides this on their own.  If this was a public body, the answer may be different.

[Josh Martin]

On 10/20/2023 at 9:13 AM, Roman.76 said:

Would someone help me find the rule in RONR regarding the right of members of the society to attend meetings of the executive board (of the same society)?  Is there such a right and does the board have the authority to exclude anyone (including members of the society) from its meetings?

There is no such right in RONR. Only members of the Executive Board have a right to attend meetings of the board so far as RONR is concerned, and the board may exclude anyone who is not a member of the board (including members of the society) from its meetings.

If the organization wishes to adopt its own rules providing otherwise, it is free to do so.

[Roman.76]

Thank you @George Mervosh and @Josh Martin for your responses!  To help clarify, the society in question is not a public or governmental body.  It is a private/independent society I guess you could say.

I did my best to look in RONR to find the executive board's authority to exclude any members and nonmembers from attending its meetings.  The best I could find are the following sections:

• RONR (12th ed.) 49:15 (This appears to only indicate that members can only be removed if they breach the rules or order of the executive board meeting.)
  It may protect itself against breaches of order by its members during board meetings, and against annoyance by nonmembers...
  
• RONR (12th ed.) 61:6 (This appears to only apply to meetings of the society.)
  A society has the right to determine who may be present at its meeting and to control its hall while meetings are in progress; but all members have the right to attend except in cases where the bylaws provide for the automatic suspension of members who fall in arrears in payment of their duties, or where the society has, by vote and as a penalty imposed for a specific offense, forbidden attendance.

I would appreciate it if you could correct me if my understanding of the sections is incorrect or if I overlooked a specific section of RONR that specifies the executive board has that authority.  Thank you!

[Josh Martin]

On 10/20/2023 at 2:22 PM, Roman.76 said:

Thank you @George Mervosh and @Josh Martin for your responses!  To help clarify, the society in question is not a public or governmental body.  It is a private/independent society I guess you could say.

I did my best to look in RONR to find the executive board's authority to exclude any members and nonmembers from attending its meetings.  The best I could find are the following sections:

• RONR (12th ed.) 49:15 (This appears to only indicate that members can only be removed if they breach the rules or order of the executive board meeting.)
  It may protect itself against breaches of order by its members during board meetings, and against annoyance by nonmembers...
• RONR (12th ed.) 61:6 (This appears to only apply to meetings of the society.)
  A society has the right to determine who may be present at its meeting and to control its hall while meetings are in progress; but all members have the right to attend except in cases where the bylaws provide for the automatic suspension of members who fall in arrears in payment of their duties, or where the society has, by vote and as a penalty imposed for a specific offense, forbidden attendance.

I would appreciate it if you could correct me if my understanding of the sections is incorrect or if I overlooked a specific section of RONR that specifies the executive board has that authority.  Thank you!

Your understanding of these citations is incorrect.

• You are correct that 49:15 does limit the board to removing members for breaches of order. But the only persons who are "members" in the context of an Executive Board meeting are the members of the board. Persons who are not members of the board may be removed for any reason the board pleases.
• What is said in 61:6 regarding determining who may be present is equally applicable to other assemblies.

The following citations may be of assistance.

"A member of an assembly, in the parliamentary sense, as mentioned above, is a person entitled to full participation in its proceedings, that is, as explained in 3 and 4, the right to attend meetings, to make motions, to speak in debate, and to vote. No member can be individually deprived of these basic rights of membership—or of any basic rights concomitant to them, such as the right to make nominations or to give previous notice of a motion—except through disciplinary proceedings. Some organized societies define additional classes of “membership” that do not entail all of these rights. Whenever the term member is used in this book, it refers to full participating membership in the assembly unless otherwise specified. Such members are also described as “voting members” when it is necessary to make a distinction." RONR (12th ed.) 1:4, emphasis added

"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)." RONR (12th ed.) 9:26

"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." RONR (12th ed.) 9:28

If the organization desires to provide a right for members of the society to attend meetings of the executive board, the organization will have to amend its own rules to provide for such a right. There is no such right in RONR.

[Roman.76]

Thank you for the clarification!