reporting minutes

[peaches70]

We have allowed members to speak under a heading "for the good of the community" but do not include them in the minutes, no decisions are made, just questions if we can address it in the future. The Board is being asked to include this statements in the minutes. Does Roberts Rules address minutes and what must be reported? We are located in the state of Florida.

Florida Statute 720.303 (b) Members have the right to attend all meetings of the board. The right to attend such meetings includes the right to speak at such meetings with reference to all designated items.

 1. Notices of all board meetings must specifically identify agenda items for the meetings

[Atul Kapur]

RONR emphasizes that the minutes record what was done, not what was said. Actions taken, such as decisions on motions, are recorded while debate, questions, and discussion are not.

Edited February 4, 2024 at 07:14 PM by Atul Kapur

[Joshua Katz]

Well, yes, RONR addresses the content of minutes, but state law will take priority over what it says. It seems unlikely that state law requires the inclusion of a statute in the minutes, but whether it does is beyond the scope of advice we can give. 

So far as RONR is concerned, the minutes should include only what was done, not what was said (so certainly not what non-members say), and not random statutes. But again, state procedural law will win out.

[Richard Brown]

Agreeing with my colleagues, matters that are simply discussed are not normally included in the minutes.  However, RONR permits a society to adopt special rules of order that specify additional items that should be included in the minutes and also to specify that certain items required by RONR shall not be required.  Your special rules of order supersede the rules in your adopted parliamentary authority, such as RONR.

[Gary Novosielski]

On 2/4/2024 at 2:08 PM, peaches70 said:

We have allowed members to speak under a heading "for the good of the community" but do not include them in the minutes, no decisions are made, just questions if we can address it in the future. The Board is being asked to include this statements in the minutes. Does Roberts Rules address minutes and what must be reported? We are located in the state of Florida.

The option heading "Good of the Order" that typically occcurs just prior to adjournment would usually involve no decision-making, and so would generate no minutes entries, if the rules in RONR apply.  In come societies, motions relating to discipline are made under this heading, and those would be included.

Since the Board is being asked in the passive voice, it's hard to tell who is asking, and what relationship they hold in the scheme of things.