Minutes from a board meeting

[Guest Lora]

I am the parliamentarian for a social club of women.  We follow our bylaws and RROO.  I am in the process of updated our policy and procedures.  There is some question as to our minutes being made available for the members to see.  From what I read they are to be private unless a member asks to see them, then she would sit with the secretary and go over any concerns or questions.  Is this correct or should they be available to the members on our website?

 

 

[Josh Martin]

On 8/2/2024 at 2:45 PM, Guest Lora said:

I am the parliamentarian for a social club of women.  We follow our bylaws and RROO.  I am in the process of updated our policy and procedures.  There is some question as to our minutes being made available for the members to see.  From what I read they are to be private unless a member asks to see them, then she would sit with the secretary and go over any concerns or questions.  Is this correct or should they be available to the members on our website?

All members have a right to review the club's minutes. How exactly an assembly goes about doing that varies from organization to organization. The system you describe, in which the member inspects the minutes along with the Secretary (at the Secretary's convenience) is the bare minimum.

"The duties of the secretary are:

8. To maintain record book(s) in which the bylaws, special rules of order, standing rules, and minutes are entered, with any amendments to these documents properly recorded, and to have the current record book(s) on hand at every meeting...

Any member has a right to examine these reports and the record book(s) referred to in 47:33(8), including the minutes of an executive session, at a reasonable time and place, but this privilege must not be abused to the annoyance of the secretary. Members are free to share their contents with others, except for any content protected by the secrecy of an executive session that has not been lifted (see 9:26). The same principles apply to records kept by boards and committees, these being accessible to members of the boards or committees (see also 49:17–19). When a committee requires certain records for the proper performance of its duties, the secretary turns them over to the committee chairman—after consulting with the president in any cases where he or she is in doubt. The corporation law of each state frequently provides for the availability of records of any group incorporated in that state." RONR (12th ed.) 47:33, 47:36

But nothing in RONR suggests the minutes must be "private." Indeed, RONR specifically notes that (with the exception of minutes of meetings held in executive session) that "Members are free to share their contents with others."

The organization is certainly free to make the minutes more broadly accessible to members if it wishes, such as by making them available on a website. That is often a more convenient solution for the members and for the Secretary.

Edited August 2, 2024 at 07:58 PM by Josh Martin

[Richard Brown]

I couldn’t say it any better than Mr. Martin just did. His post saved me from a lot of typing or dictating! 

[Aidan]

Thank you both very much.

 

[Josh Martin]

I must now hasten to add, however, that my original response is based upon the minutes of the club, and I now see that the title of the topic says "Minutes from a board meeting."

To the extent the question is regarding the minutes of the board, the above response is applicable only to members of the board.

Whether, and to what extent, the board minutes are made available outside of the board is entirely at the discretion of the board, unless the organization's rules or applicable law provide otherwise.

[Guest Josh Jacobs]

Would minutes from a local town board meeting be available to members of the public? For example, the meeting was a meeting open to the public. After they get posted are members of the public now allowed to have access to those minutes? 

[Gary Novosielski]

Meetings of public bodies are typically available to the pubic, except portions held in executive session, and they sometimes involve a copying fee, but many boards post them on the Web.  The best source for info would be the Secretary or Clerk of the town board.

In the future, please ask new questions by creating a new Topic.

[Josh Martin]

On 9/15/2024 at 2:28 PM, Guest Josh Jacobs said:

Would minutes from a local town board meeting be available to members of the public? For example, the meeting was a meeting open to the public. After they get posted are members of the public now allowed to have access to those minutes? 

So far as the rules of RONR are concerned, the minutes of a board are available only to the members of the board, as has been previously noted.

It is quite likely, however, that the laws of your state require that minutes of meetings of a public body be available to the public, and those rules will take precedence over RONR.

Edited September 15, 2024 at 08:56 PM by Josh Martin

[Joshua Katz]

On 9/15/2024 at 12:31 PM, Gary Novosielski said:

Meetings of public bodies are typically available to the pubic,

hmm

[Richard Brown]

On 9/15/2024 at 2:31 PM, Gary Novosielski said:

Meetings of public bodies are typically available to the pubic

 

On 9/15/2024 at 6:17 PM, Joshua Katz said:

hmm

I agree with Mr. Novosielski. It is my understanding, primarily through state open meetings laws and public records laws, that minutes of public bodies are generally available to the public.

[Joshua Katz]

I misread. Apologies.