motion that should not have been made

[Guest Pam Gray]

At a Board Meeting, a motion was made(and quickly seconded)on a topic that was not on the agenda. Should the motion and second be stricken from the record? In this case, the Board chose to go ahead and take a vote since they have a motion and second. The motion did not pass.

[Rob Elsman]

At a Board Meeting, a motion was made(and quickly seconded)on a topic that was not on the agenda. Should the motion and second be stricken from the record? In this case, the Board chose to go ahead and take a vote since they have a motion and second. The motion did not pass.

No. The rejection of the motion stands. It's all water under the bridge now.

[Chris Harrison]

At a Board Meeting, a motion was made(and quickly seconded)on a topic that was not on the agenda. Should the motion and second be stricken from the record? In this case, the Board chose to go ahead and take a vote since they have a motion and second. The motion did not pass.

Since it was considered it needs to be included in the minutes. There is a way to Object to the Consideration of the Question but it needs to be done before the question is considered in any way. However, there are certain types of motions that can't be objected to in this way. See RONR pp. 258-261 for details.

Edited to add the qualification.

[Gary Novosielski]

At a Board Meeting, a motion was made(and quickly seconded)on a topic that was not on the agenda. Should the motion and second be stricken from the record? In this case, the Board chose to go ahead and take a vote since they have a motion and second. The motion did not pass.

Stricken from the "record"? You mean from the minutes? Certainly not. If it was actually moved and seconded, and voted on, then all that information should be included in the minutes. Striking something that actually occurred would be a far worse offense than properly describing something that was handled a little out of sequence.

But if the board freely chose to go ahead with the motion, what do you imagine was wrong with the procedure? Did anyone raise a point of order at the time? Was a rule actually being violated? Was the motion introduced under New Business? Was it something that could have been, but was handled a little earlier than it should have been?

Everything seems pretty acceptable as far as I can tell. It's the board's meeting, and it can decided to consider what it wants to consider, or not, as it sees fit. Was the agenda formally adopted by the board at the start of the meeting? Even if it was, the board can still change its mind.

For more about agenda items, see FAQ #14.