Paul McClintock, PRP

Minutes

From Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised, 10th edition

Sample Minutes, pp.454-456

L.M. Society -- January 4, 20__ Meeting Minutes

The regular monthly meeting of the L.M. Society was held on Thursday, January 4, 20__, at 8:30 P.M., at the Society's building, the President being in the chair and the Secretary being present. The minutes of the last meeting were read and approved as corrected.

The Treasurer reported the receipt of a bill from the Downs Construction Company in the amount of $5,000 for the improvements recently made in the Society's building. The question put by the chair "that the bill be paid" was adopted.

Mr. Johnson, reporting on behalf of the Membership Committee, moved "that John R. Brown be admitted to membership in the Society." The motion was adopted after debate.

The report of the Program Committee was received and placed on file.

The special committee that was appointed to investigate and report on suitable parking facilities near the Society's building reported, through its chairman, Mrs. Smith, a resolution, which, after debate and amendment, was adopted as follows: "Resolved, That ...."

The resolution relating to the use of the Society's library by nonmembers, which was postponed from the last meeting, was then taken up. This motion and a pending amendment were laid on the table after the chair announced that the guest speaker had received a phone message which would require his early departure.

The President introduced the guest speaker, Mr. James F. Mitchell, whose subject was ____.

At eh conclusion of Mr. Mitchell's talk, the resolution relating to the use of the Society's library by nonmembers was taken from the table. After amendment and further debate, the resolution was adopted as follows: "Resolved, That ...."

Mr. Gordon moved "that the Society undertake the establishment of a summer camp for boys on its lakefront property." Mrs. Thomas moved to amend this motion by inserting the word "underprivileged" before "boys." On motion of Mr. Dorsey, the motion to establish the camp, with the pending amendment, was referred to a committee of three to be appointed by the chair with instructions to report at the next meeting. The chair appointed Messrs. Flynn, Dorsey, and Fine to the committee.

The meeting adjourned at 10:05 P.M.

Margaret Duffy, Secretary

Content of Minutes, p.451ff

The first paragraph contains:

The kind of meeting (regular, special, adjourned).
The name of the society.
The date, time and place of the meeting.
The fact that the regular chairman and secretary were present, or else the names of the pro-tem officers.
A record of any approval of minutes of prior meeting(s), noting that there were corrections if any (the corrections themselves are made to the text of the original minutes), and noting the date of the minute's meeting when not the immediately preceding regular meeting.

The body contains a separate paragraph for each subject matter. For each important motion, the minutes should show the name of the mover. The body should show:

All main motions or restorative motions. (Withdrawn motions are generally not shown.) Shown for each such motion:
- The wording in which each motion was adopted or otherwise disposed of, noting only parenthetically if it was debated or amended.
- The disposition of the motion, e.g., it was adopted, failed adoption, was temporarily disposed of (e.g., laid on the table, referred to a committee). If temporarily disposed, the minutes also show any adhering motions (e.g., pending amendments, motion to refer or limit debate or divide the question).
Secondary motions that were not lost or withdrawn, when needed for completeness or clarity.
All notices of motions
All points of order and appeals, how resolved, and the chair's reasoning.

The last paragraph shows the time of adjournment.

Minutes should be signed by the secretary; some societies also require the president to sign. It is no longer necessary or customary to close with "Respectfully submitted."

Note:

The name of the seconder is not recorded.
Counts are recorded for counted votes. Names are recorded for each side for a roll call vote, and enough abstainers' names under a heading of "present" to demonstrate the presence of a quorum. No special note is made of whether the chair voted or not.
Committee reports given are noted, but entered in full only by order of the assembly.
The name and subject of a guest speaker can be given, but not a summary or text of his speech.

Approval of Minutes, p.456ff

Minutes are approved with a quarterly time period. If the next meeting is not that soon, a minutes approval committee or the executive board should be authorized to approve them.
Special meetings do not approve minutes. When minutes for more than one meeting are to be approved at the same later meeting, they are approved in the same order as the meetings occurred (p.343).
Sessions with meetings on more than one day usually have the minutes of the preceding day's meetings read and approved at the first meeting of the day.
The reading of minutes can be "dispensed with" at the scheduled time, but consideration of approval of these minutes can be taken up at any later time in the meeting by majority vote, or automatically at the beginning of the next regular or adjourned meeting. If copies of the draft minutes have been sent to all members in advance, minutes are not read unless requested. Otherwise, to approve minutes without reading them requires suspending the rules (2/3 vote).