Questions & Answers

The intent of this column is to provide general answers or advice (not formal, official opinions) about the questions asked . The answers are based on the most recent edition of Robert’s Rules of Order Newly Revised, unless otherwise indicated, and do not take into account such governing authorities as statutes, bylaws, adopted special rules of order, other parliamentary authorities, or earlier editions, except as specifically mentioned .

The abbreviations used in these questions and answers are explained in National Parliamentarian Vol . 83, No . 1, Fall 2021, p . 18 .

Questions should be emailed to npquestions@nap2.org.

Appreciation is expressed to Thomas J. Balch, PRP and Steve Glanstein, PRP, for their assistance with this research question and answer.

QQuESTION 11:

Our group meets monthly and does not publish their minutes as provided for by RONR (12th ed.) 48:16. We had a few questions regarding the best practices for minutes: 1. Is the heading “New Business” included in the minutes even if there was no new business introduced at the meeting? 2. Should announcements be placed in the minutes? 3. Is it okay to use footnotes in the minutes?

ANSWER:

RONR (12th ed .) 48:2 states that: “In an ordinary society, the minutes should contain mainly a record of what was done at the meeting, not what was said by the members .” If no new business was introduced, then there is no need to include the heading, “New Business”, since there were no motions made in that category and so nothing was done . As provided by RONR (12th ed .) 48:4, a separate paragraph should be provided for each subject matter in the body of the minutes, and should include main motions and motions to bring a question again before the assembly (except usually those that were withdrawn), and their disposition . Adopted secondary motions may be referenced if they are necessary for completeness or clarity . The

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substance of oral committee reports, notices of motions, points of order and appeals, and any naming of offending members by the chair should also be included .

RONR (12th ed .) 48:5-6 contains additional rules and practices relating to the content of minutes, but doesn’t specify announcements as items that should be placed in the minutes .

In general, announcements need not be included in the minutes .

However, many organizations do include the optional heading of

“Announcements” in their order of business, as explained in RONR (12th ed .) 41:35, and some of these organizations follow a custom of including those announcements in their minutes . If, on the other hand, the “announcement” referred to in the question is a member’s giving (previous) notice of a motion, it should always be included in the minutes .

In any event, if your group wants to memorialize announcements in its minutes, this can be done either by directing the inclusion of the specific information, which would require a majority vote, or by adopting a special rule of order that announcements may or shall be included in the minutes .

Nothing in RONR (12th ed .) 48:1-8 precludes using footnotes in the minutes, as long as the information in the footnote complies with the requirements noted above . The footnote should still be action taken at the meeting, not just something that was said .

RONR doesn’t mention the use of headers or footers for minutes, but often groups will use them to note the name of the group, the type of meeting, the date of the meeting, and the page numbers .

Consequently, if a group uses a header or footer, then it seems that there should be no problem with employing footnotes if needed .

QQuESTION 12:

My organization held a special meeting to consider a certain important topic between regular meetings. At this special meeting, all members were present, and the president allowed a motion that was on a topic not mentioned in the call of the meeting. Isn’t it true that no other items can be brought up at a special meeting other than the topics mentioned in the call of the meeting?

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ANSWER:

Business transacted at a special meeting is limited to that which has been specified in the call of the meeting, as indicated by RONR (12th ed .) 9:15 . This doesn’t prevent the consideration of motions that arise in connection with the transaction of business listed in the call of the meeting or regarding the conduct of the meeting . The call of a special meeting must state the purpose of the meeting, but it doesn’t need to give the exact content of motions that will be considered, and motions that arise may be amended . If action is taken outside the business mentioned in the call of the meeting, it must be ratified at another meeting (either a regular meeting or a special meeting called for that purpose) to become valid . The rule limiting the transaction of business at a special meeting to that which has been specified in the call of the meeting is a rule that protects absentees . RONR (12th ed .) 25:10 provides that rules protecting absentees can’t be suspended if any member is absent . However, if all members are present, there are no absentees to protect, and the rules may be suspended by a two-thirds vote to allow the transaction of business that has not been specified in the call of the special meeting . Furthermore, if business that was not mentioned in the call is transacted at a special meeting in which all members are present, a point of order to that effect would have to be raised promptly at the time of the breach . Otherwise, it would be too late to raise a point of order, since this would not constitute a continuing breach, as explained in RONR (12th ed .) 23:6 .

Ann Homer, PRP, Editor

Questions & Answers Research Team

Rachel Glanstein, PRP Azella Collins, PRP

Timothy Wynn, PRP, Parliamentarian/Consultant