Our Feed

We are involved in our communities, our profession, and our clients' associations and activities.

My Township has not formally adopted Robert’s Rules of Order, but we use them frequently for help with running meetings. Robert’s Rules and the Open Meetings Act require different information to be provided in meeting minutes. Which should we follow?

The public bodies in your Township should follow the requirements of the Open Meetings Act before following conflicting, non-binding guides such as Robert’s Rules of Order. The Open Meetings Act requires that minutes for the public portions of a meeting contain the date, time, and place of a meeting, the members present and absent, any decisions made (votes taken), the purpose for any closed sessions held, and all roll call votes taken. Robert’s Rules of Order suggests providing other information in minutes which the Township may find helpful, but it is not required to include. Furthermore, the Open Meetings Act requires that public meeting minutes be open to public inspection. It is best to ensure that your Township does not provide any information that is confidential under state or federal law, or that may contain sensitive personal information not required to be provided.

Author

Recent Articles & Announcements

  1. Can our township adopt an ordina...

    Yes. The new Section 108(6) of the Land Division Act expressly permits local ordinances to exceed the state baseline; there is no numerical ...

    Read More
  2. Land Divisions, Development, and...

    The Problem Is Already Here On December 23, 2025, Governor Whitmer signed Senate Bill 23 into law as Public Act 58 of 2025, amending Michiga...

    Read More
  3. Virginia Bans Post-Term Non-Comp...

    Earlier this month, the State of Virginia amended the Virginia Retail Franchising Act in two ways: (1) Virginia law governs all Virginia fra...

    Read More
Talk to an Attorney
Request a Consultation

At Fahey Schultz Burzych Rhodes PLC, we’ve been helping municipalities, franchised businesses, employers, and more with their legal needs since 2008. We’d love to learn how we can help you, too.