Hon. Nancy Beadnell
Town of Thurman
Athol, NY 12810
Dear Ms. Beadnell:
I have received your letter of April 25. You questioned the authority of the Town Board or a member of the Town Board to alter or insist upon the alteration of minutes that you prepare in your capacity as Town Clerk.
As I view the situation, four provisions are relevant. First, §106 of the Open Meetings Law deals with minutes and under that statute, it is clear that minutes need not consist of a verbatim account of what is said. Rather, at a minimum, minutes must consist of a record or summary of motions, proposals, resolutions, action taken and the vote of each member. Second, subdivision (1) of §30 of the Town Law states in relevant part that the town clerk "shall attend all meetings of the town board, act as clerk thereof, and keep a complete and accurate record of the proceedings of each meeting". Third, subdivision (1) of §30 of the Town Law provides that the clerk "shall have such additional powers and perform such additional duties as are or hereafter may be conferred or imposed upon him by law, and such further duties as the town board may determine, not inconsistent with law". And fourth, §63 of the Town Law states in part that a town board "may determine the rules of its procedure".
In my opinion, inherent in each of the provisions cited is an intent that they be carried out reasonably, fairly, with consistency, and that minutes be accurate.
More specifically, §106 of the Open Meetings Law provides that:
"1. Minutes shall be taken at all open meetings of a public body which shall consist of a record or summary of all motions, proposals, resolutions and any other matter formally voted upon and the vote thereon.
2. Minutes shall be taken at executive sessions of any action that is taken by formal vote which shall consist of a record or summary of the final determination of such action, and the date and vote thereon; provided, however, that such summary need not include any matter which is not required to be made public by the freedom of information law as added by article six of this chapter.
3. Minutes of meetings of all public bodies shall be available to the public in accordance with the provisions of the freedom of information law within two weeks from the date of such meetings except that minutes taken pursuant to subdivision two hereof shall be available to the public within one week from the date of the executive session."
Based on the foregoing, minutes need not consist of a verbatim account of everything that was said; on the contrary, so long as the minutes include the kinds of information described in §106, I believe that they would be appropriate and meet legal requirements. Certainly if a clerk wants to include more information than is required by law, he or she may do so.
In good faith, I point out that in an opinion issued by the State Comptroller, it was advised that when a member of a board requests that his statement be entered into the minutes, the board must determine, under its rules of procedure, whether the clerk should record the statement in writing, which would then be entered as part of the minutes (1980 Op.St.Comp. File #82-181). Despite that opinion, it is unclear from my perspective whether a board has the authority to compel a clerk to include information in minutes beyond the requirements of the Open Meetings Law. It is unlikely in my view that a town board has the authority to require the exclusion of information from minutes of an open meeting that is accurate.
Although as a matter of practice, policy or tradition, many public bodies approve minutes of their meetings, there is nothing in the Open Meetings Law or any other statute of which I am aware that requires that minutes be approved. In another opinion of the State Comptroller, it was found that there is no statutory requirement that a town board approve minutes of a meeting, but that it was "advisable" that a motion to approve minutes be made after the members have had an opportunity to review the minutes (1954 Ops.St.Compt. File #6609). While it may be "advisable" if not proper for a board to review minutes, due to the clear authority conferred upon town clerks under §30 of the Town Law, I do not believe that a town board can require that minutes be approved prior to disclosure.
In short, it is my view that you, in your position as clerk, have the responsibility and the authority to prepare minutes and to ensure their accuracy. While the Board and/or the Supervisor may have other areas of authority, I do not believe that they could validly remove or insist upon the removal of information from minutes, so long as the information is accurate and, again, presented reasonably, fairly and in a manner consistent with the contents of minutes as they are generally prepared.