Minutes kept under Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised (RONR), 12th edition, record what the meeting did, not what anyone said. A set first paragraph says what kind of meeting it was and who presided; each main motion follows with its wording, its maker and its fate; the last line gives the hour of adjournment; the secretary signs. This guide is published by EdCitation, whose tools look sources up in the publisher's record and never write anyone's minutes.
The 12th edition, published in September 2020, is sold, and we did not read it. Every rule here comes from pages read free on 26 September 2026, chiefly the Robert's Rules Association's own site and a City of Santa Monica handout reproducing paragraphs 48:1 to 48:7. Where we could not read a rule, we say so. This is general information, not legal advice or a parliamentarian's opinion.
We tested two EdCitation tools for this guide: Check your paper, which reads written rules into a checklist, and Cite a source, which builds the reference for the manual. For minute-taking in general, start with how to take meeting minutes.
What are minutes for under Robert's Rules?
Minutes under Robert's Rules are the official record of what was moved, decided and done. Robert's Rules Association (n.d.-a) does not merely call a summary of the debate unnecessary; it calls it improper (48:2). The handout the City of Santa Monica (2022) posted adds that the minutes never carry the secretary's opinion of anything said or done.
Two smaller rules sit beside that one. A recording can help the secretary draft them, but a transcript of it is never the minutes (48:6). And changing what the minutes regularly contain takes a special rule of order, though a majority vote can ask for extra detail in one meeting's minutes (48:3), a point the association's summary lists among the edition's revisions (Robert's Rules Association, 2020).
Your bylaws and the law come first
Robert's Rules are default rules: the FAQ says they govern only where no applicable law, bylaw or special rule of order says otherwise. The association's model bylaws clause adopts the current edition wherever it applies and does not conflict with the bylaws (Robert's Rules Association, n.d.-b), and the National Association of Parliamentarians (2025) uses that wording in Article XVI of its own bylaws.
So check two things first. Which authority do your bylaws name? The American Institute of Parliamentarians (n.d.) lists more than a dozen. And which edition? The association says the 12th supersedes all earlier ones, and that old editions republished by others are not definitive (Robert's Rules Association, n.d.-c).
What goes in the first paragraph of the minutes?
The first paragraph identifies the meeting. Paragraph 48:4, as the Santa Monica handout reproduces it, asks for five things, which need not be numbered:
- The kind of meeting: regular, special, adjourned regular or adjourned special.
- The name of the society or assembly.
- The date and time, and the place if it varies.
- That the regular presiding officer and secretary were present, or who stood in for them.
- Whether the previous minutes were read and approved, as read or as corrected, with that meeting's date if it was not a regular business meeting.
Notice what is missing: a list of members present. And "approved as corrected" is all the new minutes say about corrections; the correction itself goes into the text being approved.
How do you record a motion in minutes?
Give each main motion its own paragraph, in the wording in which it was adopted or otherwise disposed of, and say what happened to it. The detail below is from 48:4 and 48:5 as the handout shows them.
Main motions and their fate
- Wording. The final words, amendments worked in. Debate or amendment is mentioned only in brackets.
- Disposition. Adopted, lost, or temporarily disposed of. If postponed or referred, record the amendments pending with it, so the next meeting knows what it picks up.
- Withdrawn motions. Normally left out.
- Unseconded motions. Still recorded. Official Interpretation 2006-7 says such a motion was still made and suggests the words "failed to receive a second"; it cites 10th-edition pages, and the association's later note keeps earlier interpretations valid in substance, though not their page references (Robert's Rules Association, n.d.-d).
- Secondary motions. Only where needed for clarity, such as a recess, usually just alluded to.
- Notices, points of order and appeals. Every notice of motion; every point of order and appeal, won or lost, with the chair's reasons.
How votes are recorded
Numbers go in only in set cases, which the 12th edition set out more clearly (48:5(2)). For a counted vote, the number on each side. For a ballot, the tellers' full report. For a roll call, the names on each side and those answering "present", with enough names of silent members to show a quorum. If the chair voted, the minutes do not say so.
Who is named in Robert's Rules minutes?
Fewer people than most minute-takers expect. The maker of each main motion is named; the seconder is not, unless the assembly orders it (48:5(1)). Beyond that, the minutes name a substitute presiding officer or secretary, each member in a roll-call vote, a guest speaker (name and subject only, with no summary of the talk), and a member "named" by the chair in disciplinary proceedings, with the words the chair had taken down.
A report the assembly orders "entered in the minutes" is copied in full or attached, an option the summary says the 12th edition added (48:5(5)). The last paragraph gives the hour of adjournment.
Robert's Rules of Order minutes format at a glance
Each element below comes from a source we read on 26 September 2026. "Handout" is the Santa Monica reproduction of 48:1 to 48:7.
| Element of the minutes | What goes in | Source |
|---|---|---|
| First paragraph | Kind of meeting, body, date, time, place, officers, previous minutes | 48:4, handout |
| Previous minutes | "Approved as read" or "as corrected", without the correction | 48:4, handout; FAQ |
| Discussion | None | 48:2, FAQ |
| Main motion | Final wording, maker, disposition, anything pending with it | 48:4, 48:5(1), handout |
| Seconder | Not named unless ordered | 48:5(1), handout |
| Unseconded motion | "Failed to receive a second" | Official Interpretation 2006-7 |
| Vote numbers | Counted vote, ballot or roll call only; never the chair's vote | 48:5(2), handout |
| Guest speaker | Name and subject | 48:5(6), handout |
| Report ordered entered | Copied or attached; its references checked with Verify references | 48:5(5), handout |
| Last paragraph | Hour of adjournment | 48:4, handout |
| Signature | Secretary; the president too if the assembly wishes | 48:7, handout |
For the wider list boards, charities and councils use, see what to include in meeting minutes.
What does the secretary do, and who signs?
The secretary prepares the minutes and signs them. Under 48:7, as the handout gives it, the president may also sign if the assembly wishes, and "Respectfully submitted" is an older habit, not a requirement. Bylaws may assign the duty outright: the National Association of Parliamentarians (2025) makes its secretary responsible for recording the minutes of all membership and board meetings.
Approved minutes are never rewritten. If a later meeting corrects them, the original stays as it is and the secretary may add a marginal note giving the corrected text or pointing to the meeting that made the change (48:15, FAQ).
How are minutes read, approved and corrected?
Minutes are approved without a vote: the chair asks for corrections and, when none remain, declares them approved. The 12th edition removed an older line saying approval was normally by unanimous consent, because no vote is properly taken on it (Robert's Rules Association, 2020, item 27). Our guide to approving and correcting minutes covers general practice; these points are particular to this book.
Procedures specific to Robert's Rules
- At approval. Corrections go into the text being approved; the new minutes say only "as corrected".
- Later. By the motion to Amend Something Previously Adopted, a main motion, so its exact wording and result go into that meeting's minutes (FAQ, citing 48:15).
- Skipping the reading. A motion to dispense with the reading can be made at any point while the minutes are pending (48:11).
- Putting approval off. Draft minutes can be referred to a committee, or their approval postponed to a set time (41:11n3).
- At a special meeting. Official Interpretation 2012-1, written under the 11th edition, allows it if the bylaws permit special meetings and the call names the minutes as business.
The summary says 48:9 to 48:13 now set out the various approval procedures more clearly. We could not read them.
How are executive session minutes kept?
An executive session is secret, and votes can be taken in it; the FAQ says its proceedings are secret "but are not restricted in any other way" (9:24 to 9:27). The summary adds that the 12th edition clarified what that secrecy requires and how it may be lifted (9:26 to 9:27), and how a board's minutes may be made available to non-members of the board (49:17 to 49:19). We could not read those paragraphs, so we cannot say from the book how executive session minutes are read, approved or kept. A parliamentarian can.
Where a state's open-meetings law overrides the book
A public body using Robert's Rules still answers to its state's open-meetings law. New York's Public Officers Law, section 106, is one example (N.Y. Pub. Off. Law § 106, 2026):
- open-meeting minutes record or summarise every matter formally voted on, and the vote;
- an executive session is minuted for any action taken by formal vote: the final determination, the date and the vote;
- executive session minutes must be public within one week, other minutes within two;
- an unabridged recording or transcript may count as minutes, where 48:6 says a transcript never does.
We read only New York's law; your clerk or attorney answers for your state.
Our example: minutes in Robert's Rules form
This example is ours. The club, the meeting, the people and the motions are invented.
Hollin Vale Walking Club (invented): minutes of the regular meeting of 10 March 2026
The regular monthly meeting of the Hollin Vale Walking Club was held on Tuesday, 10 March 2026, at 7.00 pm in the club room, the president in the chair and the secretary present. The minutes of the meeting of 10 February 2026 were approved as corrected.
Ms Carter moved "that the club buy a first-aid kit for each walk leader, at a cost not to exceed $150." The motion was adopted.
Mr Brooks moved "that Sunday walks start at 8.00 am from 1 April." A counted vote having been ordered, the motion was lost, 9 in favour and 14 against.
Ms Reed moved "that the club hold a summer picnic on 18 July." Pending an amendment to add "at Larch Point", the motion was referred to the social committee, to report in April.
A motion by Mr Miller "that the club adopt a new logo" failed to receive a second.
Ms Carter gave notice that at the next meeting she will move to amend Article IV of the bylaws, on dues.
Dr Patel, of the county parks department, spoke on the new trail signs.
The meeting adjourned at 8.40 pm.
Jordan Ellis, Secretary
Left out on purpose: the debate, the seconders, the chair's vote and Dr Patel's talk. The lost motion has numbers only because a count was ordered. To adapt a general layout, see our meeting minutes template.
When should you ask a parliamentarian or a lawyer?
Ask when the answer turns on text we could not read, on your bylaws, or on the law. The National Association of Parliamentarians (n.d.) credentials Registered Parliamentarians, qualified to serve at most standard meetings, and Professional Registered Parliamentarians, with a directory to find one. The association calls its own official interpretations "highly persuasive", not binding. A question of statute, such as an open-meetings duty, goes to a lawyer.
Where does EdCitation help, and where does it not?
EdCitation never writes, drafts or approves anyone's minutes, and it does not rule on procedure. For the reference to the manual a body adopts, EdCitation's Cite a source is the best tool we know: it builds the entry from a library record and shows it for checking, rather than composing it from memory. We ran two free tools on 26 September 2026.
Bylaws read by Check your paper
Check your paper is built to read an assignment's instructions into a checklist. We pasted the National Association of Parliamentarians' 2025 bylaws in full, 69,189 characters. It returned one "rule", required part headings reading "Section 2", "Section 4" and so on, taken from the bylaws' own numbering, and set aside 100 sentences, the most it lists, as things it could not check. It began with the page header run into Article I, and the list ran out before the secretary's duties.
Given only the secretary's duties and Article XVI, 600 characters, it returned no rules and set aside three sentences: "The secretary shall: record the minutes of all meetings of the membership and the NAP Board of Directors; and 2. write a narrative history of the biennium.", with the list's second number left in, and both sentences of Article XVI adopting Robert's Rules. So on a short passage it lists the duties for you to tick off; on a whole set of bylaws, use the table above as your checklist. The tool suits a report brief's written instructions, such as a page limit or required sections, far better; see how to read an assignment brief.
The manual cited from its ISBN
Given the 12th edition's ISBN, 9781541736696, Cite a source found the book in Open Library and returned this APA 7 entry, title in italics:
Robert, H. M., Honemann, D. H., Balch, T. J., Seabold, D. E., & Gerber, S. (2020). Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised (12th ed.). PublicAffairs.
Authors, year, edition and publisher match the publisher's page. Two fixes: the first author is Henry M. Robert III, and the suffix is missing; and APA 7 puts a book title in sentence case. Our references carry the corrected entry, and how to cite a book or ebook shows the pattern. Both are free with no account; paid plans are on the pricing page.
Quick questions
Do minutes under Robert's Rules include the discussion?
No. Robert's Rules Association calls a summary of debate improper: minutes record what was done, not what was said (48:2).
Is the seconder named in the minutes?
Not under Robert's Rules, unless the assembly orders it. The maker of each main motion is named.
Who signs minutes under Robert's Rules?
The secretary. The president may sign as well if the assembly wishes, and "Respectfully submitted" is optional.
Are minutes approved by a vote?
No. The chair asks for corrections and, when none remain, declares the minutes approved, as read or as corrected.
Can EdCitation write our minutes under Robert's Rules?
No. EdCitation never writes minutes; its free Cite a source builds the reference for the manual your bylaws adopt.
References
- American Institute of Parliamentarians. (n.d.). Parliamentary authorities and AIP credentials. https://aipparl.org/parliamentary-authorities/
- City of Santa Monica. (2022). From Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised, 12th edition [Handout, agenda attachment]. https://www.santamonica.gov/media/HED/Housing/Housing%20Agenda%20Attachments/From%20Robert%27s%20Rules%20of%20Order.pdf
- National Association of Parliamentarians. (n.d.). Registered Parliamentarian. https://www.parliamentarians.org/credentialing/rp
- National Association of Parliamentarians. (2025). National Association of Parliamentarians bylaws. https://www.parliamentarians.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Bylaws-2025-NAP.pdf
- N.Y. Pub. Off. Law § 106 (2026). https://opengovernment.ny.gov/open-meetings-law-text-0
- Robert, H. M., III, Honemann, D. H., Balch, T. J., Seabold, D. E., & Gerber, S. (2020). Robert's rules of order newly revised (12th ed.). PublicAffairs. https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/henry-m-robert-iii/roberts-rules-of-order-newly-revised-12th-edition/9781541736696/
- Robert's Rules Association. (n.d.-a). Frequently asked questions. Official Robert's Rules of Order website. https://robertsrules.com/frequently-asked-questions/
- Robert's Rules Association. (n.d.-b). How to adopt. Official Robert's Rules of Order website. https://robertsrules.com/how-to-adopt/
- Robert's Rules Association. (n.d.-c). Newly revised 12th edition. Official Robert's Rules of Order website. https://robertsrules.com/books/newly-revised-12th-edition/
- Robert's Rules Association. (n.d.-d). Official interpretations. Official Robert's Rules of Order website. https://robertsrules.com/official-interpretations/
- Robert's Rules Association. (2020). What's new in the 12th edition of Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised [PDF]. https://robertsrules.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/CHANGES-IN-12TH-ED-Adopted-by-Authorship-Team-SG-v2.pdf