Agenda - Council Work Session - 10/11/2011

Home

Minn. Stat. § 412.221, subd. 1; Minn. Stat. § 15.17, subd. 1. Minn. Stat. § 412.151, subd. 1. Minn. Stat. § 411191, subd. 3; Minn. Stat. § 331A.01, subd. 10; Minn. Stat. § 331A.08, subd. 3. Minn. Stat. § 13D.01, subd. 4; Minn. Stat. § 412.191, subd. 3; Minn. Stat. § 331A.01, subd. 6, CHAPTER 7 Once the council has formally approved the minutes of any meeting, they should not be changed under any circumstance. The council can dispense with the reading of the minutes if all councilmembers have received them prior to the meeting. The council must provide books and stationery for keeping minutes. State law requires all cities to keep minutes on a physical medium that is of'a quality that will ensure permanent records. Because minutes would likely be considered official papers of the city, they should be signed by the clerk. Although not required by law, in many cities the mayor also signs the minutes after they are approved by the council. If the minute book includes only a clipping from the published proceedings, the clerk should sign the clipping even though the signatures of the clerk and mayor are already printed on the clipping. Minute books are public records and must be available for public view at any reasonable time. 1. Publication of council minutes After every regular or special meeting, statutory cities with populations over 1,000 (according to the latest federal Census) must publish the official council proceedings or a summary of the official minutes. The summary must include action on motions, resolutions, ordinances, and other official proceedings. The summary must state that the full text of the summary is available for public inspection at a designated location or by standard or electronic mail. As an alternative to publication, the city may mail, at city expense, a copy of the proceedings to any resident upon request. Publication of the council minutes must generally occur within 30 days of the meeting. If the governing body of a political subdivision conducts a regular meeting not more than once every 30 days, however, the governing body need not publish the meeting minutes until 10 days after they have been approved by the governing body. Cities with a population of less than 1,000 are not required to publish the council proceedings but may choose to do so. The publication requirement in state law does not cover home rule charter cities; therefore, charter cities should consult their charter to determine whether it has a publication requirement. 2. Content of council minutes The clerk must include the following information in the minutes: • The members of the public body who are present. • The members who make or second motions. • Roll -call vote on motions. • Subject matter of proposed resolutions or ordinances. • Whether the resolutions or ordinances are defeated or adopted. 7:24 This chapter last revised 8/2011 LEAGUE OF MINNESOTA CITIES