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Asked and Answered

Does the Brown Act require meeting minutes?

April 13, 2015

Question

The High School District board stopped taking minutes at their meetings? Can they do that under the Brown Act?

Answer

The Brown Act is silent on legislative bodies’ duties with respect to taking notes or keeping minutes of meetings.  Typically, such requirements would be found in a legislative body’s bylaws, or possibly an ordinance that governs the legislative body (though since this is a school district, it is unlikely that such requirements would be found in such ordinances).  You might want to review the school board’s bylaws for guidance on this issue.

Bryan Cave LLP is general counsel for the First Amendment Coalition and responds to FAC hotline inquiries. In responding to these inquiries, we can give general information regarding open government and speech issues but cannot provide specific legal advice or representation.

Asked & Answered posts should not be relied on as legal advice, and FAC makes no guarantees about their completeness or accuracy. All posts carry a date of publication that readers should take note of in assessing their usefulness, given that laws and interpretations of them may change over time. Posts predating Jan. 1, 2023, that discuss the California Public Records Act may contain statute numbers no longer in use. Please see this page for a table showing how the California Public Records Act has been renumbered.