Hi Rachelle,

In certain circumstances even a private non-profit may be obliged to provide
board minutes.  We are a non-profit, membership organization, with a board
of directors elected by the membership.

We had a member who felt our money was not being spent wisely and thus our
employees were not being paid as well as they might have been. He requested
board minutes, annual reports, and I think audits and some other financial
reports. We provided only the information our attorneys felt was required
under the laws governing our sort of organization. The member felt that was
not enough, since we should be subject to other laws for public entities
since we received some grant funding from government sources.  So, he took
us to court.

This case was further complicated by the fact that he had once done some
preliminary research in the Archives with the intention of writing a
dissertation on our organization. He never followed through with it, but he
claimed he had more access than he did. Luckily, I still had correspondence
and other information regarding what he saw in the Archives, so that helped
our case.

The upshot of the court case was that we needed to supply board minutes, but
only to members, and some financial information if it was included in the
regular board packet which accompanies board meetings.

Our board then developed a formal policy as to what was available, to whom,
and the way to request this information. Employees have access to these same
things upon request.

Hope this helps.

Kit Leary
Oregon Shakespeare Festival
[log in to unmask] <mailto:[log in to unmask]>
www.osfashland.org <http://www.osfashland.org>

        -----Original Message-----
        From:   Catherine Bruck [SMTP:[log in to unmask]]
        Sent:   Thursday, December 13, 2001 9:02 AM
        To:     [log in to unmask]
        Subject:        Re: Board Minutes

        Did you mean "public domain" or "public record"?  I think it depends
on whether the non-profit is publicly or privately funded.  I am on the
board of a local historical society, a privately funded membership
organization, and I don't believe we are under any obligation to disclose
our meeting minutes.  On the other hand, I used to work for a museum which
operated as a department of the city; it was governed by a board of
commissioners appointed by the mayor, and I presume the board's proceedings
were a matter of public record.


        Catherine Bruck
        University Archivist
        Illinois Institute of Technology
        Paul V. Galvin Library
        35 W. 33rd St.
        Chicago, IL  60616
        312/567-6840
        FAX 312/567-5318
        [log in to unmask]

                -----Original Message-----
                From: Archives & Archivists
[mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of Rachelle Blais
                Sent: Thursday, December 13, 2001 6:19 AM
                To: [log in to unmask]
                Subject: Board Minutes


                Hello,
                I would be interested to know if Board meeting minutes of a
non-profit organization are public domain.  Any help would be appreciated.
Many thanks in advance.
                Rachelle Blais
                [log in to unmask]