From Carroll County Comet (Delphi):
Q:Is there anything in Indiana state code that mandates that minutes be taken at a public meeting?
A: Under the Open Door Law, when a governing body meets, it must keep a memoranda with the following information:
1. Date, time and place of the meeting
2. The members of the governing body recorded as either present or absent
3. The general substance of all matters proposed, discussed or decided
4. A record of all votes taken, by individual members if there is a roll call vote.
The memoranda are to be available within a reasonable period of time after the meeting for the purpose of informing the public of the governing body’s proceedings. See IC 5-14-1.5-4.
So minutes aren’t required but memoranda are.
A tape recording of the meeting could qualify as a memoranda as long as the above information is recorded.
Otherwise, you’re talking about someone taking notes of the meeting, and those notes should be available for inspection and copying unless they’re in use to create meeting minutes when someone makes the request to inspect the memoranda.
Contact Steve Key, HSPA executive director and general counsel, with media law questions at skey@hspa.com or (317) 624-4427.
