Legal Definitions - dispense with the reading of the minutes

To dispense with the reading of the minutes means to formally agree to skip the oral recitation of the previous meeting's official record by the secretary or designated person. This procedural step is typically taken when all attendees have already received, reviewed, and had the opportunity to read the minutes in advance, often through email or a shared document platform. The purpose is to save time during the meeting, allowing the group to move directly to the correction and approval of the minutes without the need for them to be read aloud.

Here are a few examples:

• Corporate Board Meeting: At the quarterly meeting of a technology company's Board of Directors, the Chair begins by stating, "Good morning, everyone. I trust you've all had a chance to review the minutes from our last meeting, which were circulated with the board packet. If there are no objections, we will dispense with the reading of the minutes and proceed directly to any proposed corrections and then a motion for approval."

  This illustrates the term because the board members, having already received and read the minutes in their pre-meeting materials, agree to skip the time-consuming process of having them read aloud, moving straight to the discussion and approval phase.

• Homeowners Association (HOA) Meeting: During a monthly HOA meeting for a large residential community, the President announces, "Last month's minutes were posted on the community website and emailed to all residents last week. To keep our meeting efficient, I'd like to ask for a motion to dispense with the reading of the minutes." A resident then makes the motion, which is seconded and passed.

  Here, the HOA leadership uses the procedure to streamline the meeting, acknowledging that members have had prior access to the minutes and can therefore skip the oral reading to save time for other agenda items.

• Non-profit Committee Meeting: A small committee for a local environmental charity is holding its bi-weekly planning session. The committee chair says, "Welcome, everyone. The minutes from our last meeting were sent out via email on Monday. If everyone has reviewed them, we can dispense with the reading of the minutes and move straight to discussing the proposed changes for the upcoming river cleanup event."

  This example demonstrates the term in a smaller group setting where efficiency is still important. By assuming prior review, the committee avoids spending valuable meeting time on an oral recitation and can focus immediately on substantive discussions.