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Trainer: boards must periodically review and vote on releasing executive-session minutes
Summary
Michelle Randello told Harwich attendees that chairs (or delegated staff) must periodically review executive-session minutes and bring recommendations to the full board; she recommended review every three to six months, saying the AG considers a year too long.
Randello told attendees that the law requires the chair to periodically review executive-session minutes to determine whether they are appropriate for release and that this review should be returned to the full board for a vote. She said that function can be delegated to staff for preparation, but the ultimate decision belongs to the board and must be announced in open session when minutes are released.
"You have to do this review no more than every 6 months. The AG has said a year is too long," Randello said, recommending a three- or six-month cadence. She described maintaining a tracking chart of executive-session minutes (dates, purpose, approval status, release/redaction decisions) and warned that requests going back decades can require substantial staff time to review and, where appropriate, redact protected information before release.
