Recording secretary or software: who drafts the minutes

A recording secretary attends a public meeting, notes every motion, second and vote, and turns those notes into draft minutes for the clerk to approve. Software can now do the typing half of that job from an audio recording, but it cannot replace the person who reviews the draft and answers for the record.

This page compares the two honestly, using the pay rates that three municipalities posted, so a clerk can decide which one fits a meeting schedule. It is not legal advice: who must take the minutes, and by when, is set by your state and your own bylaws.

What does a recording secretary do?

A recording secretary writes the official account of a meeting so the clerk does not have to. The Powell Township posting describes the work as to "accurately record and prepare meeting minutes, capturing all motions, decisions, and roll call". The City of Delafield, Wisconsin, posting says minutes "must be typed, revised, and submitted to the Clerk's Office for posting".

In practice that is three pieces of work:

• Sitting through the meeting and noting who moved, who seconded and how each member voted.
• Typing the notes into the body's minutes format.
• Revising the draft after the clerk or chair corrects it.

What does a recording secretary cost?

The three postings put the pay at $14 to $30 an hour, with the hours depending on how many meetings the body holds.

At the low end of the Delafield posting, 15 hours at $25 is $375 a month. The Powell posting adds a deadline that matters more than the rate: it says draft minutes must be open to public inspection within eight business days. Check the deadline in your own state and bylaws; it differs.

What does software do instead?

Minutes Draft works from the recording rather than from someone sitting in the room. You upload the audio, it separates the voices, you name each voice once from your member list, and it lists every motion with who moved it, who seconded it and how each member voted.

• Recording in, draft out. It takes MP3, M4A, WAV, OGG or WEBM audio up to 30 MB, or up to four parts of a longer meeting.
• Votes by member. It reads the motions, seconds and votes spoken in the usual phrasing: "I move", "second", "all in favor", a roll call.
• Honest gaps. A motion with no second is listed as "no second heard". A vote it did not hear is listed as "not heard", never guessed.
• A file you can edit. The draft downloads as a Word file or a PDF, in action-minutes or summary style.

What can a recording secretary do that software cannot?

A person can do things a recording cannot support, and you should keep that person for them.

• Be in the room. Minutes Draft does not transcribe live and does not take video. It hears only what the recording captured, so a muffled table microphone or two people talking at once gives weaker results.
• Write the discussion. The software does not paraphrase what people said. It lists motions, votes and outcomes and, in summary style, who spoke on each item and for how long.
• Handle closed sessions. The software has no closed-session minutes. The clerk skips that part of the recording.
• Be the custodian. You keep the official minutes and the original recording. Minutes Draft deletes recordings 30 days after you mark a meeting reviewed.

How do the two compare for a small municipality?

The table sets them side by side for the part of the job both can do.

Many clerks end up with a mix: a person keeps the discussion and the closed sessions, while the recording does the repetitive motion-and-vote draft for regular meetings.

How do I try it before changing how I draft minutes?

Run the sample above. It takes a fictional township board meeting through the same steps a real recording goes through: naming the voices, finding the motions, seconds and votes, and printing the draft. It needs no account and no card, and the download is marked SAMPLE.

To see what the finished draft should contain, read the board meeting minutes example. For the line-by-line form, use the committee meeting minutes template. For a wider look at tools, see minutes of meeting software.

FAQ

What is the difference between a recording secretary and a clerk?

The clerk keeps the official record and signs it, and the recording secretary is hired to take and draft the minutes so the clerk does not have to. Some clerks do both jobs themselves.

How long does it take to turn a recording into minutes by hand?

The Powell Township posting budgets about 3 hours per meeting for the recording secretary, and Delafield budgets 15-20 hours a month. Your own time depends on the length of the meeting and the number of motions.

Do I still have to review minutes a program drafts?

Yes. Minutes Draft marks every download as a draft until you mark the minutes reviewed, and it makes no claim that a draft is legally sufficient.