How Long Should Board Meeting Minutes be Retained
I am not familiar with the statues in PA but there is in general, two answers to your question.
The first has to do with the laws in your state relative to financial records. While the laws on
retaining financial records do not directly apply to board minutes the time period for retaining
financial records (usually 7 years, 10 years in some states) is a good guideline and it is smart to
adhere to the same guideline for board minutes.
It is not typical, but your cooperatives articles of incorporation or bylaws could also mandate a
period for retaining board minutes.
The other dimension is as a historical record of the organization. It is always interesting to go
back into board minutes from 20 or 30 years ago to discover when important decisions were
made and the issues that the cooperative was facing. I had the opportunity to write a case study
about the strategic planning process and success of a regional cooperative. Is was extremely
valuable to be able to go back and review some of the historic board minutes because none of he
current leaders could pinpoint when key decisions and changes were made.
My advice would be to check with you accountant and retain board minutes as least as long as
the reconmended period for financial records. If it is convenient to store them electronically, I
would tend to retain them as long as practical. Future historians and accademics will thanks you!
-Phil K.
Tort- 10 years
Contract dispute-?