Indiana meeting memoranda: what the Open Door Law actually requires (it is not minutes)
Most clerks assume every state requires meeting minutes. Indiana does not. The Open Door Law requires memoranda, kept as the meeting progresses, with five specific items, and treats minutes as a separate optional document. Here is exactly what the statute asks for.
- The required record
- Memoranda, kept as the meeting progresses. Minutes are optional; "the minutes, if any" must be open for inspection and copying if they exist (IC 5-14-1.5-4(b), (c))
- Memoranda contents
- Date, time, and place; members present or absent; general substance of all matters proposed, discussed, or decided; individual votes if a roll call; electronic-participation details (IC 5-14-1.5-4(b))
- Availability
- Within a reasonable period of time after the meeting. The statute sets no day count (IC 5-14-1.5-4(c))
- Voting rules
- No secret ballots, ever (IC 5-14-1.5-3(b)); every vote at an electronic meeting is a roll call vote (IC 5-14-1.5-3.5(f), 3.6(c)(2), 3.7(e))
- Executive sessions
- Memoranda identify the subject by specific reference to the noticed instance under 6.1(b), plus a certification that nothing else was discussed (IC 5-14-1.5-6.1(d))
The record Indiana actually requires
Here is the sentence that surprises clerks who arrive from other states, and plenty who have worked in Indiana for years: the Open Door Law does not require meeting minutes. What it requires are memoranda, and it requires them to be kept as the meeting progresses, not written up afterward from memory (IC 5-14-1.5-4(b)).
Minutes exist in the statute only as an optional extra. Section 4(c) says the memoranda are to be available to the public, and then adds: “The minutes, if any, are to be open for public inspection and copying.” Those three words, “if any,” carry the whole rule. A body may keep formal minutes, and many do because their own bylaws or habits expect them. But the document the law demands after every meeting, including every executive session, is the memoranda. If you keep both, both are public records of the proceeding, and the minutes must be open for inspection.
The memoranda checklist
Section 4(b) lists exactly what the memoranda must contain. Run this list during the meeting, because that is when the statute says the record gets made:
- The date, time, and place of the meeting.
- The members of the governing body recorded as either present or absent. Both lists, by the statute’s own wording. Recording only who showed up is an incomplete record.
- The general substance of all matters proposed, discussed, or decided. Note the reach: not just decisions. A topic that was raised and discussed but never voted on still belongs in the memoranda.
- A record of all votes taken by individual members if there is a roll call. When the vote is by roll call, the record shows how each member voted, by name.
- Any additional information required under section 3.5 or 3.6 of the chapter, or any other statute that authorizes the body to meet by electronic means. For a political subdivision this means the memoranda must state which members were physically present, which participated electronically, and which were absent, and identify the electronic means by which members participated and the public attended and observed (IC 5-14-1.5-3.5(e)).
On availability, the statute is looser than most: memoranda must be available “within a reasonable period of time after the meeting” (IC 5-14-1.5-4(c)). There is no eight-day rule, no five-day rule, no day count at all. That is not a license to sit on them. The stated purpose is “informing the public of the governing body’s proceedings,” and for many local bodies the memoranda now have a second job: Indiana’s livestream law requires each archived copy of a meeting transmission to provide access by links to the meeting’s agenda if any, minutes if any, and memoranda (IC 5-14-1.5-2.9(c)). An archive waiting on its memoranda is an archive that is not yet compliant.
Roll calls, individual votes, and the secret ballot ban
Two voting rules feed directly into the memoranda. First, a secret ballot vote may not be taken at a meeting, full stop (IC 5-14-1.5-3(b)). Second, whenever any member participates electronically, every vote at that meeting must be a roll call vote. The rule appears in each of the electronic-meeting sections: 3.5(f) for political subdivisions, 3.6(c)(2) for the bodies that section covers (state agencies, charter schools, airport authorities, and conservancy districts), and 3.7(e) for meetings held during a declared disaster emergency. And because section 4(b) requires individual-member records whenever there is a roll call, the practical effect is that any electronic meeting produces a memoranda entry showing exactly how each member voted on every question. A hybrid meeting where the record says only “motion carried” is a defective record.
Executive sessions: specific reference, then certify
Executive sessions get the strictest memoranda treatment in the chapter. The public notice must state the subject matter by specific reference to the enumerated instance or instances in IC 5-14-1.5-6.1(b) that permit the session, and the memoranda and minutes must identify the subject the same way, by that same specific reference (IC 5-14-1.5-6.1(d)). Citing the statute generally, or describing the topic loosely, does not satisfy either requirement. The notice mechanics have their own rules, which we cover in our Open Door Law notice guide.
Then comes the step with no parallel in most states: the governing body must certify, by a statement in the memoranda and minutes, that no subject matter was discussed in the executive session other than the subject matter specified in the public notice (IC 5-14-1.5-6.1(d)). The certification is not optional boilerplate; it is the body’s on-record attestation that the session stayed inside its noticed lane. Two more guardrails complete the picture: final action must be taken at a meeting open to the public (6.1(c)), and records specifically prepared for discussion, or developed during discussion, in an executive session are among the records a public agency may withhold at its discretion under the Access to Public Records Act (IC 5-14-3-4(b)(12)).
What a compliant memoranda block looks like
For a small town council, the whole obligation can fit in a dozen lines. A generic example for the fictional Town of Maplewood:
Maplewood Town Council, regular meeting.
Date, time, place: August 4, 2026, 6:30 p.m., Maplewood Town Hall, 100 Main Street.
Members present: [member], [member], [member], [member]. Members absent: [member].
[Member] participated by videoconference under the council’s electronic meeting policy; all other members listed as present were physically present. The public attended and observed the videoconference through the audio-video feed at Town Hall.
Substance: The council discussed the two bids received for the Oak Street sidewalk repair project and questioned the public works superintendent about the timeline. The council proposed and discussed a change to the park reservation fee schedule; no action taken. The council decided to award the sidewalk contract to the low bidder.
Votes: Motion to award the sidewalk contract, by roll call: [member] yes, [member] yes, [member] yes, [member] no. Motion carried.
Every 4(b) item is covered: date, time, and place; present and absent members; the general substance of what was proposed, discussed, and decided, including the item that went nowhere; the roll call recorded by individual member; and the electronic-participation statement. The clerk can still write fuller minutes for the council to approve. But this block, kept as the meeting progressed and made available within a reasonable period, is what the statute demands.
Why the memoranda are worth taking seriously
Enforcement runs straight through this document. Any person may sue under IC 5-14-1.5-7 to enjoin violations or to declare void a policy, decision, or final action taken at an illegal executive session or an unnoticed meeting; the suit must generally be commenced within 30 days of the act or of when the plaintiff knew or should have known of it, and, when the challenged action is recorded in the memoranda or minutes, the statute deems a plaintiff to have known no later than the date those records are first available for public inspection (7(b)). A court that finds a violation may not treat it as cured just because the body later re-took the action at a compliant meeting (7(c)). And failing to prepare a memorandum of a meeting is itself one of the six enumerated violation types under IC 5-14-1.5-7.5(b): an officer or management-level employee who, with specific intent to violate the law, fails that duty faces a civil penalty of up to $100 for a first violation and $500 for each additional one, imposed personally (7.5(f), (h)). The memoranda are not paperwork after the fact. They are the record the whole enforcement scheme reads.
Dekree runs this workflow for Michigan local governments today: minutes drafted from the agenda in the body’s own format, with the statutory items always present. We are bringing the platform to Indiana next. If you want it in your office, email contact@dekree.ai with the subject line Indiana and we will add your office to the Indiana rollout list.
Common questions
Are meeting minutes required in Indiana?
No. The Open Door Law requires memoranda, kept as the meeting progresses (IC 5-14-1.5-4(b)). Minutes are optional: the statute refers to "the minutes, if any," and requires only that minutes, where a body chooses to keep them, be open for public inspection and copying (IC 5-14-1.5-4(c)).
How fast must memoranda be available to the public?
Within "a reasonable period of time after the meeting" (IC 5-14-1.5-4(c)). The statute sets no day count. Unlike states with fixed deadlines, Indiana leaves "reasonable" undefined, so the safe practice is a consistent internal standard the body actually meets.
What must an executive session memorandum contain?
It must identify the subject matter by specific reference to the enumerated instance in IC 5-14-1.5-6.1(b) for which public notice was given, and the governing body must certify by a statement in the memoranda that no subject matter was discussed other than the subject matter specified in the public notice (IC 5-14-1.5-6.1(d)).
Do votes have to be recorded by individual member?
When there is a roll call, yes: the memoranda must include a record of all votes taken by individual members (IC 5-14-1.5-4(b)). All votes at meetings held by electronic means must be taken by roll call (IC 5-14-1.5-3.5(f), 3.6(c)(2), 3.7(e)), and a secret ballot vote may never be taken at a meeting (IC 5-14-1.5-3(b)).
What happens if a body does not keep memoranda?
Failing to prepare a memorandum of a meeting as required by section 4 is one of the six enumerated violation types that can support a civil penalty against an officer or management-level employee who acts with specific intent to violate the law, up to $100 for a first violation and $500 for each additional one, with personal liability (IC 5-14-1.5-7.5). Separately, any person may sue under IC 5-14-1.5-7, generally within 30 days.
This article is educational information for Indiana public agencies, current as of the publication date. It is not legal advice, and statutes and court decisions change. Confirm specifics with your agency attorney. Statute text: iga.in.gov.