For council, board, and commission members
Read Friday’s agenda packet before the meeting — in minutes
Upload the packet: the agenda, staff reports, resolutions, and contracts. Agenda Pre-Review checks every item against your bylaws, your earlier minutes and motions, and your unfinished business, and gives you a short briefing with the source for every point.
“When I served on the city council, the agenda items came on Friday, and there wasn’t time to read them all before the meeting. The questions that mattered — does this follow our rules? didn’t we already vote on this? — were buried in the packet and in last year’s minutes. This is the read-through I wished I’d had.”
What it looks for in every item
May conflict with the governing documents
An officer or committee acting beyond its authority, or spending, terms, or procedures your bylaws, charter, or law set differently.
Notice requirement
Bylaws and rules amendments, hearings, assessments, and removals that need advance notice — and whether the packet shows it was given.
Vote needed
Two-thirds votes, a majority of the entire membership, two readings, or a unanimous vote to suspend a rule.
Already acted on
Items already tabled, postponed, referred, or voted down — and the right way to bring them back.
Discussed before
What the board asked for last time (“bring back three bids”) and whether the packet delivers it.
Something missing
Exhibits, reports, and recommendations the documents mention or the rules require, but the packet doesn’t include.
Every finding names where it comes from — a bylaws section, the minutes of a meeting, a recorded motion, or a page of the packet — with a short quote, so you can check it yourself. Items with nothing to flag simply say so. It also gives you a few questions worth asking.
From a sample briefing
A real review of a fictional council’s 20-page packet. Some of what it found:
Item 4 · Required notice not given
Council rules can be amended only after written notice at the preceding regular meeting. The October 6 minutes say no amendment was proposed, so that notice was not given. Adopting this on October 20 could be invalid.
Source: Bylaws, Rule 12
Item 5 · Three bids required
Contracts over $50,000 need at least three written bids or proposals. This $78,500 contract has only one proposal, since two contractors declined. Approving it may break the Council's purchasing rule.
Source: Bylaws, Rule 8
Item 6 · Six-month bar on defeated matters
The Council defeated this same rezoning 2–5 on August 11, 2026. A defeated matter cannot come back within six months, which runs to about February 11, 2027. Acting tonight may break the Council's rules.
Source: Bylaws, Rule 15
Item 7 · Three bids required, one shown
Council rules bar approving any purchase over $50,000 without at least three written bids or proposals. The packet shows only one quote, from Smith Fire Apparatus, and says Smith is the sole authorized dealer for this model. The rule as written has no sole-source exception, so approval could be open to challenge.
Source: Rules of Procedure, Rule 8
How it works
- 1
Upload the packet
Up to 10 files and 400 pages: PDF (even a scan), Word, or text.
- 2
It reads every page
It finds each agenda item and the pages that go with it, then checks each one against your records.
- 3
Read the briefing
In a few minutes: what needs attention first, then item by item. Download it as Word or PDF to bring to the meeting.
It works best with your bylaws and past minutes on file in Ask the Chair. Without them, it still checks the packet against Robert’s Rules and tells you what to confirm.
What it costs
- Your first review is free (packets up to 50 pages).
- Public Body plan: 4 reviews a month, included.
- Chair and Board plans: add 4 reviews a month for $29 a month.
- Any plan: a single review for $12.
One review covers the whole packet, and everyone in your organization can read the briefing.
The packet files are read for the review and then deleted; only the briefing is kept, for your organization’s members. Executive-session records are never used. Agenda Pre-Review points out issues to look into; it is not legal advice and never tells anyone how to vote. Check anything important with your clerk or attorney.