P.R. Laws tit. 21, § 4213
Minutes are the constitutional and legal instrument used to succinctly record the facts related to the processing of ordinances, resolutions, and other matters that, because of their nature, are of importance to the Legislature. To ensure their clarity and accuracy, as well as their perpetuity and publications, the Secretary shall use the tape recording system or any other modern system for the textual reproduction of all the procedures and events that take place in each session, which shall be included precisely in the legislative record of said body.
The Secretary of the Legislature shall record the legislative procedures in the minutes, in which he shall succinctly state, without being limited to, the following:
(a) The time in which works began and ended.
(b) The agenda of the matters considered.
(c) Members present, absent, and those that have been duly excused.
(d) A list of the projects, resolutions, or motions filed with the Office of the Secretary, including the author, title, and number assigned to them.
(e) A list of the documents, communications, and reports received in the Office of the Secretary announcing the matter and date of receipt.
(f) Matters discussed, including the statements made by each member regarding the issues considered.
(g) The agreements on the draft resolutions and ordinances filed.
(h) Results of the voting on each matter, indicating the votes in favor, the votes against, and the abstentions.
(i) Whether the documents, ordinances, or resolutions were printed and distributed to the members, or read, as the case may be.
(j) The statements regarding the points of order raised and the President’s decision on the matter.
(k) Speeches by assembly members or guests in special sessions submitted to the Secretary of the Municipal Legislature shall be included in the appendix of the minutes.
(l) Explanatory votes of the legislature members.
(m) Incidents in the debates.
Minutes shall be prepared for each meeting and the same shall be approved by a majority of all the members of the Legislature. Minutes shall contain a note providing the following: “The works of parliamentary sessions have been fully recorded, as required under Section 5.013 of Act No. 81-1991, as amended [this section].”
At the end of each fiscal year, the Secretary shall prepare a volume of all the minutes of the Legislature’s sessions during the corresponding year, in book form. It shall contain the original of said minutes, duly initialed in handwriting on each page and certified and signed by the President and the Secretary. Said book shall also contain an index of the contents of the volume, by session and in chronological order, with a final certification signed by the Secretary and the President, which shall state the following:
“I hereby certify that this volume contains the originals of the Minutes of the Sessions of the Municipal Legislature held during Fiscal Year ____.”
Minute Books shall constitute records of the same type and nature as the minutes of the Houses of the Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico. The tapes or any other system employed, shall not be used for any other purpose but the publication of the records, except by consent of a majority of members of the Legislature. The recordings made shall be kept as historic documents and their conservation and custody shall be subject to the provisions of §§ 1001 et seq. of Title 3, known as the “Puerto Rico Public Documents Administration Act”.
Any provision in a regulation applicable to the Legislature that prohibits the full or partial recording of the works of the parliamentary sessions, or that fully or partially prohibits or impairs the provisions of §§ 4213a and 4213b of this title, shall be deemed to be null.
History —Aug. 30, 1991, No. 81, § 5.013; July 25, 2000, No. 135, § 1; Mar. 26, 2014, No. 43, § 1.