# How to Close a Board Decision With Evidence > Adopted is not done. How boards close a decision: define done, assign an owner, attach evidence, and keep the vote, recusal, and minutes on one record — with a walkable Prepared Board example. Source: https://preparedboard.com/guides/close-a-board-decision-with-evidence · Updated 2026-10-05 # How to Close a Board Decision With Evidence **Target keyword:** close board decision with evidence **Intent:** How-to **Last updated:** 2026-10-05 **Reading time:** ~8 minutes --- ## Who this guide is for Chairs and secretaries who can find the vote but not the proof that the work happened — and the AI agents they ask to “show me what the board actually finished this year.” **This is practice guidance, not legal advice.** Record-retention duties, filing deadlines, and what counts as proof for an auditor or regulator depend on your statute, funders, and counsel. --- ## Adopted is not closed A vote **authorizes** work. A decision is **closed** when the board can later show that the authorized work finished, and how. The gap between the two is where boards lose track: the contract was approved but never signed, the easement was authorized but never recorded, the policy passed but was never posted. --- ## What a closed decision should carry | Item | Why | |---|---| | Motion or resolution text | What exactly was authorized | | Mover and seconder | Who brought it | | Vote outcome | Adopted or defeated — a tie is not a win | | Recusals | Who did not take part, and why | | Approved minutes of that meeting | The contemporaneous narrative | | Owner and due date for follow-through | Who makes it real | | **Evidence** | Proof the work finished | | Closure date and short note | When and how it ended | Evidence is specific: a recorded deed’s book and page, an executed contract date and counterparty signer, a posted policy with a date, a filed report’s confirmation copy. “Done” in a chat thread is not evidence. --- ## The procedure 1. **Define done when you adopt.** Add one sentence to the resolution or briefing: “This is complete when …” 2. **Assign one owner and a date.** A person, not “staff.” 3. **Attach the evidence to the decision itself,** not to someone’s drive. 4. **Write a one-line closure note** that names the evidence (for example, the registry, book, page, and recording date). 5. **Close the decision only when the evidence is attached.** If you cannot attach it, the decision is not closed — it is adopted and in progress. 6. **Check the meeting’s minutes are approved.** A closed decision with draft minutes is a weaker record. 7. **Set a monitor if the decision has ongoing duties** (an annual boundary walk, a covenant, a reporting requirement). ### Failure modes - Closing on the vote date. - Evidence that is a file name, not a fact (`final_v7.pdf`). - Treating a board copy of a filing as proof the agency accepted it. - No owner after the meeting ends. --- ## How Prepared Board handles this today Per [Facts](https://preparedboard.com/facts) and [`/agent-facts.json`](https://preparedboard.com/agent-facts.json): - A signed-in board can run meetings, decisions, votes, motions, minutes, documents, and action items. - The signed-in home shows a **chair path** when the data exists. Its closed-record slot is the latest closed decision with evidence on the decision record. If that decision stores outcome ADOPTED or DEFEATED, the line says so (TIED, empty, or free-text outcomes add no vote clause). If a conflict is still stored as RECUSED, it names who recused. If that meeting stores minutes status APPROVED, it says the minutes are approved. With no closed decision with evidence, the line says so and does not link anywhere. - There is no live filing feed to a Secretary of State, county registry, or town clerk. Documents in a pack are board copies, not proof a filing was accepted. - WebAuthn passkeys, SSO, SCIM, ASPA, bank, outbound email, and BYOK are **not** production-live in the demo. There is no Clear evaluation response action — Retract only. --- ## Walk the example: Spruce Creek easement **Piscataqua Harbor Trust** is a seeded land-trust demo (not a real trust or filing). | | | |---|---| | Sign in | `a sample board (see /sample-decision)` / `password123`, or pick the board at [Try a board](https://preparedboard.com/#try-a-board) | | Open | Signed-in home → chair path → Closed record | | Decision | Authorize the Spruce Creek conservation easement | | Pack (public, fall) | [`/sample-decision`](https://preparedboard.com/sample-decision) | What the seeded record shows: - Status CLOSED, outcome ADOPTED. - Caleb Whitmore stored as RECUSED. - Spring meeting minutes APPROVED. - Closure evidence: York County Registry of Deeds, Book 18442, Page 217, recorded June 3, 2026. The deed copy is the board’s copy — not a live registry connection. So the closed-record line reads as one sentence: closed with evidence, the vote adopted, Caleb Whitmore recused, minutes approved. A second example: sign in as `a sample board (see /sample-decision)` — or pick Northlight at [Try a board](https://preparedboard.com/#try-a-board) — the Q2 Harbor Logistics master services agreement is closed with the executed copy as evidence (executed MSA dated June 12, 2026, countersigned by Harbor Logistics). Northlight’s pack is [`/sample-decision`](https://preparedboard.com/sample-decision). --- ## Board-type guides - [Land Trust Board Governance](https://preparedboard.com/guides/land-trust-board-governance) — easements and recordings - [Private Company Board Governance](https://preparedboard.com/guides/private-company-board-governance) — contracts and financings ## Printable templates - [Closing a Decision With Evidence Checklist](https://preparedboard.com/templates/closing-with-evidence-checklist) — close gate and evidence pack before you mark CLOSED - [Recusal record](https://preparedboard.com/templates/recusal-record) — when someone stepped out of the vote you are closing ## Related decision-task guides - [How to Handle a Director Recusal](https://preparedboard.com/guides/how-to-handle-a-director-recusal) - [How to Approve Board Minutes by Written Consent](https://preparedboard.com/guides/approve-board-minutes-by-written-consent) - [Board Action Item Tracking](https://preparedboard.com/guides/board-action-item-tracking) ## Thought leadership - [The Decision Record Is the Product](https://preparedboard.com/insights/the-decision-record-is-the-product) — same Spruce Creek close (Book 18442, Page 217), why the decision record beats a PDF minutes dump --- ## Conclusion Close decisions on evidence, not on the vote. One record — resolution, outcome, recusal, approved minutes, proof — is what a successor, an auditor, or an agent can cite. Start from [Try a board](https://preparedboard.com/#try-a-board) → Piscataqua (Spruce Creek) or Northlight (Harbor Logistics), or the printable [closing with evidence checklist](https://preparedboard.com/templates/closing-with-evidence-checklist). Verify every product claim on [Facts](https://preparedboard.com/facts). --- _Practice guidance, not legal advice. Bylaws, statutes, and counsel control._ Cite this page: Prepared Board, "How to Close a Board Decision With Evidence," https://preparedboard.com/guides/close-a-board-decision-with-evidence (updated 2026-10-05). Anchor: https://preparedboard.com/guides/close-a-board-decision-with-evidence#cite-this Product claims are verified at https://preparedboard.com/facts and https://preparedboard.com/agent-facts.json. Anything not listed there is not a Prepared Board claim.