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Do qualifications for officers apply to pro tem officers?


paulmcclintock

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The default in RONR is that there are no qualifications for officers (RONR, 11th ed, p. 447, l. 16ff).  But many organizations' bylaws do have some qualifications, such as you have to be a member, or you have to have been a member for X amount of time. 

(A) In such cases, can a person who does not meet those qualifications be elected to be a pro tem officer for the meeting?

(B) If the answer is NO, then does that prevent an assembly from allowing a professional parliamentarian preside, if the person does not meet the qualification?

(C) If the answer it NO to (A), if bylaws require officers to be board members, can a membership meeting elect a non-board member to be a pro tem officer?

 

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Do not confuse:

(a.) a bylaws-defined office

vs.

(b.) a meeting officer, such as a presiding "officer" plus the secretary, who is a meeting officer, likewise.

As page 22 (Section 3) says:

Quote

MINIMUM OFFICERS.

The minimum essential officers for the conduct of business in a deliberative assembly are a presiding officer, who conducts the meeting and sees that the rules are observed, and a secretary, or clerk, who makes a written record of what is done―usually called “the minutes.”

Thus -- If you or I were to preside over a meeting, then we are not "officers" in the bylaws-sense of the word. -- We are "meeting officers".

The organization's P remains in office as P. Their VP remains in office as VP. Their SEC remains in office as SEC. -- No vacancy is created. No loss-of-office has occurred.

***

>> (A.) Can a person who does not meet those qualifications be elected to be a pro tem officer for the meeting?

I answer, "Yes."

You or I can be hired to run a meeting.

We can be a chairman pro tem.

We can be a secretary pro tem.

We are not a president pro tem. -- That is a nonsense term, within the 700+ pages of RONR.

We have no term of office. A mere suspension of the rules can "take us out" at any time. No disciplinary action is necessary to swap-out/swap-in a pro tem chairman.

 

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3 hours ago, paulmcclintock said:

The default in RONR is that there are no qualifications for officers (RONR, 11th ed, p. 447, l. 16ff).  But many organizations' bylaws do have some qualifications, such as you have to be a member, or you have to have been a member for X amount of time. 

(A) In such cases, can a person who does not meet those qualifications be elected to be a pro tem officer for the meeting?

(B) If the answer is NO, then does that prevent an assembly from allowing a professional parliamentarian preside, if the person does not meet the qualification?

(C) If the answer it NO to (A), if bylaws require officers to be board members, can a membership meeting elect a non-board member to be a pro tem officer?

 

As you know, RONR (11th ed., on pp. 453-454) says the following:

"In certain instances in an ordinary society—for example, if an adjourned meeting or a special meeting (9) must deal with a problem that has intensely divided the organization—it may be that such a meeting can accomplish more under the chairmanship of an invited nonmember who is skilled in presiding. (Sometimes this may be a professional presiding officer.) If the president and vice-president(s) do not object, the assembly, by majority vote, can adopt such an arrangement for all or part of a session. Alternatively, the rules may be suspended to authorize it, even over the objection of the president or a vice-president."

I suppose an organization's bylaws could be worded in such a way as to indicate that the qualifications set forth in them for holding office are also to apply to temporary presiding officers (or secretaries pro tem), but I suspect the odds are against it. We would have to read them to be sure. But even if the bylaws say that anyone serving as chairman pro tem (or secretary pro tem) at a meeting must meet certain qualifications, I think such a rule could be suspended by a two-thirds vote unless the bylaws specifically provide otherwise.

(By the way, I disagree with the statement in the preceding response that if you are serving as the invited chairman pro tem it will take a suspension of the rules to kick you out. A majority vote will suffice. :)

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