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Does a Parliamentarian need to be asked to step in when a RROO is broken? Or should he stop the proceedings and say something is wrong?

President appointed an Assistant Parliamentarian. Is this proper and prudent?

Can a member who acts as a Parliamentarian be appointed as the chair of the Bylaws committee? Our bylaws state the Parliamentarian guides the group in rules of parliamentary law. Nothing is said about being on a committee as a member nor as a chair. Thanks

Is there any restriction on how the parliamentarian or any other officers (besides the president whose restrictions I am already familiar with) may vote?

Aloha e kakou, Aloha to all of us! (The Hawaiian language has Inclusive Pronouns.) Anyway, our Home Owners Association recently held its annual owners meeting. The meeting met its quorum threshold, using proxies. The presiding officer was not the usual Board of Directors President but rather a Parliamentarian routinely hired by the management company to conduct these meetings. He read from a prepared script and presided over all business at hand including elections of board directors. The Board President and other directors said nothing during the official part of this meeting, other than to campaign for reelection. At this meeting, the proxy of one owner attempted to move to amend the Bylaws. According to the Association documents, and possibly state law, the Bylaws can only be amended by a majority of the owners, either 67% or 75%. The Parliamentarian refused to accept the motion, claiming, among many things, that the motion had not been introduced before the meeting, that it needed to be first drawn up by an attorney, although the person making the motion is an attorney. Ultimately, the Parliamentarian refused to consider the motion because he could not ensure that the motion would not fail. Excuse me? Questions: Is this how a presiding officer is supposed to behave? I searched the Rules of Order and elsewhere to find out if quelching a motion is appropriate for the presiding officer, without success. Is it appropriate? This Parliamentarian is well known locally, a PRP and a member of the NAP. I have another question about this same meeting, but will start a separate thread to keep this short and not mix topics. Your insight is appreciated. Mahalo nui loa. Thank you very much.

The PA is RONR. The parliamentarian serves an organization of which there is an annual meeting, board of directors meetings, and executive committee meetings, and is required to attend all of these. If elected as a delegate to the annual meeting, the parliamentarian may represent her local unit and vote by ballot, but otherwise is expected to remain silent/impartial during the business meetings. The parliamentarian is not a member of the executive committee or the board of directors and is not entitled to vote, even by ballot. The parliamentarian is counted just as any other delegate in the quorum for the annual meeting. The question then, is the parliamentarian counted in the quorum for either the executive committee meetings or the board of directors meetings? I think not because the parliamentarian is there only because of that position and would not otherwise be a member of either. Thank you for your thoughts on this.

Our Student Bar Association Parliamentarian is absent due to family emergency. Do we temporarily appoint someone from our Council or do we temporarily appoint a third party? Are we able to operate without one?

Can a response from a paid parliamentarian to the BOD of a nonprofit corporation, (dog club) regarding rules of order be published in the member newsletter and/or FB page without obtaining permission from the parliamentarian?

The annual meeting and election for board of directors is coming up for our club. Recent minutes from the board stated: "A motion was made to hire a professional parliamentarian to attend and advise the Board of Directors at our next club meeting. The motion was adopted." The election is expected to be contentious, and the current board wants to retain power. They disallowed voting from the membership at a special meeting, and many members are concerned that hiring a parliamentarian to "advise the Board" is intended to disempower the membership. Members intend to ask for the credentials of the parliamentarian ahead of time, but not sure if we will get the information. Questions: 1. What should we expect in having an outside parliamentarian attend our annual meeting and election? 2. What rights does the membership have to review the credentials of a parliamentarian hired with club money? 3. Is it permitted to have an outside advisor attend a closed meeting of the membership? 4. If the membership present feels that the advisor is biased toward the board, what recourse do we have? I would hope that having a parliamentarian present would be beneficial to all, but we are concerned about the motives of the current board. Thank you very much for your attention. Shannon

I'd be interested in having the assistance of a parliamentarian to assist with some upcoming meetings. We are just learning about Roberts Rules and will be asking the membership to approve newly revised bylaws. I would like to know we are treading the path correctly and think someone with experience would be a help. Is there an organization or resource I could go to in searching for this service in our area? I must not know where to look, because even tho I leave in a state capital where you'd think there would be lots of need, I sure couldn't find anything like what I was looking for. I'd appreciate any advice or suggestions on how to go about looking for this service. Thanks

I recently filled in as the parliamentarian for the student senate at the university I attend. We went into executive session, and it brought up a few questions: Regarding minutes for executive sessions, if a member of the assembly decides later or during the executive session that they want the minutes from the executive session to be released to the public, is this something that could be brought to a vote (with a 2/3 majority)? If the executive session is on the agenda for a specific item, does a vote need to be called to end the executive session when the discussion on that item is completed or does it automatically end? Now as parliamentarian I realize my role is to advise the chair, however, especially in a relatively small (20 people) assembly, should I speak up when a senator violates a rule if the chair does not catch it? For example, a senator has not been given the floor by the chair, but begins speaking anyway, or a senator goes on a tangent outside the scope of the discussion (like talking about the bylaw that dictates something needs to be voted on instead of discussing the item being voted on). We are relatively relaxed with the rules, but we try to be as professional as possible, and I feel like resolving some of these points would allows meetings to flow more smoothly.

I will try to make this question very easy and straightforward. Does a parliamentarian have the right to make a proposal as if he was a sworn in committee member? Can a parliamentarian start and initiative and request funding for that initiative. I say no because he is not an elected member of the committee nor has he been sworn in. Am I right or wrong? Also. Where can I find an exact ruling on this matter in Roberts rules or order text book.

We are having trouble finding a parliamentarian for our HOA. Mainly because one of our outspoken property owners tells everyone that if they become the Parliamentarian they give up their right to vote on any issues for the HOA as a property owner. I have read that the Parliamentarian can vote as long as their vote is not known. It would seem that if this were true, the Parliamentarian could vote in all secret ballots (budget, election of officers, changes in C&Rs and/or Bylaws). Does anyone know if this is correct? Thank you.

If a person is specified as a parliamentary advisor and is appointed to the board. Can this person make motions and vote?

Who usually swears in the newly elected board members? The parliamentarian or the previous president? We have nothing in our bylaws and it has usually been done by our president but our current president said it should be done by the parliamentarian? Also where can I find the script used to swear in the newly elected officials? Thank you in advance for any help you can give .

The chair appoints the parliamentarian [RONR, 11th ed., p.465, l. 30-32]. Question: How does the assembly get rid of that parliamentarian? The scenario is that the person appointed as parliamentarian is not a member of the assembly that is meeting, and has no rights to vote. The meeting is by telephone. The parliamentarian frequently jumps in and responds to people or speaks in favor or against motions people make. I attempted to get rid of the parliamentarian due to one issue that involved a dispute with the parliamentarian, who then responded that the chair can appoint thte parliamentarian and asserted his right to continue to be there since he was appointed. He always behaves this way. I can raise a point or order that he is supposed to be a consultant only when needed, and only speak on the most involved matters, but he'd assert it was an involved matter (on practically every matter). Most times the chair allows this take over and will agree to whatever the parliamentarian says (even when it's not advice on Robert's Rules, but arguments for or against motions). This is occurring at regular membership meetings and board meetings. How do we get this parliamentarian under control or removed from turning a meeting into his show? Or is the chairman's appointment something we are stuck with and can't override/ challenge? Would it work to create standing rules that the parliamentarian not speak unless asked by the Chair for their advice on a parliamentary question the Chair has (under penalty of removal from the assembly meeting area or to be ordered to disconnect from the phone meeting)? Or does this interfere with the right of the Chair to consult a parliamentarian?

I have two questions: Does the parliamentaria of a society have the authority to respond to a point of order without being recognized by the Chair? Is there any recourse when in response to a point of order, the parliamentarian responds with inaccurate and incorrect information? Thank you

I serve as parliamentarian for a small board. RONR p. 451. appears to preclude "a member of the assembly who acts as its parliamentarian" from casting a vote except in the case of a ballot vote. My question is this: If I am asked to rule on a particular motion from a parliamentary position, must I abstain from voting on the motion? Do I have to abstain from voting on ALL motions before the Board? What are the rules for having a Board member serve as parliamentarian? Does it matter that we operate under small board rules? Thanks for any help!