Changing Bylaws

[msdpolich]

There has been a suggestion to amend the bylaws by one of our members. It was sent to the bylaws commitee for review and a final version of the change was sent to our chair to send to our senate for review to vote upon at the next meeting. Our chair hasnt done this.

Can we still vote on this bylaw change at our next meeting, even though our members havent seen it yet? Although,they will when the amendment is brought up to vote upon.

Our bylaws state nothing about having the chair send the amendment change out to the group before voting but I dont know if Roberts rules did.

Sorry if I didnt explain this very well. Let me know your thoughts.

[Guest Edgar]

Our bylaws state nothing about having the chair send the amendment change out to the group before voting but I dont know if Roberts rules did.

If your bylaws say anything about how they are to be amended, that process will supersede the default rules in RONR.

[David A Foulkes]

As Edgar notes, whatever the process to amend that is currently found in your bylaws must be followed. So, check your bylaws for an article (often the last or second-to-last) on Amendment. Whether an amendment needs to go through the bylaw committee, the chair, and the senate before it finds its way before the membership would be your customized rule and should be found in your bylaws.

What RONR says is this:

"The bylaws should always prescribe the procedure for their amendment, and such provision should always require at least that advance notice be given in a specified manner, and that the amendment be approved by a two thirds vote. If the bylaws contain no provision for their amendment, they can be amended by a two-thirds vote if previous notice (in the sense defined on page 121) has been given, or they can be amended by the vote of a majority of the entire membership." (RONR 11th Ed, p. 580 ll. 25 - p. 581 l. 7)