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signatures of officers required?


wwdslovene

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One year ago our organization undertook a drastic revision of its outdated bylaws. A special meeting

of the board with appropriate advance notice was devoted to discussing the revised bylaws. After four minor changes in wording were offered and accepted, the board of 15 members present (three were absent) adopted the bylaws unanimously.

In an apparent oversight, a final copy of the new bylaws with the minor changes was never circulated. New members (and I suspect one or more old members) are demanding to see the final copy with the signatures of the president and secretary . No one, however, seems to recall that those officers ever signed the final copy, nor can one be found. Those members requesting a signed copy now imply that the bylaws are not valid.

I argue that the minutes of record showing the unanimous vote and the date of the vote is the only relevant document and that a copy signed by the two top officers is not important. I cannot find any support for this in our bylaws or RONR. Do those people have a leg to stand on?

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I argue that the minutes of record showing the unanimous vote and the date of the vote is the only relevant document and that a copy signed by the two top officers is not important. I cannot find any support for this in our bylaws or RONR. Do those people have a leg to stand on?

The minutes are the only official record of the meeting, and it doesn't even matter if they are correct for the decision to have been made. As of the moment that the resolution was adopted by the Board to amend the bylaws, they became the official bylaws of the organization, even if nobody got them down (although that would be pretty unfortunate). I would ask the members to find any indication in RONR or your bylaws that the President or Secretary need to sign something for it to be valid.

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One year ago our organization undertook a drastic revision of its outdated bylaws. A special meeting

of the board with appropriate advance notice was devoted to discussing the revised bylaws. After four minor changes in wording were offered and accepted, the board of 15 members present (three were absent) adopted the bylaws unanimously.

In an apparent oversight, a final copy of the new bylaws with the minor changes was never circulated. New members (and I suspect one or more old members) are demanding to see the final copy with the signatures of the president and secretary . No one, however, seems to recall that those officers ever signed the final copy, nor can one be found. Those members requesting a signed copy now imply that the bylaws are not valid.

I argue that the minutes of record showing the unanimous vote and the date of the vote is the only relevant document and that a copy signed by the two top officers is not important. I cannot find any support for this in our bylaws or RONR. Do those people have a leg to stand on?

No, there is no such requirement. The minutes are the only relevant record.

But it would be a good idea to correct the oversight and make sure members to get a correct copy of the current bylaws.

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