disregarding a bylaw

[Guest tom piasio]

Our association goes strictly by Robert's rules of Order. One of our by-laws is, to receive a scholarship, a member must be in good standing and a member for 3 yrs. Does the Executive Board have a right to over rule the by-law and award a scholarship to a member who has less than 3 full yrs membership? If so or if not, where in robert's rules does it say it? if not and the Board chooses to ignore the by-law, what recourse is available?

[rthib]

RONR p. 263

RULES THAT CANNOT BE SUSPENDED.

Rules contained in the bylaws cannot be suspended.

[Josh Martin]

Our association goes strictly by Robert's rules of Order. One of our by-laws is, to receive a scholarship, a member must be in good standing and a member for 3 yrs. Does the Executive Board have a right to over rule the by-law and award a scholarship to a member who has less than 3 full yrs membership? If so or if not, where in robert's rules does it say it?

No, unless the rule provides for its own suspension. See RONR, 11th ed., pg. 263.

if not and the Board chooses to ignore the by-law, what recourse is available?

To deal with the motion itself, a board member may raise a Point of Order that the motion is null and void. The chair will rule on the point and his ruling may be appealed from. A majority vote can overturn the chair's ruling. If the board is unwilling to fix this, see Official Interpretation 2006-13 for how the membership can deal with it.

To deal with the board members who think they can ignore the Bylaws, see FAQ #20.