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constitution and bylaws


countryhaven

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in order to make an amendment to the constitution a member must reduce it to writing and have the signatures of 5 members in good standing to bring amendment to the floor  then each member shall be notified by mail of the amendment and the motion will be voted on at the next regular meeting  an amendment to the constitution shall require a two-thirds  majority of all members present. my question is do these rules also apply to the by-laws . or can the by-laws be changed with a motion at any meeting?

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Are the constitution and bylaws separate documents? What do your bylaws say in regards to amending them? 

 

"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 p. 121) has been given, or they can be amended by the vote of a majority of the entire membership." (RONR 11th ed., p. 581, ll. 3-7)

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If you have both a constitution and bylaws, they are separate documents (and, by definition, the bylaws are subordinate to the constitution).  Each of them should include the rules to follow for amending them (or, barely adequately, the constitution can include the rules for amending the bylaws.  -- This last is from me, not from RONR.)

 

So, as Mr Huynh implies, if neither the constitution nor the bylaws contain the rules for amending the bylaws, then the rules that are specifically prescribed for amending the constitution do not apply to the bylaws:  so the rules for amending the bylaws fall back on Robert's Rules's prescription for amending bylaws, which Mr Huynh cheerily (look at that glowing transdescent smile!) provides.

___________

N. B.  Mr Huynh, don't bother looking for "transdescent" in any dictionary.  But you earned it.

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n order to make an amendment to the constitution a member must reduce it to writing and have the signatures of 5 members in good standing to bring amendment to the floor  then each member shall be notified by mail of the amendment and the motion will be voted on at the next regular meeting  an amendment to the constitution shall require a two-thirds  majority of all members present       this is in our by-laws not  the  constitution .

 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

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n order to make an amendment to the constitution a member must reduce it to writing and have the signatures of 5 members in good standing to bring amendment to the floor  then each member shall be notified by mail of the amendment and the motion will be voted on at the next regular meeting  an amendment to the constitution shall require a two-thirds  majority of all members present       this is in our by-laws not  the  constitution .

 

It appears to be the case that your "constitution and bylaws" is a single, combination-type instrument such as that described on page 12 of RONR. If this is the case, the procedure prescribed for its amendment is most likely applicable with respect to amendment of any portion of it, but determining whether or not this is the case will require reading the document in its entirety, and perhaps some knowledge of the facts surrounding its adoption.

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It appears to be the case that your "constitution and bylaws" is a single, combination-type instrument ... but determining whether or not this is the case will require reading the document in its entirety, and perhaps some knowledge of the facts surrounding its adoption.

 

Whew!  Given Post 3, I was kinda entirely at sea.  I've listened to Beethoven's Choral Fantasy maybe 7 times today, and while that's been an analeptic for my disposition (being a slow and ponderous thinker, of dour and lugubrious mien), I'm still foundering in the vasty depths.

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