Quorum for committee meeting

[Jayadev]

Our CPP committee have 13 members. how many members are require to constitute quorum? some of them are permanently absent can we remove them from the committee?

Thanks in advance

Jay M

[Richard Brown]

The quorum requirement should be and probably is set forth in your bylaws.  What do they say?

 

If the bylaws are silent about the quorum requirement, the default quorum requirement in RONR (Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised, 11th edition) is a majority of the members.  Majority means simply "more than half".  Not 50 percent plus 1 or 51 percent, but "more than half".  A quorum of 13 is 7, being more than half of 13. 

 

Half of 13 is 6 1/2, but since you can't have half a person, you round up to the next whole person. 

 

Edited to add:  In all likelihood, committee members can be removed, but the precise answer as to how to do it depends on your bylaws and what type committee this is and how the committee members are selected.  If this is a true committee, such as a "committee for the St Patrick's Day Parade", committee members can usually be removed by the person or body which appointed them.  But, if it is an elected body, such as a board of directors or executive committee, the procedure would be different.

 

If these people are officers of the organization, FAQ No 20  might provide a starting point.  http://www.robertsrules.com/faq.html#20.

[Edgar Guest]

some of them are permanently absent can we remove them from the committee?

 

I don't know if "we" can but whoever appointed them to the committee can probably replace them.

[Gary Novosielski]

It depends who "we" is.  The body that appointed the committee can make adjustments to its membership  The committee itself cannot.  

 

If there is no rule to the contrary, a majority of the members constitutes a quorum.  A majority of 13 is 7.

[Jayadev]

Our bylaws are silent on  quorum for committee meetings. Do we need quorum? Does Robert Rules insist quorum for committee meetings?

[Richard Brown]

Our bylaws are silent on  quorum for committee meetings. Do we need quorum? Does Robert Rules insist quorum for committee meetings?

Yes, committees need a quorum in order to conduct business.  RONR addresses it on page 347 and at the bottom of page 499.

 

Since this appears to be an issue and you don't have a copy of RONR, here is what it says on page 347 about the quorum requirement for committees:

 

"QUORUM IN BOARDS AND COMMITTEES. In a committee of the whole or its variations (52), the quorum is the same as in the assembly unless the rules of the assembly or the organization (that is, either its bylaws or its rules of order) specify otherwise. In all other committees and in boards, the quorum is a majority of the members of the board or committee unless a different quorum is provided for: (a) by the bylaws, in the case of a board or standing committee that the bylaws specifically establish; or ( b ) by a rule of the parent body or organization or by the motion establishing the particular committee, in the case of a committee that is not expressly established by the bylaws."

 

And at the bottom of 499 and the top of 500:  "The quorum in a committee is a majority of its membership unless the assembly has [page 500] prescribed a different quorum"

[Jayadev]

Thanks a lot.