Preface to Bylaws

[Guest Jim Johnson]

Is the Preface a part of the Bylaws?  Does a statement in the Preface have any authority?  Do Bylaws begin with the Preface or with Article I?

[Richard Brown]

What do you mean by the "preface" to the blaws?    

 

Section 56 of RONR covers the drafting of bylaws.  A set of sample bylaws starts on page 583.  Prior to Article I, (the name of the society),  only the title of the document appears, "Bylaws of the _____ Society of _____." at the top of the page.  I would call it the title of the document.  Whether it is considered "part of the bylaws" I don't know.... but I also don't know why it is an issue unless perhaps the name is wrong.  But, I would say that the name as stated in Article I is the controlling provision, not the name in the title of the document.       Article I is the first actual bylaw provision.

 

Edited to add:  If you are referring to a "preamble", as in a resolution for the adoption of the bylaws, then no, that is not part of the actual bylaws.  The preamble would be all of the "whereas" provisions preceding the actual bylaws.

[Edgar Guest]

Does a statement in the Preface have any authority?

 

What sort of statement are you talking about?

 

Remember, the map is not the territory.

[Josh Martin]

Is the Preface a part of the Bylaws?

Yes.

Does a statement in the Preface have any authority?

Yes. RONR does not advise including a preface in bylaws, but if the society has nonetheless done so, any rules within the preface are as binding as they would be if they were included elsewhere in the bylaws.

Do Bylaws begin with the Preface or with Article I?

If the bylaws contain a preface (many do not), then the bylaws begin with the preface.

What do you mean by the "preface" to the blaws?

Section 56 of RONR covers the drafting of bylaws. A set of sample bylaws starts on page 583. Prior to Article I, (the name of the society), only the title of the document appears, "Bylaws of the _____ Society of _____." at the top of the page. I would call it the title of the document. Whether it is considered "part of the bylaws" I don't know.... but I also don't know why it is an issue unless perhaps the name is wrong. But, I would say that the name as stated in Article I is the controlling provision, not the name in the title of the document. Article I is the first actual bylaw provision.

Edited to add: If you are referring to a "preamble", as in a resolution for the adoption of the bylaws, then no, that is not part of the actual bylaws. The preamble would be all of the "whereas" provisions preceding the actual bylaws.

Some organizations include a Preface in their bylaws, which is a part of the bylaws but is placed before Article I. The nature of the information in this section varies from organization to organization.

[Richard Brown]

Yes. RONR does not advise including a preface in bylaws, but if the society has nonetheless done so, any rules within the preface are as binding as they would be if they were included elsewhere in the bylaws.

If the bylaws contain a preface (many do not), then the bylaws begin with the preface.

Some organizations include a Preface in their bylaws, which is a part of the bylaws but is placed before Article I. The nature of the information in this section varies from organization to organization.

Josh, can you provide a citation for this?  I'm not necessarily disagreeing, but RONR contains no  reference regarding a preface to the bylaws and does not use the word preface at all except in its own preface.  I do not see where RONR advises against including a preface in the bylaws.  Am I overlooking it?

[Josh Martin]

Josh, can you provide a citation for this?  I'm not necessarily disagreeing, but RONR contains no  reference regarding a preface to the bylaws and does not use the word preface at all except in its own preface.  I do not see where RONR advises against including a preface in the bylaws.  Am I overlooking it?

You're not overlooking anything. I didn't say it advised against it, I said it did not advise using one.

[Edgar Guest]

If the bylaws contain a preface (many do not), then the bylaws begin with the preface.

 

I'm not sure we know enough about this "preface" to say so for sure.

 

Suppose this organization adopted bylaws similar to the sample bylaws in RONR (i.e. beginning with Article I). Then, when distributing the bylaws as a document (i.e. the map, not the territory). they decided to add a preface (something like, "The following bylaws were adopted on April 1, 2014 . . . blah blah blah"). I don't think that preface should be considered part of the bylaws.

 

Which is why I asked about the content of this preface, especially with regard to any statement in it that might be construed to have "any authority".

[Josh Martin]

I'm not sure we know enough about this "preface" to say so for sure.

Suppose this organization adopted bylaws similar to the sample bylaws in RONR (i.e. beginning with Article I). Then, when distributing the bylaws as a document (i.e. the map, not the territory). they decided to add a preface (something like, "The following bylaws were adopted on April 1, 2014 . . . blah blah blah"). I don't think that preface should be considered part of the bylaws.

Which is why I asked about the content of this preface, especially regard to any statement that might be construed to have "any authority".

Yes, this is a fair point. I was acting under the assumption that the preface was included in the bylaws which were adopted by the society. If this is not the case, and it is instead an addition to the document containing the bylaws, then it would not have any authority.