Guest jason Posted April 4, 2015 at 07:22 PM Report Share Posted April 4, 2015 at 07:22 PM Our Board members were voted in by our members during our first meeting and before our bylaws were wrote and voted on. One of our board members has a crimnal past and 99% of the members know him personally, when our bylaws was wrote it stated in them that "Any individual convicted of a felony or any crime whose sentence isgreater than ONE year is not eligible to serve of the board" and the bylaws passed by vote. The Bylaws was also voted on with only 2 out of 6 board members present at that meeting. Now the board is asking this person to step down. What is his rights? Can he fight this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edgar Guest Posted April 4, 2015 at 07:32 PM Report Share Posted April 4, 2015 at 07:32 PM If you didn't have bylaws then you didn't have a board. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Guest Posted April 4, 2015 at 10:48 PM Report Share Posted April 4, 2015 at 10:48 PM the board members were voted in on night 1, and said the bylaws would be wrote for review and vote for meeting night #2, which they were and night #2 their was only 2 out of 6 board members present and the members voted them in. now they want that board member to step down that has a past record Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hieu H. Huynh Posted April 4, 2015 at 11:02 PM Report Share Posted April 4, 2015 at 11:02 PM "A society has no executive board, nor can its officers act as a board, except as the bylaws may provide" (RONR 11th ed., p. 482, ll. 25-26) After adoption of the bylaws, the board members could be elected. It may be the case that there are no board members. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Guest Posted April 4, 2015 at 11:08 PM Report Share Posted April 4, 2015 at 11:08 PM So now that the bylaws are enfect i take it there needs to be another election for board members? and since the bylaws were not ineffect at the time of the orginal voting for board members none of them can stand their positions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hieu H. Huynh Posted April 4, 2015 at 11:21 PM Report Share Posted April 4, 2015 at 11:21 PM Elections should be held in accordance with your bylaws. An individual that meets the qualifications established in the bylaws may be elected to the board. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Guest Posted April 4, 2015 at 11:29 PM Report Share Posted April 4, 2015 at 11:29 PM our question is that since he was elected before the bylaws was wrote and voted on, and now it states his past comes into play and cant serve as a board member, but this person is fighting it and also has his attorney behind him too. saying he doesnt have to step down. what can the board do to resolve this. as a board we are lost and thats why in here researching for the board. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruce Lages Posted April 5, 2015 at 12:08 AM Report Share Posted April 5, 2015 at 12:08 AM Since these people were elected before you had any bylaws, they do not constitute a board in the sense that RONR uses that term. Even if they called themselves, or you all called them, a "board", it seems that what they were actually was a committee who put together a set of bylaws to be voted on and adopted by your organization. Now that you have bylaws in effect, you need to do what Mr. Huynh suggested and hold elections for a recognized board in accordance with your bylaws. If, as you suggest, the bylaws contain a prohibition against anyone being elected who has been 'convicted of a felony or any crime whose sentence is greater than one year', then any such individual is ineligible to be elected to the board. While you can't stop members from voting for such a person, any votes so cast should be declared illegal votes and not counted toward the candidate, but counted towards the total number of votes cast. By the way, you did adopt RONR as your parliamentary authority in your new bylaws, didn't you? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josh Martin Posted April 5, 2015 at 05:00 PM Report Share Posted April 5, 2015 at 05:00 PM What is his rights?Nothing beyond his usual rights as a member of the society.Can he fight this?He can try to amend the bylaws, but other than that, no.our question is that since he was elected before the bylaws was wrote and voted on, and now it states his past comes into play and cant serve as a board member, but this person is fighting it and also has his attorney behind him too. saying he doesnt have to step down. what can the board do to resolve this. as a board we are lost and thats why in here researching for the board.Well, if he has hired an attorney, you may wish to consult an attorney as well to see if there are any legal issues involved.As a parliamentary matter, however, this is a clear-cut case. Unless the bylaws are amended, he is not eligible to serve on the board. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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