Numbering of sections of bylaws in a revision of those bylaws; What is correct?

[David R Homan]

My club is reviewing and revising our bylaws.  Currently, the bylaws are numbered as Section II, Membership, and each paragraph is a run on statement containing many clauses under a section, for example, numbered, 2.13.  Blah blah blah.

My proposal is to renumber the "redraft" as I describe here:

Section II, Membership

2.1:  Anyone who is a person of good repute can become a member, but must first submit an application online via our website, be sponsored by a full or life member in good standing and start as an associate member.

2.2:  Associate members must complete 100 work hours before becoming a Full Member and gaining one vote.

2.2.1:  Associate members must complete 33 1/3 work hours per year by their anniversary date.  Ten of these 33 1/3 hours must be worked at our annual fund raising event; Deer Sight.

2.3:  An associate member who fails to work our Deer Sight event (10 hours) and or who fails to work the remaining 23 1/3 hours by their anniversary date, each of the first three years of their membership, shall be dismissed from the club.

So, in my example described above, which is similar to the format the Navy uses to identify paragraphs or statements in regulations or instructions; would this manner be correct/acceptable?

Should the numbering be alpha numeric, i.e.   2.(a)1: blah blah blah?

We are a 501(c)4 corporation.  A not for profit educational corporation incorporated in Wisconsin.

If I am not correct in my theory here, what is the accepted method?

Thank you.

I am Dave

 

[Josh Martin]

1 hour ago, David R Homan said:

So, in my example described above, which is similar to the format the Navy uses to identify paragraphs or statements in regulations or instructions; would this manner be correct/acceptable?

Should the numbering be alpha numeric, i.e.   2.(a)1: blah blah blah?

We are a 501(c)4 corporation.  A not for profit educational corporation incorporated in Wisconsin.

If I am not correct in my theory here, what is the accepted method?

Organizations use various methods for numbering sections and subsections. The proposed method is certainly one acceptable method which could be used.

RONR has no guidance on subsections in particular. It notes that articles are commonly numbered with Roman numerals and sections are commonly numbered with Arabic numerals, but it does not discuss subsections. In the sample bylaws in RONR, each section is a single paragraph and subsections are not used. The sections in the sample bylaws are brief enough that this does not cause issues.

Edited April 14, 2021 at 12:06 PM by Josh Martin

[Joshua Katz]

I agree with Mr. Martin. Just my opinion - I think the format used in Chicago Manual of Style, or a similar one, is a good choice, only because it's so widely recognized that people do not need to stop and think about what the numbers mean.