Term of Office (Transition from Appointed to Elected)

[RONR93]

Hello everyone!

My organization made a change from an officer being appointed to elected.  The position has not changed with respect to how it fits into the governance structure just that it is now an elected position.  With that change, the organization adopted term limits that are consistent with the terms for elected officers.  Previously, terms of service were completely at the discretion of the person appointing them however frequently followed the same term of the person making the appointment, who has always been an elected officer. 

Questions have been raised regarding whether a member who has already served the term limits as an appointed officer  can run for a consecutive term as an elected officer.   Some questions are 1) Is there a difference in serving the term as an appointed vs. an elected officer? and 2) Does the fact that there has been no defined term previously, suggest that the time served would not count with this change.  

 

Thank you for your feedback!

[Joshua Katz]

This will depend on the exact language of these term limit provisions, and possibly of other provisions in your bylaws.

[Atul Kapur]

Agreeing with Mr. Katz, a more specific question for you is whether the new language in your bylaws differentiates between appointed terms and elected ones.

If it just says something like "no person may serve more than two consecutive terms in the same office" then appointed terms and elected terms both count against that limit.

As for the second question, it does depend on the exact wording of your bylaw but, unless you specified that terms served prior to the adoption of the amendment don't count, then they generally do.

So if someone is in the middle of their third term when the language above is adopted, they're out of that office the moment that language is adopted, unless you had a provision otherwise.

 

Edited August 26, 2022 at 04:00 PM by Atul Kapur

[RONR93]

The new language does not differentiate between appointed terms and elected terms.  The specific language is "They serve a term of two years for no more than two consecutive terms at a time."   We have a provision that the election must take place within a certain timeframe.  It does not specify in the bylaws or the provio that time served does not count.

 

Thanks!

[Rob Elsman]

Since there does not seem to be any relevant proviso that governs the transition, the change is immediate and all encompassing; thus, whatever rules govern other elected officers because they are elected, not appointed, will also apply immediately to this officer, as well.

I cannot make more definite statements than this.  It will be for the organization, itself, to interpret its own rules and apply them accordingly.

Edited August 27, 2022 at 05:03 PM by Rob Elsman

[Josh Martin]

On 8/26/2022 at 10:21 AM, RONR93 said:

My organization made a change from an officer being appointed to elected.  The position has not changed with respect to how it fits into the governance structure just that it is now an elected position.  With that change, the organization adopted term limits that are consistent with the terms for elected officers.  Previously, terms of service were completely at the discretion of the person appointing them however frequently followed the same term of the person making the appointment, who has always been an elected officer. 

Questions have been raised regarding whether a member who has already served the term limits as an appointed officer  can run for a consecutive term as an elected officer.   Some questions are 1) Is there a difference in serving the term as an appointed vs. an elected officer? and 2) Does the fact that there has been no defined term previously, suggest that the time served would not count with this change.  

On 8/26/2022 at 12:09 PM, RONR93 said:

The new language does not differentiate between appointed terms and elected terms.  The specific language is "They serve a term of two years for no more than two consecutive terms at a time."   We have a provision that the election must take place within a certain timeframe.  It does not specify in the bylaws or the provio that time served does not count.

I am in agreement with my colleagues that there is no doubt that, unless a proviso was adopted stating otherwise, terms served prior to adoption of the bylaw amendment count toward the term limit.

But what seems to complicate this matter is it is unclear whether there were, in fact, defined "terms" for this office prior to the adoption of this amendment. We are told that:

"Previously, terms of service were completely at the discretion of the person appointing them however frequently followed the same term of the person making the appointment, who has always been an elected officer."

That seems to make it somewhat difficult to determine whether a person has in fact "already served the term limits." Ultimately, this will be a question for the society to resolve.

Edited August 27, 2022 at 04:52 PM by Josh Martin

[RONR93]

Thanks everyone!