first time to adopt by-laws for an organization that has been in existence

[Guest Judy Kallal]

Our organization has been in existence since 1991--however, there has never been any by-laws. We have now written by-laws and want them adopted at our next meeting. We have an executive board and steering committee. Some members have been serving for several years. After the by-laws are adopted, do we need to vote on the members to the board and steering committee?

Judy

[Kim Goldsworthy]

Our organization has been in existence since 1991--however, there has never been any by-laws. We have now written by-laws and want them adopted at our next meeting. We have an executive board and steering committee. Some members have been serving for several years. After the by-laws are adopted, do we need to vote on the members to the board and steering committee?

I have not read your bylaws.

I'll go out on a limb, and say, "You must obey your bylaws."

Whatever you do, comply.

[Dan Honemann]

I'll go out on a limb, and say, "You must obey your bylaws."

Whatever you do, comply.

How can they obey their bylaws if they don't have any?

[Guest judy]

How can they obey their bylaws if they don't have any?

We won't have by-laws until they are adopted. Therefore, the people who now serve will be voting on the adoption of the by-laws. However, after they are adopted, do they have to affirm their positions on the Steering and Executive Boards.

[George Mervosh]

Yep, it's a clean slate, from officers, to boards to committees.........(I hope you listed them all in the bylaws)

[hmtcastle]

We won't have by-laws until they are adopted. Therefore, the people who now serve will be voting on the adoption of the by-laws. However, after they are adopted, do they have to affirm their positions on the Steering and Executive Boards.

You may want to include a "proviso" when adopting your bylaws that says, for example, that the current members of the ad hoc steering committee and ad hoc executive board will become the founding members of the official steering committee and official executive board. Or you could adopt bylaws that don't create a steering committee or an executive board at all, in which case they're out of a job.

[David A Foulkes]

We won't have by-laws until they are adopted. Therefore, the people who now serve will be voting on the adoption of the by-laws.

Not sure what you mean by this. The general membership should be voting on the bylaws, not just a smaller group that has been "serving" in some (quasi-official) capacity. IMHO.

[Tim Wynn]

Our organization has been in existence since 1991--however, there has never been any by-laws.

In parliamentary terms, it sounds like your organization was never organized. So, you've been operating in a different capacity than a typical organization. You're currently more like a series of mass meetings.

We have now written by-laws and want them adopted at our next meeting.

This is good. You're organizing an official society. Once formed, the rules of this society will govern, superseding customs observed in the past. See RONR(10th ed.) p. 536-544 on the organization of a society. See RONR(10th ed.), p. 17, l. 4-18 for customs vs. written rules.

We have an executive board and steering committee.

Let's make a distinction between the new organization and the old meetings. Your new organization will have whatever boards or committees the bylaws say it has.

Some members have been serving for several years.

They haven't been serving this organization that hasn't been formed, yet. If the members of the new organization want them to serve, that's fine, but they have no particular claim to a position that hasn't been created or filled yet.

After the by-laws are adopted, do we need to vote on the members to the board and steering committee?

Yes. After adoption of the bylaws and after the enrollment of members, the officers should be elected. See RONR(10th ed.), p. 543, l. 14-16.