Filling a board position

[Guest Jill]

I am the president of a school group. There are only 4 people on our board and one of them has decided to resign. We hold elections in the fall. Do I have the authority to appoint someone to that position until time for the elections?

[hmtcastle]

Do I have the authority to appoint someone to that position until time for the elections?

Only if your bylaws give you that authority.

[Guest Jill]

Unfortunately we don't have any by laws.

[tctheatc]

Well, they make an excellent Christmas gift!! Just sayin'...

[hmtcastle]

Unfortunately we don't have any by laws.

Then how do you know you have a four-person board? Where is the rule that says that? Maybe three is okay.

Or the rule that says your elections are in the fall?

[Guest Jill]

The four of us took over from the previous board that was falling apart and the only thing I could find was that we shall be governed by RROO. We have kinda been winging it ever since

[George Mervosh]

The four of us took over from the previous board that was falling apart and the only thing I could find was that we shall be governed by RROO. We have kinda been winging it ever since

Then assume you can't, because RONR doesn't give you the authority.

[hmtcastle]

The four of us took over from the previous board that was falling apart and the only thing I could find was that we shall be governed by RROO. We have kinda been winging it ever since

The secretary should have the minutes book, the official record of the business that was transacted at each meeting since your association was founded. If there is no minutes book (and no secretary?) you might want to start from scratch and pretend that there is no association at all yet, just a group of people that, up until now, have been getting along without written rules. As long as there's no money in the treasury, you should be fine.

To be on the safe side, you could give the "new" organization a different name, perhaps including the words "newly revised".

[David A Foulkes]

Then assume you can't, because RONR doesn't give you the authority.

Of course, if they don't have bylaws, in which would be found the article/section adopting RONR as their parliamentary authority, what RONR does or does not allow them to do is sort-a kind-a not as much applicable. In a way. Sort-a.

[Josh Martin]

I am the president of a school group. There are only 4 people on our board and one of them has decided to resign. We hold elections in the fall. Do I have the authority to appoint someone to that position until time for the elections?

Since you don't have Bylaws, you don't have a board, which means you don't have a vacancy, so that solves that problem.

Your organization should read RONR, 10th ed., Section 54: Organization of a Permanent Society, and then follow those procedures.

Of course, if they don't have bylaws, in which would be found the article/section adopting RONR as their parliamentary authority, what RONR does or does not allow them to do is sort-a kind-a not as much applicable. In a way. Sort-a.

An assembly does not need to have Bylaws in order to adopt RONR as its parliamentary authority. Additionally, as RONR is a codification of the common parliamentary law, it is often useful even for assemblies which have not formally adopted RONR as their parliamentary authority.

[hmtcastle]

Since you don't have Bylaws, you don't have a board, so that solves that problem.

An assembly does not need to have Bylaws in order to adopt RONR as its parliamentary authority.

I'm not so sure it can't also have a board without bylaws.

[Josh Martin]

I'm not so sure it can't also have a board without bylaws.

It seems to me that RONR, 10th ed., pg. 465, lines 26-27 is definitive on this matter.

Unless you are suggesting that some organizations have some other document which is the equivalent of Bylaws, in which case I agree.

[hmtcastle]

It seems to me that RONR, 10th ed., pg. 465, lines 26-27 is definitive on this matter.

Unless you are suggesting that some organizations have some other document which is the equivalent of Bylaws, in which case I agree.

I'm suggesting that a group of people can function as a voluntary association with a defined membership, officers, and committees (including a board) without written rules.

[Josh Martin]

I'm suggesting that a group of people can function as a voluntary association with a defined membership, officers, and committees (including a board) without written rules.

Okay, then I disagree. So far as RONR and the common parliamentary law (as it exists today) are concerned, an assembly with no Bylaws (or the equivalent) is in the nature of a mass meeting, temporary society, or a convention not of a permanent society. Such an assembly has only the essential officers required for a deliberative assembly (Chair and Secretary). Such an assembly may establish committees, but not a board.

[Gary Novosielski]

Since you don't have Bylaws, you don't have a board, which means you don't have a vacancy, so that solves that problem.

Umm, how do you know you have a president?

[Josh Martin]

Umm, how do you know you have a president?

They don't have a President either, but they do have a chair. It seems logical that the individual referred to as the "President" is the assembly's chair.