CONSTITUTION of the American Dutch Bantam Society

(adopted in Fall of 1991, First Revision adopted Spring 2003)

Article I: Name
The name of this club shall be the AMERICAN DUTCH BANTAM SOCIETY.

Article II: Purpose
The purpose of the ADBS shall be:
1- to promote the Dutch Bantam in the United States and Canada
2- to improve and perfect the breeding of dutch bantams.
3- to provide service to and communications with persons interested in Dutch Bantams.

Article III: Membership
Any person, individual or family, with a sincere interest in the purposes of the ADBS is eligible to join the ADBS. Memberships is from January 1 through December 31 of each year . Membership dues are set by the Board of Directors. (Beginning January 1, 2003, club due will increase to $15 per year)

Article IV: Officers
The officers of this club are: President, Vice President and Secretary-Treasurer. For purposes of Vice-President East and Vice President West, the dividing line shall be....For Vice President-East, districts #1, #2, and #3, and for Vice-President-West, districts #4, #5 and #6.

Officers serve two-year terms of office and may be elected to consecutive terms. Officers are elected by a vote of the entire membership of the ADBS. The candidate with the largest number of votes in an election wins the election. In the event of a vacancy of any office or directors position, the President shall appoint a replacement. If the President's office is vacated, the "Senior Vice-President" [one which has held office of VP for the longest time] assumes the office of President and then replaces the Vice Presidential position by appointment. [if both VP's have the same number of years of elected service as VP, then a coin toss will determine the one to be designated as "Senior Vice President" to assume the responsibilities as President. If the Senior VP should decide not to accept the Presidents position, then the Junior VP would have the opportunity to accept the position of President].

Article V: District Directors
District directors are elected from geographically designated regions and serve two-year terms to coincide with the terms of the officers. Directors may serve and be elected to consecutive terms.

Article VI: Elections
The announcement of the election of officers and district directors shall be made by a spring or early summer newsletter informing the membership of fall elections.
1- nominees must be current paid members of the ADBS
2- nominations of a person must be made with the approval of the person to be nominated
3- nominations must be made in writing to the Sec-Treas with a postmark of Sept.15th to be valid
4- all nominations must be made by an ADBS member
5- nominations must be mailed to the Secretary-Treasure's address
6- the President shall appoint a non-candidate to serve as the Election Commissioner. The Election Commissioner will receive all mailed-in-ballots, count and tally the results. The final vote count is to be reported immediately to the Sec./Treas. and to the President for printing in the next newsletter following the election.
7- in the case of a tie vote, the tie is broken by a vote of the Board of Directors
8- ballots are printed by the Sec.-Treas. and mailed out to all dues paid members in good standing in the first week of October.
9- ballots are to be returned to the Election Comm. by the last day of October to be valid [no phone in votes will be taken by the Election Commissioner].
10-the Election Commissioner saves all valid ballots and mails them to the President who will keep them for a period of 30 days after the publishing of the election results in the newsletter.
11-the winner in any election is the candidate receiving the most votes.
12-election results will be printed in a late fall newsletter or Christmas edition following the election
13-officers and directors will take office on January 1 after the election process.
14-ballots and voting for....

club officers shall be determined by the entire membership of the club based on "at large" vote of the entire membership.
district directors shall be determined by the vote of members within their geographical districts and no by the vote of the entire membership.

15-only one ballot and one vote per family membership, and one ballot and one vote per individual membership.

Article VII: Who may vote?
All dues paying members in good standing will be mailed a ballot and may vote in any election. Only one ballot and one vote per family membership.

Article VIII: Board of Directors
The Board of Directors consists of the officers and all of the District Directors and the immediate past President as [Director at Large]. The immediate past President shall serve as a Director at Large until this position is filled by the next past President. The Board is responsible for conducting any business of the club, setting dues and considering recommendations to amend the constitution.

Article IX: Amending the Constitution
The Constitution may be amended by a majority vote of the club members who vote to amend. Any amendments must be sent in writing to the President to be presented to the Board Of Directors for considerations.

Article X: Duties of Officers and Directors
Duties of the President:
1 - serves as chairman of the Board of Directors
2 - is responsible for execution of the Constitution of the ADBS
3 - receives and processes all proposals for amendments to the Constitution
4 - presides at club meeting, calls special meetings, appoints Election Commissioner
5 - is responsible for seeing that all club officers properly discharge their duties and takes an active part in the publicity, public relations and other deemed activities necessary for the betterment of the club

Duties of the Vice President
1 - serves in all capacities for the President in his/her absence
2 - assumes all duties of the President in the event of a vacancy [see Article IV: Officers....Senior Vice Pres]
3 - serves on the Board of Directors

Duties of the Secretary-Treasurer
1 - conducts club correspondence, collects and receives club monies due the club, pays bills, keeps records for all monetary transactions
2 - make annual financial reports to the membership in a newsletter and/or reports at meetings attended by a quorum of the Board of Directors.
3 - is club custodian of club records and is responsible for issuing quarterly newsletters to membership
4-may delegate duties to ADBS members for any time period deemed necessary and may remove and reassign duties as desired or needed to conduct the business of the club responsponsibilities.
5 - shall transfer custody of all file, monies, or any other club properties to the new Secretary-Treasurer upon expiration of the term of office

Duties of the Board of Directors:

1 - controls affairs of the club at all times
2 - removes from office any officer or district director upon a majority vote of the Board of Directors for any misconduct or failure to adequately perform their duties of office
3 - sets club dues
4 - reviews and considers all proposals for constitutional amendments
5 - a quorum of the Board of Directors shall be a majority of the total members presently holding office
6- in securing a quorum vote of the Board of Directors, if there is a tie vote on any voted issue, then that vote "fails to acquire a majority decision of the Board and therefore does not pass", and must therefore be considered as defeated.

Duties of the District Directors:

1 - responsible for actively promoting the club and all club activities in their districts
2 - aids and encourages special meets within their districts
3 - aids in National Meets that might be held in their districts
4 - serves on the Board of Directors
5 - actively helps to recruit new members in their districts
6-awards District Meets twice yearly within their geographical districts

Article XI: Special Committees
Special committees may be appointed by a majority agreement by the Officers of the ADBS. Officers shall include the President, Vice Presidents and Sec-Treas. Committees will be appointed and dissolved as determined by a majority of decision of the Officers of the ADBS. As needs for committees arise in the club, the Officers shall determine a written set of responsibilities and duties for each committee assignment that will include an approximate timeline for reporting the committee work back to the Officers and Board. Upon completion of the work assignments and responsibilities, the Officers may dissolve the assigned committee. Committees may make recommendations based on their findings to the Board of Directors, but by Constitutional wording, committees may not conduct Club business, this is the responsibility of the Board of Directors.