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BYLAWS
of the CONSITUTIONAL OVERSIGHT POSSE (COP) Originally adopted June 30, 2012 As Amended October 1, 2012 |
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ARTICLE I PURPOSE OF THE ORGANIZATION: A. Mission: To hold to account any government official who violates the oath to support and defend the Constitution of the United States. B. Objective: To execute the Constitutional Oversight Posse Plan, a copy of which is attached and made part of these Bylaws. C. Future Activities: The COP may in the future seek to implement similar plans to be applied to state governments and local governments. ARTICLE II EXECUTIVE BOARD: A. Membership. The Executive Board shall consist of between four and ten officers, the exact number to be established by resolution of the Executive Board from time to time. Members of the Executive Board shall include the following officers: 1. the President of the COP, who shall have general supervision, direction, and control of the affairs of the COP, subject to the control of, and the policies established by, the Executive Board. The President shall preside at all meetings of the members and of the Executive Board, and shall have such other powers and duties as may be prescribed from time to time by the Executive Board; 2. the Vice-President, who, in the absence or disability of the President, shall perform all of the duties and have all of the powers of the President. Should the office of the President become vacant, the Vice President shall become President, and the office of Vice President shall be considered vacant. The Vice-President shall have such other powers and duties as may be prescribed from time to time by the Executive Board; 3. the Treasurer, who shall be responsible for the financial affairs of the COP, with such other or specific powers and duties as may be prescribed from time to time by the Executive Board; 4. the Recording Secretary, who shall; keep a full record of the proceedings of the Executive Board, and of the Annual Meeting and any Special Meetings of the membership; keep the seal of the COP and affix the same to such papers and instruments as may be required in the regular course of business; make service of such notice as may be necessary or proper; supervise the keeping of the books of the organization, including a roster of the members; and have such other powers and duties as may be prescribed from time to time by the Executive Board; and 5. such other officers as the Executive Board may establish, including such positions as Corresponding Secretary, Publicity Director, Newsletter Coordinator, and Legal Director. B. Quorum and Voting Rules: Three-quarters of the members of the Executive Board shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business. A majority vote of Executive Board members present shall be required for passage of any resolution. In matters such as setting the date of an election, choosing the President for the next term, or other matters requiring a definite decision by the Executive Board, the option with the most votes shall be the winner, unless there is a tie, in which case the President shall choose the winner from among the tied options. C. Terms: With the initial exceptions described in the following paragraph, the term of each of the members of the Executive Board shall be two years. All terms shall be renewable. D. Expiration of Terms: Initial members of the Executive Board shall be selected by the organization’s founders. Two years following the adoption of these Bylaws, the terms of half of the Executive Board members, if an even number or Executive Board members should exist at the time, or of half of the Executive Board members other than the President, if an odd number of Executive Board members should exist at the time, shall expire. The Executive Board members whose terms shall expire at the time shall be those, other than the President and the Vice President, who have served on the board longest. Three years following the adoption of these Bylaws, and on the same day every year thereafter, the terms shall expire for interim office holders and for those Executive Board members whose current terms are more than fourteen months old. E. Election of new Executive Board members: The election to fill expiring terms on the Executive Board shall be held once each calendar year on a date between thirty and thirty-seven days prior to the expiration date of the expiring terms, the date being selected by the Executive Board. Each office shall be filled on the expiration date by the person receiving the largest number of votes for that office. In case of a tie, the Executive Board shall choose the winner from among those tied. The election shall be conducted electronically, with each Voting Member of the COP, as defined in Article III, identified through the member’s email address, entitled to one vote. The Executive Board shall announce the election by e-mail to every Voting Member of the COP whose email address can be reached, and also on the COP’s web site, at least thirty days prior to the date of the election and shall include in the announcement a list of all nominees. Nominees shall be allowed to post election-related subject matter on web space allocated by the Executive Board. An equal amount of web space shall be allocated to each nominee and made available for posting by each nominee and for viewing by COP members from the date of the announcement through the date of the election. Voting shall be allowed from midnight to midnight Pacific Time spanning the day of the election. Nominees for the position of President shall include all Executive Board members, if any, including the current President, who are willing to be President over the next term. If no Executive Board member is willing to be President over the next term, the nominees for the position of President shall be chosen by the current President from among Voting Members of the COP who shall have been members for at least twelve months prior to nomination. Nominees for offices other than President shall include Executive Board members desiring reinstatement, candidates recommended by two or more board members each, and Voting Members of the COP who shall have been members for at least twelve months prior to nomination and each of whom shall have been nominated by way of email messages received by the Executive Board at least forty days prior to the election from the greater of at least twenty other Voting Members of the COP or one one-hundredth of one percent of all Voting Members of the COP. F. Invalid elections: Should any of the conditions of the preceding paragraph not have been met, or if compelling evidence shall have been presented within fifteen days after the election that the election results may have been influenced by multiple voting by individuals, stolen identities, voting by non-members, failures in communication, or other irregularities, the election shall be considered invalid, and the Executive Board shall hold another election within thirty days of the first with the same nominees and taking measures to prevent the irregularities of the first election. If the Executive Board should fail to execute any of the duties of this paragraph, each Executive Board member facing challenge by a nominee shall be replaced, thirty days after the first election, with the nominee, other than the incumbent, having the highest number of votes. G. Vacancies: A quorum of the remaining members of the Executive Board may choose a person to fill a vacancy as an interim office holder whose term shall expire at the next annual expiration date. If an Executive Board member should fail to attend more than two meetings of the Executive Board within one year, the Executive Board may declare the member’s position vacant. If vacancies should result in a remaining number less than four of members of the Executive Board, the remaining members of the Executive Board shall seek with diligence to fill the vacant offices. Any provision of these Bylaws that requires at least a certain number of members of the Executive Board for its applicability shall not apply during periods in which the number of members of the Executive Board is less than said certain number. H. Meetings: Regular meetings shall be held on the first Saturday of each month, at 12:00 noon Pacific Time, without further notice, or at such other date and time designated in written or other notice to the Executive Board members. Meetings may be held by way of teleconferencing. Special meetings of the Executive Board may be called for any purpose by the President or by any three Executive Board officers through written notice addressed to each Executive Board member at the address shown on the records of the organization not less than three days before such meeting. I. Compensation: The Executive Board members shall receive no compensation for their services as Executive Board members. J. Functions: 1. All organizational powers of the COP shall be exercised by or under the authority of the Executive Board, which shall have full control of the affairs of the organization subject only to the limitations imposed by law or set forth in these Bylaws as now or hereafter amended. 2. The Executive Board shall establish and provide for the execution of policies and programs to further the COP’s goals and objectives. 3. The Executive Board shall employ, remove, and set compensation for contractors performing requested services, other than as Executive Board members, for the COP. Requested services shall include services specifically requested by resolution of the Executive Board and services requested by functionaries authorized by the Executive Board to request such services and within limits set by the Executive Board. ARTICLE III COP MEMBERSHIP: The membership of the COP shall consist of: A. Voting Members, who shall comprise all individuals who register by identifying themselves with a valid email address, who state that they are citizens of the United States eligible to vote in the national elections, who express agreement with the Constitutional Oversight Posse Plan, and who have not been expelled as Voting Members by the Executive Board. B. Non-voting Members, who shall comprise all individuals who register by regular mail or other means other than email, or who register by e-mail but are not citizens of the United States or are otherwise not eligible to vote in national elections, and express agreement with the Constitutional Oversight Posse Plan. ARTICLE IV POLLING: The Voting Members of the COP shall be polled, as required by the Constitutional Oversight Posse Plan, prior to any decision by the Executive Board to have the COP participate in an arrest event. The Executive Board shall inform by email all Voting Members whose email addresses can be reached of the polling question, choices of answers, and voting deadline and shall allow the Voting Members at least three days following the announcement to register their votes. The Recording Secretary shall ensure that the votes are correctly tallied and presented to the rest of the Executive Board within 24 hours after the voting deadline. There shall be no quorum required of the Voting Members. ARTICLE V AMENDMENT OF BYLAWS: These Bylaws may be amended, or repealed and new Bylaws adopted, by a vote at any Executive Board meeting of at least two-thirds of the members of the Executive Board then in office. The current Bylaws shall be posted for public view on the COP website. The Recording Secretary shall ensure that updated Bylaws are posted within three days of the adoption of any changes. ARTICLE VI ADDITIONAL DETAILS: A. The COP organization shall not discriminate based on race, religion, gender, gender preference, or political party affiliation. B. The COP organization shall follow the finance laws and regular penal codes of all state and local jurisdictions in which the COP operates and shall follow all constitutionally allowed regulations of the federal government. C. Any transaction of funds from the treasury in an amount exceeding $100 shall require the approval of both the Treasurer and the President. Any transaction of funds from the treasury in an amount exceeding $1000 shall require the approval of the Executive Board. Transactions of funds from the treasury in amounts under $100 per transaction shall not total more than $500 in a calendar month without the approval of the President and shall not total more than $5000 in a calendar month without the approval of the Executive Board and shall not be utilized for expense categories not previously approved by the Executive Board. Funds from the treasury shall be maintained under secure control of the Treasurer and may be disbursed only by the Treasurer or, during a planned temporary absence of the Treasurer, by a person other than the President appointed by the Treasurer and approved by the Executive Board. Approvals may be evidenced by email messages, signed documents, or faxes of signed documents from the persons submitting their approval. CERTIFICATION We, the undersigned, do certify that we are the duly appointed initial members of the Executive Board and that the foregoing five pages, this page, and a three-page addendum referred to as the Constitutional Oversight Posse Plan together constitute the Bylaws of the Constitutional Oversight Posse (COP) organization as duly amended by the membership of the Executive Board on October 1, 2012. |
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Edward B. Stoneham, President ____________________________________________ Deb Beatty, Treasurer ____________________________________________ Kristy Lonestar, Recording Secretary |
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Date Signed _____________________ Date Signed _____________________ Date Signed |
The revised COP Plan - as written on the home page.
COP Executive Board 2012