2008 Standing Rules – Table of Contents I.
Amendment
of Standing Rules II.
Distribution
of the Standing Rules III.
Membership IV.
Executive
Board Operations V.
Miscellaneous
Financial VI.
Youth VII.
Awards VIII.
President’s
Conference IX.
Publications X.
Website XI.
MBFN
Tournament Rules A.
Staff B.
Tournament
Folder C.
Cancellation
Policy and Delayed Starts D.
Participants
and Eligibility E.
Practice
and Competition F.
Paperwork G.
Registration H.
Tournament
Procedures I.
Safety J.
Sportsmanship K.
Tackle
and Equipment L.
Fishing
Method Restrictions M.
Boat and
Motor Regulations N.
Scoring O.
Protest
Procedures P.
Rules
Committee Q.
Rules
Violations and Appeals Committee R.
Dates and
Tournament Sites S.
Qualifying
for the State Team and the BASS Classic XII. National Federation Tournaments (B.A.S.S.)
Maryland Bass
Chapter State Federation, Inc.
2008
Standing Rules
Section I: AMENDMENT OF STANDING RULES: The
Standing Rules of this Federation were adopted by rule of the majority.
At any meeting of the Board of President’s or any Executive Board
meeting where the chapters have representation by their Region Director,
standing rules may be suspended, modified, or rescinded by a 2/3 vote, with a
quorum present, without the delay incident to giving previous written notice.
Section II: DISTRIBUTION OF THE
STANDING RULES:
A copy updated through the previous calendar year will be distributed to all
Club Presidents and Board Members at the President’s Conference each year. (New clubs will get a copy along with a set of the bylaws as
they become chartered.)
Section III: MEMBERSHIP
A.
AFFILIATION: 1.
Clubs
having less than 100% affiliation with BASS will have sixty days to rectify
the situation. A club would be in
“forfeiture of membership status” until rectified.
The club must notify the membership chairman as to any dropped members 2.
That each case of putting a club in “forfeiture of membership”
status and subsequent appeal should be handled on an individual basis. 3.
The
cut-off date for club affiliation is July 1st for next year’s
tournaments. 4.
Established that MBFN
rosters and B.A.S.S. rosters must match club membership (expiration dates now included on rosters.)
B.
DUES: 1.
Club affiliation dues are $50/club; Member dues are $20/member. 2.
That membership dues are not transferable from an affiliated club to a
non-affiliated club for the purpose of obtaining new MBFN
affiliation.
C. REGIONAL PLACEMENT: 5.
A club will not be assigned to a region until after the federation has
received their charter from B.A.S.S. At
which time the Executive board will review the roster for determination as to
which region they are to be placed into.
Assignment of clubs will be handled on a case-by-case basis. 6.
Procedure for clubs requesting to move chapter clubs memberships from
one region to another the following must be done:
a.
contact the region director in the region the club currently resides
in. b.
then contact the region director in the region that they are requesting
to change to c.
a letter or by person must come forth before the executive board with
the request. d.
decisions to be made between the two region directors that this matter
would involve. D. MEMBERSHIP
MAILING LISTS: That our
membership mailing list will only be considered to be given out
to organizations, which are non-profit, and that the Executive Board
feels will benefit the members of the
Maryland Bass Federation Nation. Also these organizations must
guarantee that this list only be used for the
purposes decided by them and the Maryland Bass Federation and will not
be given out to others. E. OFFENSES
AND PENALTIES: Each region is to
administer the appropriate step and keep record of any club affected. In addition, the
Regional Directors are to inform the MBFN Secretary for the official records.
The Secretary will inform all
appropriate people. (ie: Membership Chair and Tournament Director)
5-Step
Plan (from 1st offense) 1.
Infraction
Penalties:
a. Minor:
1st
Offense -- (Financial Offense and Non-Penalty Working Offense)
2nd Offense -- Pay a fine and work one MBFN event.
b. Major:
2nd Offense – "Non-Affiliated" for the year
(except RSQT if there is a tournament)
3rd
Offense and thereafter – "Non-Affiliated" for the year (icluding
RSQT if there is a
tournament) and must work two MBFN events. *The MBFN
Tournament Director and Regional Director will determine all work penalties. **For all worked
tournaments either 50% of the club or 8 members, which ever is the greater
of the two, must show up in order to count.
For individuals who are from disbanded clubs
that were or would have been on the the “5-Step Plan”, the work
penalties will follow them
as individuals as long as they are in the MBFN or until the work
penalties are fulfilled.
2.
Infraction Definitions:
a. Minor:
b. Major:
— Clubs not making 50% of regional meetings
*Any infractions not covered in this plan will be decided on by the
appropriate region
or by the MBFN Executive Board. 3. Accusations Against Members: The following is the procedure for handling allegations made against any MBFN member other than tournament rules violations or tournament protests (paragraphs 1,2, and 3 come from “Robert’s Rules of Order”): 4. First Step: When members hear of misconduct by another member is to choose a committee to investigate the validity of the reports and to see if charges should be made. The members of this committee should be chosen for their integrity and good judgment. To establish such a committee requires that a resolution should be made (a motion in writing), seconded, discussed, and voted on. The resolution should avoid as much detail as possible to protect the parties, who may be innocent. a. All allegations shall be brought to the Executive Board,.by way of the region director. If the region director is one of the accused, then the highest ranking non-accused region officer will present the allegation. If all region officers are accused, then the allegation may be presented by any non-accused MBFN officer other than the accuser. The allegation must be in written form with the name of the accuser and the name of the defendant and reasonable cause for the action. b.
The committee should be made up of nine members: a committee chair who is a
member of the board; eight other members who are selected two from each
region. None of the committee members can be the accused or the
accuser. c.
Once it is brought forth to the board in the new business portion of the
meeting, the committee chair sets a date, not to exceed forty-five days, to
have a closed committee session to address the matter.
There will be no more discussion about the matter at any board meeting
until a final conclusion of the
allegations are completed. 5. Second
Step: The committee
should quietly conduct its investigation and make a sincere effort to get the
facts . Any information collected
is confidential. The committee
should also talk with the accused to hear his or her
side of the story. If the
committee members find that the reports of misconduct are untrue, they should prepare
a report and resolution clearing the accused.
If they find substantial evidence that the report of misconduct is true,
the next step is to report the findings and prefer charges.
a. All evidence must be brought to the closed session and must be
shared with the defendant
with-in one week after said session so that each party involved has
equal time to prepare their
case.
b. The committee will also have the right to consider the context of
the accusation to determine
if it is a malicious act toward the defendant.
6. Third Step:
The investigating committee prepares several resolutions. The first resolution includes
setting a date and time for the trial meeting. It states that member X is to appear to show why he or she
should not be expelled from the organization; it also states the
specific charges. A second
resolution
establishes the trial committee and it’s members.
The trial committee should have different members than the
investigating committee*.
a. The trial meeting date is not to exceed ninety days from the
original date that the accusation
was brought before the board.
b. The makeup of the Trial Board:
(1) The trial board will be the Executive Board of
the MBFN. In the event that there
are not at least seven eligible board members (see 2 below and * above) then
those remaining will choose members from membership to bring the total to
seven. No more than one per
region unless each region is represented and no more than two per region. (2)
The person or persons who bring forth the allegation have no vote in the
matter, nor do any of the accused. c. If the committee finds no evidence to support the
allegation and determines it is just a malicious
act then the board reserves the right to revoke the membership of the accuser.
d. The decision of the this board will be final. e. The outcome of the hearing
will be in written form and given to the region
directors to have as public record of the matter.
Section IV: EXECUTIVE BOARD OPERATIONS A.
ELECTIONS: 1.
In order to accept officer election votes, they have to be by
individual club member votes, not merely a club total vote. 2.
“No return” of ballots sent to clubs indicates a vote of abstention
(except for Bylaw changes) 3.
To have the secretary record ballots by name on all motions to be voted
on by the board. 4.
In dealing with elections of officers for the Maryland Bass Federation
Nation Executive Board there shall be an official ballot representative picked
by each region director and this person cannot be a person listed on the
ballot, plus a chairman of this committee appointed by the Maryland Bass
Federation Nation President. These representatives will collect each clubs
ballot in sealed envelopes for their region.
On each sealed envelope shall have two signatures across the seal by
the ballot representative and the region director and will then be placed in a
larger envelope and sealed and will be brought to the December board meeting
of each even year where at that time the chairperson will coordinate the
counting of those votes with the region ballot representatives. B.
DISTRIBUTION OF PAPERWORK: 1.
To have a rough draft of the board meeting minutes sent to all
directors as soon as possible after the meeting. 2.
The
MBFN Treasurer’s report and MBFN Secretaries minutes are to be given to
Regional Directors for distribution to individual clubs. 3.
To only
send mailings to club presidents. 4.
All of the MBFN officers should have a copy of the bylaws. C. INTERNET ACCESS:
To
have MBFN provide Internet access for the following positions: Secretary/Membership Chairman;
Federation Update Chairman; and Tournament Trail Director. D.
EXECUTIVE BOARD MEETINGS: The Executive Board meetings will be held on the 3rd
Thursday at 7:00pm.
Section V: MISCELLANEOUS FINANCIAL
A.
PAYMENT
PROCEDURES: 1.
Checks for MBFN related affairs go through the MBFN Treasurer in order
to provide a paper trail. 2.
Checks will be mailed after an expense report with receipts has been
turned in to the MBFN Treasurer.
B. TAX STATUS:
1. In order to
maintain tax status, all but 10% of carryover money should be disbursed.
2.
A letter received from the State of Maryland states that the MBFN is
now legal as a non-profit tax
exempt group.
C.
FINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITY:
Under “no circumstances” would the MBFN assume any financial
responsibility for
any club or member during any Federation sponsored activity.
D. INSURANCE POLICY:
To
acquire an insurance policy insuring the assets of MBFN, plus the liability in
hired automobiles
and non-owned automobiles.
E.
CHECK REGISTER: The
President will receive a copy of the check register monthly to review.
F.
M.A.R.C.: The
MBFN will make an annual donation to M.A.R.C.
Section VI: YOUTH
A.
CLUB
REGISTRATION: Youth
clubs must register by December 31st.
B.
TRAVEL EXPENSES: That
the MBFN pay all reasonable travel expenses for the CastingKids State Champion
Contestant and Jr. World Champion contestant, and one adult, regardless
of the payment from B.A.S.S.
(participants must submit vouchers for reimbursement).
C. PUBLICATIONS: To
provide each youth member with a copy of the update.
Youths will also be included in the
directory.
D.
TOURNAMENTS:
1. The chapter youth clubs will be allowed to send six
(6) contestants from each club, three (3) from each age group,
to the Jr. S.Q.T. Tournament.
2. The top twenty (20) youth anglers, ten (10) from each
age group, from the Jr S.Q.T. shall advance to the Jr. World
Championship Qualifier Tournament.
3. The Jr.
State Team is made up of the top eight (8) anglers from the Jr. World
Championship Qualifier Tournament,
four (4) from each age group. Making this an eight (8)
person State Team.
4. All Jr.
State Qualifying tournaments will have a random draw for partners via the
computer pairings system from
now on.
5. The Jr.
State Team will send a three (3)-member team, plus an alternate from each age
category if necessary, to the
Jr. Invitational Tournament each year.
6. The Maryland Jr. World Championship representatives shall be the top youth
angler of each age group from the Jr.
World Championship
Qualifier Tournament.
Section VII: AWARDS
A.
AWARD'S PROGRAM: The MBFN will have an "Award's
Program".
C.
"YOUTH CLUB OF THE YEAR":
1. An award for “Youth
Club of the Year” is added to the MBFN awards.
2.
To add
$100 to the award for MBFN “Youth Club of the Year”.
D.
NATIONAL AWARDS: The chairman of the activity “winning a national
award” should be the one accepting the
award.
E.
"CERTIFICATES OF APPRECIATION":
To
have printed “Certificates of Appreciation” available for future use
of the MBFN for all occasions.
F.
"MAN OF THE YEAR":
The
MBFN “Man of the Year” award is to be
known as the MBFN “Butch Ward” Man of
the Year Award.
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