Law Enforcement Records Management Association, Inc.
Organized December 10, 1993

(Rev. 2/11/94) - (Rev. 2/10/95) - (Rev. 9/15/95) - (Rev. 11/3/95) - (Rev. 2/14/97)
(Rev. 10/4/00) - (Rev. 11/2002) - (Rev. 09/2003)

L.E.R.M.A. CONSTITUTION

ARTICLE I - Name

Section 1. This Association shall be known as the Law Enforcement Records Management Association, Inc.

ARTICLE II - Objective

Section 1. This Association is formed for the purposes as set down in the PREAMBLE to these By-laws.

ARTICLE III - Character

Section 1. This Constitution shall be the fundamental law of the Association and, together with the By-laws enacted in conformance therewith, shall govern the conduct of this association.

ARTICLE IV - Membership

Section 1. Race, religion, creed or sex shall not bar one from membership.

Section 2. Voting membership in this Association shall be open to any designated, regularly employed criminal justice employee - one person per agency; although more than one person per agency may attend any regular meeting.

Section 3. Non-voting membership shall consist of retired members who withdrew from voting membership after retirement. Non-voting members shall have all privileges of the Association - except holding elective office.

Section 4. Applications for membership may be considered at any regular meeting of the association.

ARTICLE V - Meetings

Section 1. Meetings (four per year) of this Association shall be held in the months of February, May, September and November of each year. Scheduling and notification of meetings shall be made one year in advance. Should meeting date or place be impractical or impossible, the meeting date or place shall be set by the President and the entire membership notified through the Secretary not less than 72 hours in advance of the meeting. These meetings will be held in various locations throughout the State of Michigan and not more than once per location in a given year.

Section 2. The President shall call special meetings of the Association only after a vote of the Board of Directors. A majority vote of the Board of Directors obligates the President to call a Special Meeting at a time and place designated by the Board.

Section 3. It shall be the duty of the President to canvass the Board of Directors regarding a special meeting upon the written petition of three (3) members in good standing.

Section 4. In the event some directors are absent or not available, no Special Meeting shall be called without at least five (5) members of the Board being canvassed and an affirmative vote given by the majority.

ARTICLE VI - Officials

Section 1. The Officials of this Association shall consist of a President, Vice President, Recording Secretary, Treasurer, Four (4) Trustees, Parliamentary, and a Representative from the State of Michigan.

Section 2. Any Official shall have the privilege of resigning his/her office at any time. S/he shall present the resignation in writing to the Board of Directors and if her/his records are in order, the resignation shall be accepted.

Section 3. The Association may consider three (3) consecutive non-excused absences of any Board Member as constituting a resignation from the Board. An alternate may attend in lieu of the Board Member, not to exceed three (3) consecutive meetings in a calendar year and does have a proxy vote.

Section 4. In the event of a resignation or a vacated office, the President shall appoint a member to fulfill the non-expired term.

Section 5. No member may hold more than one elected office simultaneously. A member elected to second office must resign the former office prior to assuming the new office.

Section 6. At the expiration of the Officers terms of office, all Officers will be promoted up to the next position, unless declined, and the President will remain on the Board as Past President.

ARTICLE VII - Board of Directors

Section 1. The Board of Directors shall be composed of all elected officials of this Association. The Board shall have the authority to exercise all administrative powers of the Association between each meeting.

Section 2. At any meeting held by the Board only, there shall be minutes kept and read at the next regular meeting of the Association. Vote(s) shall be recorded and made a part of the minutes.

Section 3. The Board of Directors shall investigate all grievances and act upon them within sixty (60) days.

Section 4. The Board of Directors may hold a meeting in the month of October in preparation for the coming year. The year shall be from January 1st through December 31st.

Section 5. Upon a change of Board members a review of the financial records may be conducted upon request.

ARTICLE VIII - President

Section 1. The President shall have general supervision of the Association and preside over all meetings when present, and to open and close the meetings.

Section 2. To appoint all officials pro tem, in case of absentees.

Section 3. To preserve order and insist on proper decorum when the Association is in session.

Section 4. The President shall execute any and all contracts the Board of Directors authorize.

Section 5. The President shall be ex-officio member of all standing committees.

Section 6. The President shall have the power with consent of the Board to appoint the majority on any standing committees or special committees.

Section 7. The President shall have the power to call Special Meetings as provided in Article V of the Constitution.

Section 8. The President shall convey to her/his successor all unfinished business and property of the Association.

ARTICLE IX - Vice President

Section 1. The Vice President shall preside at meetings of this Association in the absence of the President.

Section 2. The Vice President shall assist the President in her/his duties at all meetings of the Association.

Section 3. The Vice President shall appoint the minority of all standing and special committees.

Section 4. The Vice President shall assist the President with the administration of the Association.

ARTICLE X - Recording Secretary

Section 1. The Secretary shall have a record of all proceedings of this Association in a proper book provided for that purpose and shall submit the same for approval at meetings of the Association.

Section 2. The Secretary shall receive and answer all communications addressed to this Association.

Section 3. The Secretary shall be the official custodian of the Association Charter, all books, records, other supplies and equipment and the logo of the Association.

Section 4. The Secretary shall, upon the expiration of term of office, turn over the Charter, records, books, other supplies and equipment, and the logo to her/his successor and request a receipt thereof.

Section 5. The Secretary shall be the official custodian of the Association Constitution and By-laws, which shall be authenticated by the logo of the Association and the signature of the Association President or Secretary.

Section 6. The Secretary shall attest under the logo of the Association all duly authorized contracts of the Association.

Section 7. The Secretary shall perform such other duties as are usual and incidental to the office of Secretary and as the President may order.

ARTICLE XI - Treasurer

Section 1. The Treasurer shall be the official custodian of all disbursements of the Association funds.

Section 2. The Treasurer shall collect all dues and money due the Association and keep a record of collections. The Treasurer will send reminders in June to delinquent Agencies and will remove said Agencies from the membership/mailing list until paid.

Section 3. The Treasurer shall keep an accurate record of all members’ dues.

Section 4. The Treasurer shall collect and deposit all dues and money in a bank assigned by this Association and keep a record of the same in a book provided for that purpose.

Section 5. The Treasurer shall sign all checks dully authorized by the Association and keep a record of such disbursements.

Section 6. The Treasurer shall submit a financial report of the conditions of all Association funds at each regular meeting of this Association.

Section 7. The Treasurer, upon the expiration of office term, shall turn over all finances and records belonging to this Association to her/his successor after they have been audited and approved by the Board of Trustees.

Section 8. The Treasurer shall attach her/his signature to all vouchers, checks, orders and documents of an official character issued by the Association.

Section 9. The Treasurer shall examine the dues cards of all members present at Association meetings and ascertain that all present are entitled to remain and report her/his findings to the President.

ARTICLE XII - Trustees

Section 1. There will be four (4) elected Trustees.

Section 2. The President will appoint two Trustees to audit the Treasurer’s books and they shall prepare a written copy of the audit to be read before the Association at the meeting held in September of each year. They shall ascertain that all money received are allocated to the credit of the proper funds and so deposited in the name of the Association.

Section 3. Trustees shall be elected for a three (3) year term.

Section 4. At the October Board Meeting, each Trustee will be appointed as an assistant to a Board member. Each Officer may contact their assigned assistant without calling a Board meeting.

ARTICLE XIII - Immediate Past President

Section 1. The immediate Past President shall assist and advise the President in the performance of the President’s duties and shall perform such duties, as the President shall advise.

ARTICLE XIV - Parliamentary

Section 1. The Parliamentary shall govern the conduct and deliberations of the meetings of this Association as provided in the Constitution and By-laws and ‘Roberts Rules of Order Revised’.

BY-LAWS

ARTICLE I - Nomination and Election of Officials

Section 1. All Officials, except Trustees, shall be elected for a term of two (2) years. The term of Trustee shall be three (3) years.

Section 2. Nominations for vacant offices in this Association shall be made at the regular meeting held in September every second year. To be eligible for office, a nominee must have been a paid member in good standing for a period of two (2) years prior to nomination and to have attended at least three (3) of the previous four (4) meetings. Whenever possible, no more than two Officials should be from the same County.

Section 3. Election of Officials in this Association shall be by secret ballot of the entire membership, to be conducted during the November meeting.

Section 4. The Board of Directors shall appoint one (1) Judge and two (2) Tellers to conduct the election and announce the results thereof at the regular November meeting.

Section 5. Newly elected Officials shall be installed at the November meeting.

Section 6. At the expiration of an Officer’s term of service, all officers shall have the option to be promoted up to the next position, unless declined. Thus the President will remain on the board as past President. In this case, nominations for the President’s position and other vacant positions will be taken. If an Officer chooses to remain in the same position, and no other Officer chooses to move up, nominations from the membership will be taken for the officer’s position.

ARTICLE II - Voting Procedure

Section 1. A secret ballot may be requested by any one member on any issue or motion brought up before any meeting of the Association. At this request, which must be recognized and granted by the Presiding Official, members present must take a secret ballot on the issue. This request for secret ballot may be made at the meeting at which the issue is scheduled to be voted upon. The member making the request must be present at this meeting.

Section 2. Absentee, Proxy and/or Alternate Person ballots on elections and motions will be accepted.

ARTICLE III - Penalties

Section 1. Any member charged with conduct unbecoming a member of this Association and against whom such charges are sustained after due and proper hearing before the Board of Directors, may be expelled from membership by a majority vote of the entire Board of Directors.

Section 2. In the event that any member has a charge against any other member, such member shall submit the same in writing and present the same to the President of this Association. The Officials of the Association shall act upon the charge.

Section 3. In the event that a Voting Member is requested by her/his employing authority to resign their Records position for cause, s/he shall cease to be a member of this Association and the member shall notify the Secretary of same.

ARTICLE IV - Dues and Regulations

Section 1. All petitions for active membership in this Association must be submitted upon the regular application form.

Section 2. Agency dues for Active Membership of this Association shall be $25.00 annually.

Section 3. Dues shall be paid by the Agency directly to the Treasurer.

Section 4. Any Agency, who is delinquent, will receive a reminder in June from the Treasurer and will be removed from the active membership/mailing list until payment is received. Upon payment of dues, active membership will be restored.

ARTICLE V - Conduct and Order of Business

Section 1. A quorum for the opening of any meeting of this Association shall consist of at least six (6) Voting Members, three (3) of who must be Officials of the Association.

Section 2. The Parliamentary shall preside at all meetings.

ARTICLE VI - Amendments

Section 1. Alterations or amendments to the Constitution and/or By-laws must be submitted in writing and signed by a total of fifteen (15) members of this Association, or be submitted by a majority vote of the Board of Directors to the membership. The Secretary shall send a copy to each member of the Association. It shall be read at the next regular Association meeting and voted upon. A two-thirds (2/3) vote of the membership present is necessary to pass an alteration or amendment to the Constitution and/or By-laws.

Section 2. The Secretary shall keep a permanent record of all alterations and amendments to the Constitution and By-laws and upon order of the Association, the Constitution and By-laws shall be revised and said alterations and amendments inserted therein.

Fifteen (15) Signatures needed for the amended portions as presented to become a new/replacement part of the Constitution and By-laws of LERMA.

Submitted by:

Date:

Revised: 09/2003