This Constitution & By-laws were formulated and accepted by the organizational meeting of April 24, 1987, at 9:00pm in the First Federal Community Room in Hayden Lake, Idaho. Those present and voting were: Richard and Monika Yost, Sherman and Vickey Schrock, Eugene and Carol Slater, Leslie Samson, Karen Phay, and Cathy Burnell.
CONSTITUTION
ARTICLE 1-
This Association shall be known as the International Association of German Angora Rabbit Breeders.
ARTICLE 2-
The objective of this Association shall be to promote and improve the development of the true German Angora, and to protect its true standard as it has been accepted in Germany and throughout Europe by the Z.D.K. This Association shall try to provide its members with information of markets for all grades of wool, and provide an inter-breeder forum through a quarterly newsletter. This Association shall be a non-profit organization.
ARTICLE 3-
SECTION 1 – This Association will not be affiliated with any other association. It shall be the parent club to all other German Angora clubs chartered by I.A.G.A.R.B.
SECTION 2 – All Officers and Directors of any other chartered German Angora club must be members in good standing in the I.A.G.A.R.B. before a letter of sponsorship will be given. If the membership is dropped or not renewed while still in office, the charter of the state, regional, or local club in question shall be revoked thirty (30) days after a notification has been sent to said Officer and the club in question and if no action to pay for the membership or notification of a new Officer has taken place.
SECTION 3 – All chartered German Angora clubs must have a constitution which states that their Officers must be members in good standing of the I.A.G.A.R.B. before a letter of sponsorship will be given by the I.A.G.A.R.B.
ARTICLE 4-
SECTION 1 – Any person may become a member of the Association upon payment of dues (one year) as provided by the By-Laws and by agreeing to comply with all rules, regulations, and mandates of the Association.
SECTION 2 – The Board of Directors reserves the right to accept or reject for any cause any application of membership or renewal, other than discriminative reasons.
SECTION 3 – An appeal may be made by any person rejected by the Board of Directors. This appeal must be made in writing. Upon such an appeal, the Board of Directors has thirty (30) days to respond, explaining the reason(s) for the rejection of the membership. This response shall then be countered with a defense of the person in question, and this defense shall be taken into account by the Board of Directors when reaching the final decision. All such correspondence shall be kept by the Secretary of this Association.
ARTICLE 5-
SECTION 1 – The Officers of this Association shall be President, Vice-President, Secretary, and Treasurer. (Secretary and Treasurer may be combined in one person.) Once membership allows, there shall be twelve (12) or more Directors and one Youth Director.
SECTION 2 – The Officers shall be elected by the membership by mail-ballot.
SECTION 3 – To be eligible for any office, a member must by an Owner/Breeder of the German Angora Rabbit or have a strong interest in the promotion of the breed, be over eighteen (18) years of age (except for the Youth Director, who shall be under eighteen (18) years of age), and a member in good standing. Membership shall be paid in advance through the term of office being sought.
SECTION 4 – The term of office for all Officers shall be two years, except the temporary Officers chosen at the beginning of this Association, whose terms shall be over after the first official election has been counted and accepted, also those Officers who replace members in office who have resigned. These Officers shall finish the term until such time that the next election has been counted and accepted for the Office in question.
SECTION 5 – All Officers except the Secretary and Treasurer shall not hold the same Office for more than two (2) consecutive terms.
SECTION 6 – All Officers shall assume Office on January first and run through their term of Office on December 31 of their respective year. Vacancies shall be filled by appointment of the President, subject to a two-thirds (2/3) majority vote of the Board of Directors.
SECTION 7 – Once membership allows, Directors will be elected from the regions as set up in Article 5, Section 8, in order to facilitate the representation of the Youth members, there shall be one Youth Director to sit on the Board as soon as membership is large enough to warrant this.
SECTION 8 – The regions shall be set up as follows:
1. Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, and Alaska.
2. California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, and Hawaii.
3. North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Minnesota, Iowa, and Wisconsin.
4. Colorado, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas.
5. Illinois, Kansas and Missouri.
6. Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, and Puerto Rico.
7. New York, Vermont, Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island.
8. Michigan, Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky.
9. Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Virginia, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Washington, D.C.
10. British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba.
11. Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, Maritime Provinces, Northwest Territories, Yukon.
12. Other nations.
ARTICLE 6-
SECTION 1 – The Annual Membership Meeting shall be held in conjunction with the annual I.A.G.A.R.B. show and Wool Show.
SECTION 2 – The Board of Directors shall hold a meeting at its discretion prior to the Annual Membership Meeting.
SECTION 3 – At the Annual Meeting a simple majority vote of the members present may approve necessary business matters, make decisions necessary to conducting Association business not otherwise handled by approved committees or Board of Directors.
SECTION 4 – The President may call additional meetings as deemed necessary to transact Association business whenever requested in writing by at least two-thirds (2/3) of the Directors or by a simple majority of the membership in good standing. As such special meetings there shall be considered only the special business for which the meeting was called. Notice of such meetings needs to be given to all Directors, and possibly to the general membership of time permits, via the German Angora Newsletter.
SECTION 5 – Charges of misconduct shall be based upon the I.A.G.A.R.B. Constitution and official show rules, and may be filed by any member against any other member. They must be in writing and filed with the Secretary of the I.A.G.A.R.B. and shall be allowed thirty (30) days to reply.
SECTION 6 – Any member against whom charges have been filed shall be furnished with a complete statement of the charges by the Secretary of the I.A.G.A.R.B. and shall be allowed thirty (30) days to reply.
SECTION 7 – The charges together with the reply, if any has been received, shall be furnished each member of the Board of Directors for his/her consideration. The Board of Directors may be two-thirds (2/3) majority vote reprimand, suspend, or expel the member. Less than two- thirds (2/3) majority shall constitute acquittal of the charges.
SECTION 8 – Any member suspended or expelled shall not be eligible for reinstatement within one (1) year of the date of suspension or expulsion and must be approved by the Board of Directors.
SECTION 9 – A second offense leading to expulsion shall make the person in question ineligible for reinstatement with the I.A.G.A.R.B.
SECTION 10 – If an Officer or Director does not fulfill his/her duties or shows a lack of interest in Association matters, he/she shall be asked to resign by the President, or in the case of unavailability of the President, or in the case of the President, by the Vice-President in the same manner as outlined in Section 2 and 3. If he/she fails to do so, the Board of Directors by majority vote can declare the office vacant. The office shall then be filled in the same manner as outlined in Article 5, Section 6.
ARTICLE 7-
SECTION 1 – This Constitution may be amended by a two-thirds (2/3) majority vote of all votes cast by mail, provided all members are notified in writing of the proposed Amendment and furnished with a ballot of at least thirty (30) days prior to the closing of the polls, or by three-fourths (3/4) majority of all members present at the Annual Meeting.
BY-LAWS
ARTICLE 1-
SECTION 1 – Dues will be: U.S. $20.00/year for membership with emailed newsletters, or U.S. $25.00/year for membership with regular mail newsletters.
ARTICLE 2-
SECTION 1 – The President shall preside over meetings, appoint all committees not provided for, call special meetings, serve as Chairman of the Board of Directors, fill vacancies of office by appointment, and all other duties of office. The President shall be an ex-officio members of all committees.
SECTION 2 – The Vice-President shall perform all duties of the President in the absence of the President, and automatically succeeds to the office of President in the event of vacancy.
SECTION 3 – The Secretary shall receive and act on all membership applications, furnish Executive Board with annual reports, publish a current membership list yearly just prior to the time when nominations for Office are to be called for, notify and advise the President of all unusual matters.
SECTION 4 – The Treasurer shall maintain a bank account in the name of the Association, maintain a complete set of records, furnish the Executive Board with annual reports on general and financial conditions of the Association.
SECTION 5 – The Board of Directors (12 or more Directors) shall be responsible in the general supervision and conduct of affairs of the Association, authorize expenditures, devise ways and all other duties that pertain to the Office, review annual financial reports. Officers and Directors do not have the power to make individual changes or decisions on Association policies without the support of the Board.
SECTION 6 – The purpose of the Standards Committee is to protect the integrity of the IAGARB Standard, make changes as necessary, give rulings on questions regarding the Standard, and oversee all matters concerning IAGARB judges.
It shall consist of 5 to 7 IAGARB judges in good standing with the option that 1 member may be a non-judge. The President will appoint members of this committee for a term of 5 years. Terms will be unlimited. In the event of a mid term vacancy, the President may
appoint someone to complete that term. As terms are completed, notice will be made to all IAGARB judges of the vacancy. Interested judges will contact the President in writing to be considered.
The President will appoint the Chairperson. The Chairperson will bring issues before the committee and report decisions back to the President and the Membership as is timely and appropriate.
Each member of the committee shall have one vote. The President shall be included in the activities of this committee but will not be a voting member.
In order to remove a member from the Standards committee mid term, a majority vote of Standards Committee members will be required. (as Amended April 2007).
ARTICLE 3-
SECTION 1 – The Secretary shall be refunded by the Association funds for all expenditures, such as postage, mailing materials, long distance telephone calls for Association affairs, when the Association can afford it.
SECTION 2 – The President and Vice-President and the Secretary and Treasurer shall receive their convention traveling expenses to the Annual Meeting of the I.A.G.A.R.B. provided the Association can afford it.
SECTION 3 – Balance of funds are to be used as General Funds.
ARTICLE 4-
SECTION 1 – Robert’s Rules of Order shall govern the Parliamentary Procedure of this Association.
SECTION 2 – The order of business shall follow this order: call to order, roll call of officers, reading of the minutes, report of officers, report of committees, old business, new business, discussion, adjournment.
ARTICLE 5-
SECTION 1 – The editor of the Newsletter shall be appointed by the President. The editor shall follow these guidelines to publish the Newsletter: encourage and print articles from the members concerning any matters that may be of interest to the membership, print I.A.G.A.R.B. show results and show catalogs, committee reports. The editor may reject any article which seemingly contains an attack on an individual of a personal nature or otherwise shows poor taste. Copies of such rejected articles should be furnished to all Association officers as a reference. Published updated membership lists shall be made available yearly through the Newsletter.
ARTICLE 6-
SECTION 1 – These By-Laws may be amended by two-thirds (2/3) majority of all votes cast by mail provided all members are notified in writing of the proposed change and furnished a ballot at least thirty (30) days prior to closing of the polls, or at the Annual Meeting by three-fourths (3/4) majority of all members present and in good standing, providing there is at least fifteen (15) percent of the total membership present.
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