our standards
MISSOURI POLICE CANINE ASSOCIATION
BY LAWS
ARTICLE 1
This Association shall be known as the Missouri Police Canine Association.
ARTICLE 2
OBJECTIVES
To unite and assist all law enforcement agencies in the training and continued improvements of all police service dogs.
To establish a working standard for all police service dogs, handlers and trainers through a certification program.
To provide educational material through publications, visual aids and training seminars.
To enhance the image of the police service dog.
ARTICLE 3
MEMBERSHIP
Section A: The membership of the Association shall consist of those persons who have signed the certificate of incorporation as incorporators, together with all persons who are hereinafter received in or elected to membership as hereinafter provided and have paid their dues for the year they want to be a member.
Section B: Regular Members - Full membership to this association shall be opened to any active or retired law enforcement officer, military police, federal, state, county, municipal, or correction officer, who is, or was a canine handler, trainer, or canine administrator and who have paid their annual dues.
Section C: Associate Members - All persons applying for an Associate Membership must be sponsored by a Regular Member. The application will be forwarded to the executive committee and by a majority vote of the members present, shall confirm or reject the membership. An associate member shall enjoy all privileges except that he/she shall not have voting privilege in the election of directors nor shall serve on the Executive Board. All associate members must be re-sponsored each year.
ARTICLE 4
DUTIES OF OFFICERS
No officer, or member serving on the committee as such, shall receive any salary or compensation for services rendered to the Association. Officers, or members may be reimbursed for their “out-of-pocket” expenses incurred reasonably and necessarily in conducting the affairs of the Association.
PRESIDENT
It shall be the duty of the president to call and preside at all regular and special meetings. He/she shall see that the By-Laws and all rules and regulations are respected and obeyed. He/she shall cast the deciding vote in case of a tie. He/she shall have the power to appoint committees and may designate their chairperson. He/she shall appoint the following committees: Membership, Newsletter, Grievance, Election and any ad-hoc committees necessary to conduct the affairs of the association. He/she shall perform such other duties as are usual and incidental to the office of President. He/she is a member ex-officio of all committees except the Election Committee.
VICE PRESIDENT
The Vice President shall actively assist and support the President in his/her duties and shall be the President Pro-Tempore in the absence of the President, during which time the Vice President shall assume all the duties and responsibilities of that office. He/she may attend, with the President, conferences, meetings, etc., to which the President is required or expected to attend, in the interest of and or on behalf of the membership of this Association in order that he/she may be as informed of all matters concerning the Association as is the President. In the event of a vacancy in the office of President during the elective term, he/she shall succeed to that office for the remainder of the un-expired term.
SECRETARY
It shall be the duty of the Secretary to accurately record the proceeding at meetings and read the minutes of the previous meeting and all communications. He/she shall call the roll of officers and note absentees. He/she shall communicate and correspond with all persons and organizations, both within and outside the Association relative to executive committee business. He/she shall receive all monies in the absence of the Treasurer. He/she shall keep a record of all members and the standing of each. He/she shall be responsible for mailing dues notices and election ballots. He/she shall be responsible for maintaining certification records.
TREASURER
It shall be the duty of the Treasurer to collect all monies due to this Association. He/she shall keep a suitable set of books of record of same. He/she shall deposit all monies of this Association in a bank designated by the Board of Directors. He/she shall make available statements in detail at each meeting of the Association, showing receipts and disbursements in full to date and the monies in the treasury. He/she shall draw all checks or other obligations authorized by the President, Board of Directors or attested to by the Secretary, including payments of all benefits. The account books, as well as all papers in his/her custody, shall be open for inspection and examination by the Board of Directors. He/she shall not lend or invest any of the funds except when duly authorized by the Board of Directors. It will be the responsibility of the Treasurer to have an annual audit of the Association’s books in the first quarter of the calendar year.
TRUSTEE
The trustee shall serve as liaison for the Association in planning, organizing and implementing the Missouri Police Canine Association sponsored workshop(s). He/she will be assigned as liaison for any such committees recommended by the Board of Directors on newsletter, workshops and retail sales of Association items.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
The Board of Directors shall consist of the President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer and Trustee. This committee shall recommend such rules, regulations, amendments, or deletions as may be deemed necessary for the government of the Association. In the case of an emergency, the Board of Directors by quorum vote may act for the entire membership. A quorum will consist of the majority of the Board of Directors members present. Vacancies which occur in any of the Associations offices, through resignation, death, impeachment or other reasons, with the exception of the President, shall be filled by appointments made by the Board of Directors and shall expire at the next elective term.
ARTICLE 5
ELECTIONS
Candidates for office shall be nominated at the first general membership meeting in the year of the election. Beginning 60 days prior to the general membership meeting, the Election Committee Chairperson shall accept mail-in nominations for candidates for offices designated to be elected in the same calendar year. Mail in nominations will not be accepted less than 7 days before the general membership meeting. Mail-in nominations must be accompanied by: written permission bearing the signature of the nominee and the printed name and signature of the regular member making the nomination.
The Secretary will mail an appropriate ballot to every regular member eligible to vote. Names of nominees on the ballots shall be placed in alphabetical order for each office.
An envelope marked “official ballot” will be used by the member to return the ballot to the Elections Chairperson. Only ballots received in the marked envelope will be counted. Any signature or note written on the ballot that would identify the voter will cause the ballot to be considered invalid. Any envelope that is opened before being received by the elections committee will be declared invalid.
Official ballots will be mailed back to the Election Committee Chairperson postmarked no later than 30 days after the first general membership meeting. Voting will be closed after this date.
The Election Committee will hold all official ballot envelopes unopened until the next meeting of the Election Committee. The Election Committee will meet within 30 days after all voting is closed. The Election Committee will be made up of three members (the Election Committee Chairperson and two other members), none of which can be nominated in the election. The current President will appoint the Election Committee. The ballots will be kept by the Election Chairperson for a period of at least 100 days. A plurality of votes cast shall elect. Members are to be notified of the election results as soon as possible.
Any grievance in relation to the election must be sent in writing and received within 90 days to the Election Chairperson.
If any position is unopposed, the vote can be taken at the general membership meeting with a call for “yes” or “no.” This vote will elect if the “yes” vote is in the majority. If the “no” vote is in the majority, a call for more nominations will be asked for. If no more nominations are received, the unopposed nominee will win because of no contest.
All elected officers will take office January 1 following the election.
Election of officers will be held every four (4) years.
ARTICLE 6
OATH OF OFFICE
Officer elect will repeat after me and say, using your name, where I do mine.
“I _______, having been duly elected an officer of the Missouri Police Canine Association, in the presence of almighty God and this company assembled, do hereby solemnly and sincerely promise, that I will to the best of my ability in word and deed, without fear of favor, faithfully, honestly and with strict impartiality, carry out as an officer of the Missouri Police Canine Association, the principles of this Association.
Now by the power vested in me as installing officer on this occasion, I do hereby declare the officer(s) elect legally installed and qualified to enter upon the discharge of their duties for a term ending four (4) years from this date or until their successors are duly elected and installed.
ARTICLE 7
MEETINGS
A quorum shall consist of a majority of the Executive Committee present.
The President shall call at least two (2) regular meetings of the Executive Committee during the calendar year. He/she shall set dates for such meetings with the approval of the majority of the committee.
There shall be at least one (1) yearly general membership meeting and at least one (1) association training seminar a year.
All Executive Committee members shall be notified adequately in advance as to any and all meetings.
ARTICLE 8
BY LAWS
Amendments, additions or deletions: It shall be the duty of the By Laws Committee, which shall consist of three (3) members appointed by the President, to codify all proposed changes, additions or deletions to the By Laws. All proposed changes must be submitted in writing to the committee with recommendations. The By Laws will be reviewed in even numbered years or as directed by the President.
Regardless, if any amendment, addition or deletion is passed unanimously, it shall be null and void if is in direct conflict with the articles of incorporation.
ARTICLE 9
DUES
The Board of Directors will set the yearly dues of the association. Dues are payable January 1 of each year. A notice and/or membership renewal form will made available by the Secretary via the newsletter and/or the official Missouri Police Canine Association website. Dues will be considered delinquent March 1 of each year and dues will increase for the remainder of the year for past members. This does not apply to new members joining during the year. Any new member who joins after October 1 will count for the following year as well. You must be a member in good standing in the Missouri Police Canine Association to attend or participate in any Missouri Police Canine Association sponsored event.
ARTICLE 10
RULES AND REGULATIONS
Rules and regulations shall be established by a quorum as the need arises.
ARTICLE 11
RULES OF ORDER
Any member desiring the privilege of the floor shall rise and address the Chair.
No member shall be allowed to speak until properly moved and recorded and declared upon for discussion by the Chair.
No question can come before the meeting unless properly moved and recorded and declared upon for discussion by the Chair.
Any member may call “ayes” and “nays” on any question, which each member present shall be required to answer to his name on the roll unless excused by the Chair.
A motion to consider must come from a member who votes with the majority when the motion to reconsider was taken.
When a point of order is raised by any member, a person having the floor shall take his/her seat until the point is decided by the Chair, when, if proper, he/she may resume his/her remarks.
No subject laid on the table shall be taken up again during the same meeting unless it was so understood when disposed of.
Any member may appeal to the Association from the decision of the Chair when the question shall be stated thus: “Shall the decision of the Chair be sustained?”
It shall be decided by a majority vote of the votes cast.
ARTICLE 12
DISCIPLINARY PROCEDURES
Any officer or member may be removed for any violation of the provisions of the By Laws, for any personal conduct that may bring discredit upon the Association.
Any two (2) regular members or the Grievance Committee may initiate charges for the discipline of any officer or member and shall be presented in writing to the Grievance Committee Chairperson. The accused officer or member will be given a copy of the charges against him/her. If the Grievance Committee ascertains that there is enough evidence to warrant a hearing, the accused member will be notified of the meeting at which the hearing will be held, not less than thirty (30) days prior to the hearing date. The accused shall be given the right to present evidence in his/her behalf at the hearing. Any member filing a complaint will be assessed a $25.00 fee, returnable upon a true finding.
The Grievance Committee will then decide if the accused is innocent or guilty of the charges and present a recommendation to the Executive Board. If the accused is, in fact, found guilty, the Executive Board will decide his/her penalty.
ARTICLE 13
CODE OF ETHICS
By making application for membership it shall be understood the applicant agrees to abide by the Missouri Police Canine Association By Laws and all rules and regulations adopted by the Executive Committee. He/she further agrees to abide by the code of ethics.
No member will act in a manner prejudicial to the best interests of the association.
No member will knowingly falsify any record or document in connection with the certification or sale of a dog.
In any exhibition or seminar, no member will conduct him/herself otherwise than in accordance with the highest traditions and standards of fair play and good sportsmanship
Any member in good standing may prefer charges against any other member for alleged conduct in violation of the above code of ethics. Such charges must be in writing signed by the complainant, setting forth the facts upon which the charges are based in a concise and summary manner and shall be filed with the grievance committee chairperson. The complainant must agree to appear and furnish full evidence in support of the charges if requested to do so. The grievance committee will then proceed as in Article 12.
Disciplinary action may include the temporary suspension of privileges, censure, expulsion or any other appropriate action.
Revised: September 14, 2008