Comal County Genealogy Society

ARTICLE I. NAME

The name of this organization shall be: COMAL COUNTY GENEALOGY SOCIETY (CCGS).

ARTICLE II. PURPOSE

The purpose of the Comal County Genealogy Society is to create, foster and maintain interest in history and genealogy and to work with other organizations to preserve historical/genealogical publications and records.

ARTICLE III. MEMBERS

Membership shall be open to any person interested in genealogy and family/local history.

ARTICLE IV. DUES

THREE membership levels are offered:

(1) Regular Membership – dues for the calendar year shall be twenty dollars ($20.00) per individual. Dues for two persons living in the same household and sharing one mailing of publications and communications shall be twenty-five dollars ($25.00), Where the secondary member can be a spouse or either parent and the mailing of publications/communication is to the primary member only.

(2) “Baron” membership – $50.00 per calendar year.

(3) “Prinz” membership – $100.00 per calendar year with special recognition in our Annual Membership Roster. A “Prinz” membership will allow a research item to be donated to CCGS in their honor with name inscribed.

Publications of CCGS will be exchanged with other Societies for their publications, thus eliminating their dues.

ARTICLE V. OFFICERS AND DIRECTORS

The Officers of this organization shall be President, Vice-President, Treasurer and Secretary. The Directors shall be Director of Membership, Director/Editor of the Footsteps, Director of Public Relations, Director of Genealogy and Director of Publications. Officers and Directors may not vote on issues of conflicting interest when they are officers or staff of the other organization. The President shall appoint a Parliamentarian at the beginning of each year. The Parliamentarian will not be considered a Board Member and will perform his/her duties only in the General Membership meeting. No member is to be paid a salary, the officers and directors are volunteers of time and service.

ARTICLE VI. BOARD OF DIRECTORS

These four (4) Officers and five (5) Directors shall be elected annually and along with the Immediate Past-President will constitute the Board of Directors to govern this organization. The Immediate Past President shall serve as an ex-officio member with no voting privilege on the Board. The President may not vote except in case of a tie. The Board of Directors shall have general supervision of the membership and none of its acts shall conflict with the actions taken by the membership. Meetings of the Board are normally held as outlined in Article XIII, however may be called by the President or by written request to the president by three (3) members of the Board. A voting quorum of the Board shall consist of five (5) members.

ARTICLE VII. DUTIES OF OFFICERS & DIRECTORS

The President shall preside at all meetings of the organization, perform such duties as set out in these By-laws and, as directed by the membership, appoint all committees, serve as ex-officio member of all committees except the nominating committee, be authorized to sign checks disbursing monies of the organizations and will pick up the mail to the organization and distribute it appropriately. The mail detail may be delegated to a local member if necessary.

The Vice-President shall serve as Program Chairperson, arrange for the meeting place for all meetings, preside at all meetings in the absence of the President, be authorized to sign checks on monies approved by the board and perform such other duties as may be requested by the President.

The Treasurer shall keep a record of the finances of the organization and present a report at each board and general meeting and be authorized to sign checks disbursing monies of the organization. Treasurer shall submit required reports to Internal Revenue Service and Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. Treasurer shall head committee for September picnic.

The Secretary shall record the proceeding of all board and general meetings, answer all mail except queries and perform such other duties as requested by the President of the organization.

The Director of Publications shall 1. Be responsible in finding and maintaining a location for the storage of CCGS publications, donated historical and genealogical personal collections and other long-term CCGS material. 2 Periodically take inventory of publications on hand. 3. Fill orders for society publications, mail them and submit proceeds to the treasurer. 4. Arrange for the proofreading and publication of all society documents including the “Footsteps.” 5. Submit bills for publications to the treasurer for payment of the documents adequate to reimburse the society. 6. See that copies are available at sale locations at all times and perform such other publication duties as assigned by the board.

The Director of Membership shall act as greeter at organization meetings, provide name-tags and introduce new members and guests at our regular meetings; if the need arises, these duties may be delegated to a member of the welcoming Committee. He/She shall maintain a complete membership roster consisting of mailing addresses including zip + four codes, phone numbers, e-mail addresses and the surnames they are researching. He/She shall chair a committee charged with planning the December Social.

The Director/Editor of the “Footsteps” shall solicit and collect material for the “Footsteps” making it copy-ready for publication, and give the material to the Director of Publications at least six (6) weeks before the scheduled delivery date on the first day of the months of March, June, and November.

The Director of Public Relations shall prepare meeting notices of our society events and share them with all media available, such as newspapers, radio stations and internet (Facebook, etc.) He/she will store a copy of each meeting notice in the CCGS file.

The Director of Genealogy shall answer all queries, coordinate all activities with the Sophienburg Archives and Genealogical Societies, promote interest in genealogy through workshops that he/she shall organize and shall advise membership of other workshops that may be of interest.

The Parliamentarian, although not a member of the Board of Directors, will serve in this capacity at the General Meeting. The main purpose of this position shall be to insure the constitution and by-laws are followed, and to keep the meeting flowing at a comfortable pace and interject comments and assistance only as necessary to smooth the discussions on the floor. The parliamentarian will swear in new officers at the December meeting.

ARTICLE VIII. NOMINATING COMMITTEE

A Nominating Committee consisting of three members from the general membership (President excluded) shall be appointed by the President at the October meeting each year. This committee will be responsible for soliciting nominees from the membership and presenting at the November meeting a slate of officer and director candidates recommended for election for the coming year. Nominations may be accepted from the floor. No name shall be placed in nomination without the consent of the nominee. Election of officers and directors shall be by a show of hands.

ARTICLE IX. COMMITTEES

From time to time as the organization grows and it becomes necessary, the President shall have the power to appoint committees to help carry on the business of the organization. The committees can be temporary or permanent as designated by the President.

These five permanent committee chairpersons shall be appointed annually:

(1) Cemetery Committee – coordinates all cemetery matters.

(2) Information Technology Committee – coordinates society electronic needs and provides assistance with audio visual equipment at meetings, and maintains website on internet

(3) Library Committee – coordinates collections, inventory and acquisitions.

(4) Archives Committee – collects and preserves items of interest pertaining to the history of the Society and displays the Society Scrapbook. Takes photos and submits them to the media.

(5) Welcome Committee – assists the Director of Membership as described in Article VII.

ARTICLE X. OBLIGATING MONIES

Any purchase over $50.00 by an Officer or Director shall have, at least, a tacit approval of the Board. No member or members will be authorized to borrow or obligate monies of this organization, except that the Vice-President may offer a maximum of twenty dollars ($20.00) or an individual membership to guest speakers to help defray their expenses. All funds shall be deposited in a designated bank and used only for expenses authorized by the Board of Directors. Two signatures will be required on all checks over $200.00.

ARTICLE XI. LOANING OF EQUIPMENT

Use of society equipment or resources is provided through completion of a CCGS equipment lending form, and adherence to the forms requirement.

ARTICLE XII. GIFT AGREEMENT

All donated money and fees will be given to the treasurer, and a CCGS Donation Form will be filled out for every donated item.

ARTICLE XIII. MEETINGS

Regular meetings shall be held on the Second Tuesday during the months of February, March, April, May, September, October, November and December. Special meetings may be called by the president or by the written request to the president by five (5) members of the general membership. Field Trips may be scheduled for the Membership during the summer months. The December meeting will consist of a social and any essential business. Board meetings are held before each Membership Meeting and are also held in January and August.

Newly elected officers and directors shall be installed as the last item of business and they shall assume office at the close of the December meeting. Meetings will begin at 7:00pm, with Board meetings preceding at 6:00 pm unless called otherwise.

ARTICLE XIV. PARLIAMENTARY AUTHORITY

The rules contained in the current edition of Robert’s Rules of Order, Newly Revised, shall govern the organization in all cases to which they are applicable and are not inconsistent with these By-Laws and any special rules of order the organization may adopt.

ARTICLE XV. AMENDMENT OF BY-LAWS

These By-Laws can be amended at any regular meeting of the Society by a two-thirds (⅔) vote of members present, provided that the Amendment has been submitted in writing at the previous meeting.

Connie Krause, President, CCGS

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