These are the proposed and yet to be approved bylaws of SSAR. The current (old version) bylaws are very similar to these, but the soft copy of them was lost in a disk crash. No one has had the time to re-type the old by-laws.
Organization : The organization shall be named SUPERIOR SEARCH AND RESCUE and shall be dictated by its organizational policy and by-laws. The organization will be volunteer and non-profit in nature and shall abide by Roberts' Rules of Order except where otherwise noted.
Purpose : The purpose of the organization is to train a team of volunteers whom may assist local law enforcement agencies in locating, reaching, stabilizing and evacuating a lost person in a safe efficient manner. Secondary team tasks are to provide personnel during a disaster and to educate the public in wilderness safety.
President : Calls for and presides over meetings, represents the team members and the organization publicly, appoints ad-hoc committees, is ex-officio member of all such committees, and assures all necessary team tasks and assignments are completed.
Vice-President / Trainer : Assists the other officers and performs their duties in their absence. Creates and maintains a schedule of training sessions to be held throughout the year. Organizes a minimum of eight training sessions, including four field exercises. Maintains files on training ideas/topics, prior training sessions, mock searches, and of persons for teaching different topics.
Secretary : Maintains official files, applications, correspondence, information produced at searches, and records of member attendance. Responsible for all internal and external communications, including: * Keeps accurate minutes of all meetings of the team. * Publishing a minimum of six newsletters per year and publishing the training manual as necessary. * Maintaining SSAR's World Wide Web and e-mail accounts and representing the team on the Internet. * Sends the media Public Service Announcements, mails thank-you and greetings messages. * Conducts callouts from the Search Manager to the team leaders. Maintains the callout roster.
Treasurer : Keeps accurate records of receipts and expenditures of the team and maintains the financial stability of the organization. Holds and maintains any accounts of the team, reports at each meeting, and prepares monthly and yearly financial statements. Yearly provides financial records for review by an ad-hoc committee of two non-office-holding persons. The signatures of at least two officers or trustees are required on all checks. Disbursements over $100.00 require a majority vote at a meeting. Other duties include:
Appointed Positions : Any officer may appoint an assistant. The following assistant positions are recommended: Newsletter Editor, Supply Manager, Callout Person, Librarian, Historian, Fund-raiser, Assistant Trainer, and Internet Manager.
Requirements : Prospective members may apply after attending two meetings and reading the training manual. The applicants submit a complete application and possess approval by the local county sheriff. To remain a member, one must update one's application and attend a minimum of two meetings every year.
Termination / Expulsion : A person's membership will terminate upon failing to meet the above criteria or upon written request. At this time all equipment issued by the organization must be returned to the team.
All members of SSAR must abide to certain ethical standards. These include but are not limited to: maintaining confidentiality of restricted information during and after a search, treating the subject and subject's relatives and friends with respect, treating other members and other SAR workers with respect, performing medical treatment to only the level of your training, abiding to directives given by the Search Manager, and/or law officers on-scene, and respecting the property in/on which the SSAR is operating.
Meetings : The organization shall meet on the third Tuesday of each month with the time and location to be announced at the previous meeting. Meetings are open to the public. A special meeting may be called by two officers.
Quorum : Quorum shall consist of five members and two officers.
Nominations : Nominations for offices may be made from the floor or in writing to the President prior to the election. Nominations will open at the January meeting.
Elections : Elections for officers will be held by secret ballot annually during the March business meeting and be conducted by an ad-hoc committee appointed by the President. Simple plurality applies. A person may be elected to only one office.
Terms : The term of office will continue until the replacement is elected.
Vacancies : Vacancies are to be filled by election of members for the un-expired term except for a vacancy in the office of President. The Presidential vacancy shall be filled by the Vice-President.
By-laws may be amended by a three-fourths majority vote at any business meeting provided a notice in writing of the proposed amendment is distributed to the membership 14 days prior to the day it is to be voted on. It shall have immediate effect unless otherwise voted. All modifications to the by-laws will be detailed in this section.
Upon the dissolution of the SUPERIOR SEARCH AND RESCUE, all equipment and moneys owned by the organization will first be offered to other emergency service organizations, after all debts have been paid. Remaining funds and items will be divided among the members.