WLEOA By-Laws (as of October 14, 2006)
Article I
Name
The name of the corporation
shall be Wisconsin Law Enforcement Officers Association, hereafter referred to
as the “Association”. Its principal
place of activity shall be
Article II
Objects, Purposes and Scope
A. To promote closer relations between all persons interested in
or actively engaged in prevention of accidents and crime and the enforcement of
laws.
B. To suppress crime by state-wide cooperation, in the arrest
of criminals and searches for fugitives from justice.
C. To instill in members of the Association integrity and just
pride in their work and thereby elevate their profession and uphold the dignity
of the law.
D. To promote better public relations through civil
organizations, to support such organizations in the interest of public
relations, and to advance friendly and courteous dealings with the public.
E. To assist legislators in the enactment of needed criminal
laws and amendment of existing inefficient laws; take necessary action on all
existing and proposed legislation that will affect the law enforcement
profession.
F. To establish, publish and distribute a magazine devoted
exclusively to matters of interest to law enforcement officers.
Article III
Membership
Section 1. There
shall be the following classes of membership in the Association:
A. ACTIVE MEMBERS: Any
full-time law enforcement officer employed within the State of
B. ASSOCIATE MEMBERS:
Any person not eligible for active, life, or honorary membership who has
been approved by the Board of Directors for associate membership.
C. LIFE MEMBERS: Active
members who have qualified for disability or normal retirement from law
enforcement. Must have
a minimum of five (5) years of continuous membership to be eligible. Not required to pay dues.
D. HONORARY MEMBERS:
Other persons who the Board of Directors deems deserving of honorary
membership. Not required to pay dues.
Section 2: Associate and Honorary members shall
not be eligible to vote, hold office in the Association, or receive retirement
benefits from the Association. They
shall be entitled to attend the annual general membership meeting, and
may receive the publications of the Association.
Section 3: Any amendments to the By-Laws in
connection with the classification or status of members shall not affect
existing membership.
Article IV
Duties of Members
Section 1: It shall be the duty of all members to
render proper and faithful adherence to the laws of the
Section 2: No member shall in any manner utilize
the Association as a means for personal political advancement.
Section 3: Rank does not exist while attending
meetings. All members are fellow
officers, regardless of the position or rank they hold.
Section 4: It shall be the duty of members to pay
promptly dues, fines, assessments, etc., which may be levied or charged against
them.
Section 5: Membership in the Association may be
terminated by the Board of Directors for selling or giving away indicia of
active membership, for conduct unbecoming a member, for presenting fraudulent
information in any application for membership or renewal of membership, or if
an active member becomes ineligible for active membership. Such termination shall result in severance
from official duties, forfeiture of any benefits or privileges of
membership. Such termination is
effective upon notice by the Board of Directors, but no such termination shall
take place until a member has had a hearing by the Board of Directors at which
the member and the proponent(s) of termination have been permitted the
opportunity to introduce evidence to support their respective positions.
Article V
Officers
The officers of this Association shall be the President,
Vice-President, Secretary, Treasurer, and immediate Past-President. The duties of the officers shall be those of
analogous officers in organizations of this character.
Article VI
Board of Directors
Section 1: The management of the business and
affairs of the Association shall be in the hands of the Board of Directors,
which shall consist of eleven (11) elected members and the four officers.
Section 2: Except as specifically limited by the
Articles of Incorporation and these By-Laws, and except as specific powers and
duties may be granted solely to other authorities in the Association, the Board
of Directors shall have full power and authority in the intervals between
annual general membership meetings to do all acts and perform all functions
which the Association itself might do or perform.
Section 3: Whenever the Board of Directors and the
annual general membership meet, each are authorized to act on a given matter.
If the general membership does act on the matter, its action shall be binding.
Section 4: A regular meeting of the Board of
Directors shall be held at or about the same time and place as the annual
meeting of the general membership, but not at a time as would conflict with the
business sessions of the Board of Directors.
Section 5: The Board of Directors may authorize
the employment of an Executive Secretary for the Association and may specify
his or her powers and duties.
Section 6: A majority of the Board of Directors
shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business.
Section 7:
A. The President shall fill vacancies existing in any of the
offices, pending approval by the Board of Directors.
B. A vacancy exists in an office of the Association when the
office holder dies or resigns, or when the Board of Directors determines by
resolution that such a vacancy exists, because of death of the office holder,
or of his or her incapacity, resignation of the office holder, or failure to
perform the duties of his or her office.
C. Any officers of the Association selected by the Board of
Directors under authority granted by this Article shall serve only until the
next annual general membership meeting.
Article VII
Board of Trustees
Section 1: The Board of Trustees consists only of
the Past Presidents of this Association who have held office for no less than
one (1) full term of at least two (2) years.
Section 2: The immediate Past President shall
serve for one (1) year beyond the expiration date of his or her term of office
as President and shall have the power of Director at Large and may hold any
other existing position except President or Vice President.
Article VIII
Election and Terms of Office
Section 1: The officers shall be elected by ballot
at the annual general membership meeting of this Association by receiving the
votes of a majority of the duly accredited delegates present. Each officer shall hold their respective
offices for a term of two (2) years, or until their successors are elected and
qualified.
Section 2: The President shall not be elected to
more than two (2) consecutive terms of office.
A term of office shall consist of two (2) years.
Section 3: One member of the Board of Directors
shall be elected from those members residing in each district. The districts are defined as follows:
District 1 –
District 2 –
District 3 – Buffalo,
Crawford, Grant, Iowa, La Crosse, Jackson, Juneau, Lafayette, Monroe, Pepin, Pierce, Richland, Sauk, Trempealeau, and Vernon
Counties
District 4 – those areas of
District 5 – that area of the
City of
District 6 – Calumet,
District 7 – Adams, Clark,
District 8 – Brown, Door,
Kewaunee,
District 9 -
District 10 – Ashland,
Barron, Bayfield, Burnett, Chippewa, Douglas, Dunn, Eau Claire, Iron, Oneida,
Polk, Price, Rusk, St. Croix, Sawyer, Vilas, Washburn, and Sawyer Counties
District 11 is comprised of
all of the life members of the Association, regardless of the geographical
district in which the member resides.
Directors from even numbered
districts are elected in even years and odd numbered districts in odd
years. Members of the Board of Directors
shall hold their office for a term of two (2) years.
Section 4: The newly elected officers shall be
inducted into office at the final business session of the annual general
membership meeting at which the election takes place.
Section 5: Only “active” members shall be eligible
to hold the elective offices of President, Vice-President, and Director from
Districts 1 through 10.
Article IX
Delegates to Annual General Membership
Meetings
Prior to the annual general membership meeting, the
Chairman of the Delegate and Rules Committee shall notify the members of the
Association in writing, or in its the
Association’s official publication, of the date and place of the meeting.
On the morning of an annual general membership meeting or
special membership meeting, the active members wanting to be official delegates
representing their respective agencies must register with the Delegate and
Rules Committee at least one-half (˝) hour before the scheduled start of the
meeting. Each agency shall be entitled to
one (1) delegate for the first three (3) members or fraction thereof within any
such agency. One (1) additional delegate
will be recognized for each fifty (50) members or fraction thereof, in excess
of three (3). Members of each agency
should caucus before they register because only the allotted number of
delegates from each agency will be allowed to register and receive delegate
status. It is the members’
responsibility to determine who will register as delegates from each agency.
The District 11 Director is automatically a delegate.
Article X
Committees
Section 1: The President, at the first meeting of
the Board of Directors following the annual general membership meeting, shall
appoint the following standing committees for the ensuing year:
Audit and Finance
Awards
Campground
Chaplain
Delegates/Rules
Golf
Historian
Insurance/Welfare/Death
Lobbyist/Legislation
Magazine
Membership
Raffle
Resolutions/By-Laws
Retired
Members
Scholarships
Trials
and Suspensions
Youth/Public Relations
Each committee shall consist
of at least three (3) members.
Section 2: The President shall be an ex-officio
member of each of the committees.
Section 3: The President shall have the power to
create additional committees and to delegate to such committees such duties and
powers as may be necessary for the proper conduct of the affairs of the
Association. The President may appoint
to such committees any number of members of the Association.
Section 4: The President and/or Board of Directors
shall have the power to remove any member of any committee for neglect of duty.
Article XI
Dues
Section 1: Dues for active and associate
membership shall be fixed by a majority vote of the delegates at the annual
general membership meeting, and will become effective on the first day of the
next calendar year following the general membership meeting.
Section 2: When dues or other indebtedness of any
active or associate member shall remain unpaid for sixty (60) days past the
beginning of the calendar year, the membership shall be automatically
terminated without further action by the Association. A member thus forfeiting his or her
membership benefits may thereafter be reinstated upon the payment of the
outstanding obligation.
Article XII
Contracts and Obligations
The Board of Directors of this Association is hereby
authorized and empowered to enter into such contracts and obligations as it
shall in its discretion deem necessary to accomplish the purposes of this
Association and is specifically empowered to establish an accredited
publication devoted exclusively to matters of interest and concern to those in
the law enforcement profession.
Article XIII
Property
Members of the Association shall receive certificates of
membership in the class to which they belong, which shall entitle them to all
of the privileges of the Association with respect to such class, but shall not
entitle them to any pecuniary or financial profit of any form or kind. In the case of a member who shall resign, be
terminated, suspended or expelled in accordance with any of the By-Laws or
rules of this Association, the holder of said certificate shall have no right
nor interest in the property of this Association or the privileges or benefits
thereof, and in such case, the certificates of membership shall forthwith be
surrendered and cancelled.
Article XIV
Compensation
The Board of Directors, by majority vote, is authorized
to make a monthly payment to the President and/or Secretary and/or Treasurer in
a reasonable amount, for services rendered.
Such compensation shall be determined by the Board of Directors at its
first meeting following the annual general membership meeting and the amount of
compensation shall be from general meeting to general meeting. In the even that the Board of Directors, by
majority vote, appoints an executive secretary, it shall fix the amount of the
compensation to the executive secretary under the same procedure. The Board of Directors may compensate other
members of the Association using the same procedure.
Article XV
Rules of Order
Unless otherwise voted on by
the members attending a regular meeting of the Association, business of the
Association will be transacted in conformance with established practice as
described in Robert’s Rules of Order.
Article XVI
Amendments
These By-Laws may be amended only at an annual general
membership meeting or at a special meeting called for that purpose.
A proposed amendment may be submitted by the Board of
Directors or by twenty-five (25) members of the Association.
Proposed amendments to the By-Laws must be presented in
writing to the Secretary of this Association not later than ninety (90) days
preceding the annual general membership meeting, and must be published in the
journal prior to the annual or special meeting.
The
vote on an amendment shall be by the delegates.
A majority vote of the total number of delegates voting shall be
sufficient for adoption.