| BYLAWS
WESTERN REGION SCHUTZHUND VERBAND, DVG, INC.
ARTICLE I
NAME AND OBJECTIVES
1. The name of the corporation shall be WESTERN REGION SCHUTZHUND VERBAND, DVG, INC. (hereafter "Western Region").
2. The Western Region shall be a non-profit corporation organized under the laws of the State of California.
3. The nature, object and purposes of the Western Region shall not be for pecuniary gain or profit to the officers, members or employees thereof and the specific purposes for which it is formed are as a not for profit, charitable and educational organization to promulgate, especially in the United States of America and Canada, the following objectives:
A. Promote and organize the working dog sport activities within the geographic area of the Western Region as set forth by Deutscher Verband der Gebrauchshundsportvereine ("DVG").
B. Protect and advance the interests of working dogs by encouraging sportsmanlike competition at working dog trials and tests.
C. Support the working dog sport activities under the rules of DVG.
D. Abide by and be subservient to all rules, regulations, and laws of DVG, and its governing organizations.
ARTICLE II
MEMBERSHIP AND DUES
1. There shall be one form of membership in the Organization and that shall be clubs within the geographic area of the Western Region, as that shall be defined, from time to time, by Landesverband DVG America or DVG. Currently, that geographic area is defined as the States of Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, Idaho, Washington, Oregon, Nevada, California, Hawaii, Alaska and the Canadian provinces of British Columbia and Alberta..
2. Members shall be subject to the Articles of Incorporation and By-Laws of the Western Region and the laws, rules and regulations of Landesverband DVG America, DVG, DVG and the VDH.
3. Dues payable to the Western Region and DVG shall be submitted to and through the Western Region in a manner prescribed by the Western Region and DVG. The Board of Directors shall be responsible for setting annual dues payable to the Western Region based upon budgets prepared by the Treasurer and approved by the Board. Assessments to any club shall be based upon the individual DVG members contained within that club.
4. Notwithstanding the fact that membership shall be restricted to clubs, the Western Region shall have jurisdiction over any individual member of DVG in the Western Region where expressly provided in these By-Laws or the laws and rules of Landesverband DVG America or DVG.
5. Any DVG club affiliated with the Western Region may only be terminated by the Western Region on the following grounds:
- Disbandment of the club.
- Withdrawal of a club which shall only be at the end of a calendar Year.
C. Cancellation for failure to pay required dues.
D. Expulsion for major or repeated violations of these By-Laws, DVG By-Laws and policies and/or the failure to stop or curtail training activity in violation of DVG, DVG, VDH or FCI training policies.
Disaffiliation may only occur upon approval of DVG.
6. All applications for club membership with DVG shall be submitted through the Treasurer of the Western Region. No person shall be denied membership status because of race, religion or national origin.
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ARTICLE III
DIRECTORS AND OFFICERS
1. The Executive Board of Directors shall be comprised of a President, Vice-President, Secretary, Treasurer, and OFV. The Board of Directors shall be comprised of members of the Executive Board of Directors and each Club President from within the Western Region. Each Board member shall have one vote.
2. All Board members shall have been members in good standing of DVG and an affiliated club within the Western Region for at least 2 calendar years immediately preceding taking office. The OFV shall be automatically removed from the Executive Board for failure to maintain a helper’s license, as certified under the requirements of the DVG, at any time during the term of office.
3. The President shall preside at all Executive and general Board meetings as well as the general membership meetings, and shall have the duties and powers normally appurtenant to the office of President in addition to those particularly specified in these By-Laws. The President shall serve a term of three years, commencing on March 5, 1994, and continuing through March 4, 1997. Commencing March 5, 1997, the term off office shall be two years with elections to be held each odd numbered year in accordance with the other provisions of these By-Laws. No person shall be eligible for the office of President who has not been a member of DVG for a period of two years immediately preceding the taking of office.
4. The Vice-President shall have the powers and exercise the duties of the President in the event of the President's absence or incapacity. The Vice-President shall assume the office of President for the unexpired term in case of the President's removal, resignation, death or inability to serve. The Vice-President shall also perform those duties which may be assigned, from time to time, by the President or the Board. The Vice-President shall serve a term of three years, commencing March 5, 1994, and continuing through March 4, 1997. Commencing March 5, 1997, the term of office shall be two years with elections to be held each odd numbered year in accordance with the other provisions of these By-Laws. No person shall be eligible for the office of Vice-President who has not been a member of DVG for a period of two years immediately preceding the taking of office.
5. The Secretary shall keep a record of all meetings of both the Executive and general boards. The minutes of all meetings shall be mailed to the Board members and club secretaries within thirty days of any meeting. The Secretary shall have charge of the correspondence of the Western Region, notify Board members of meetings, maintain a roll of the names, addresses and, if possible, telephone numbers of individual members of clubs within the Western Region and carry out such other duties as are prescribed in these By-Laws, and may be prescribed by the Board. The Secretary shall serve a term of three years, commencing March 5, 1994, and continuing through March 4, 1997. Commencing March 5, 1997, the term of office shall be two years with elections to be held each odd numbered year in accordance with the other provisions of these By-Laws. No person shall be eligible for the office of Secretary who has not been a member of DVG for a period of two years immediately preceding the taking of office.
6. The Treasurer shall collect and receive all monies due to the Western Region by the clubs and all amounts required to be paid by any individual member within the Western Region to DVG. The Treasurer shall deposit the same in a depository satisfactory to the Board or required by DVG, but only in the name of the Western Region. Expenditures of funds shall be made only under authority granted by the Board. The Treasurer shall maintain and make available to the Board, books of the Western Region and at every regular meeting of the Board, report the condition of the finances and every item of receipt or payment not previously reported; and no later than by the end of the quarter following the end of the fiscal year, render a financial statement of all monies received and expended by the Western Region during the previous fiscal year. The Treasurer shall be responsible for receiving and processing all membership applications and renewals and shall maintain an accurate dues roll of all individual DVG members residing in the Western Region in compliance with the requirements of DVG. The Treasurer shall serve a term of three years, commencing March 5, 1994, and continuing through March 4, 1997. Commencing March 5, 1997, the term of office shall be two years with elections held each odd numbered year in accordance with other provisions of these By-Laws. No person shall be eligible for the office of Treasurer who has not been a member of DVG for a period of two years immediately preceding the taking of office.
7. The OFV shall be primarily responsible for the testing and training of trial decoys. The OFV shall also perform those other functions of the position required by the laws and regulations of DVG or as may be assigned from time to time by the Board. The position of OFV may be held by a judge or other qualified specialist. The OFV shall serve a term of three years, commencing March 5, 1994, and continuing through March 4, 1997. Commencing March 5, 1997, the term of office shall be two years with elections held each odd numbered year in accordance with the other provisions of these By-Laws. No person shall be eligible for the office of OFV who has not met the following requirements at the time of taking of office:
- A member of DVG for a period of five years immediately preceding the taking of office;
- Held the office of training director of any Schutzhund club for a period of five years;
- Holds a mimum level 2 helper's license currently certified under the requirements of the DVG;
- Trained no less than one dog to the title of IPO III. In lieu of this requirement, the Board may consider other working or service dog titles achieved by any candidate and approve such substitute title or titles as meeting the requirements of this subsection;
- Demonstrate to the Board a background or experience in communicating and/or teaching skills;
A. Worked as trial chairman for at least one DVG club trial;
B. Worked as a helper for at least one DVG WKG Regional Championship trial;
- In passing upon the qualifications of any candidate pursuant to Subsections 4 and 5 of this Article, the Board's decision shall be final.
8. No elected officer may hold more than one office on the Executive Board concurrently.
9. The Executive Board shall have the authority to appoint assistants to the Secretary and Treasurer with such positions to be appointed by the President and approved by a three-quarters vote of the Executive Board.
10. Any elected officer may be removed from office for failure to perform the functions of office only by a vote of at least 5/8ths of the remaining Board members. Not withstanding the foregoing, any elected officer shall automatically be removed from office if he or she shall fail to attend three of six Board meetings or three consecutive Board meetings. The replacement for such removed officer shall be in accordance with the appropriate nomination procedures otherwise set forth in these By-Laws. If election of said replaced officer is required, it shall be either by special or the next general election, at the discretion of the Board.
11. Except as provided in Article III. 10, in the event of vacancy in the office of President, the Vice-President shall fill the position for the unexpired term. In the event of a vacancy in any other elected office, the office shall be filled at the next regular or special meeting of the Board by a majority vote of the Board. In the event of a vacancy in any appointed office, the President shall make an appointment to fill that position at the next regular or special meeting of the Board and upon three-quarters approval of the Executive Board; the appointed officer shall serve for the unexpired term.
12. The representative to the Board of Landesverband DVG America for the Western Region shall be the President or such other person as he or she shall designate from time to time.
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ARTICLE IV
CLUB YEAR, VOTING, NOMINATIONS, ELECTIONS
1. The Western Region's fiscal and official year shall commence January 1 and end December 31.
2. Voting by the Board shall be by a simple majority of those present and eligible to vote, except where a greater majority is required by the other provisions of these By-Laws. Voting by proxy shall not be allowed. A quorum shall be met by the presence of the President, or in the President's absence, the Vice-President, no less than two-thirds of the Executive Board and one-third of the Club Presidents. A quorum at an Executive Board meeting shall be met by the presence of the President, or in the President's absence, the Vice President, and two other Executive Board members.
3. The election of officers for the Board shall be conducted as follows:
A. The Secretary shall compile a list of all individual members who are members of clubs within the Western Region and are members of DVG in good standing as of January 1 of the year of the election. This list shall be certified to the Board for review. The records of the Western Region shall control in the determination of membership.
B. After January 1 of the year of the election, the Secretary shall cause to have ballots prepared, and e-mailed to all club Presidents on the voting membership list; to distribute to each club’s members, as approved by the Board. The mailing shall be on or before January 20th of the year of the election. The form of the ballot shall be one approved by the Board with all nominees appearing in alphabetical order according to last name. The Secretary shall e-mail one ballot to each club President who will responsible for printing and distributing amongst their club members. The club president is responsible for collecting and mailing in the ballots.
C. Beginning with the 1999 Executive Board Elections, the sitting Executive Board shall appoint an election committee consisting of a chairperson and two other Western Region members in good standing. The committee's function shall be to receive and count the election ballots and certify the results in writing to the Western Region Executive and general Boards. The committee appointments shall be made after all nominations for officers have been received and no committee member may be chosen from a club having a club member nominated for office. In order to count, a ballot must be postmarked no later than February 20th of the year of the election and received by the election committee chairperson no later than midnight, February 25th of the same year. No ballots other than those mailed by the Secretary shall be counted. No "write in" candidates shall be counted. All ballots shall remain under the custody of the Executive Board for a period of twelve months following the election, at which time they may be destroyed.
D. The Executive Board shall review the election results and certify the same in writing to the clubs on or before March 5 of the same year.
E. The elected officers shall be elected by a simple majority vote of all those cast for each office. In the event that no candidate shall be elected by a vote of more than fifty percent of the votes cast for that office, the Executive Board shall arrange for a run-off election between the two candidates for that office receiving the greatest number of votes. The run-off election shall be conducted in the same manner as before, except that all ballots shall be mailed as soon as possible to be returned no later than March 20th of the year of the election, to be counted and certified on or before March 25th of the same year.
F. The Executive and/or general Boards may by special election propose any issue which, in its discretion, it believes appropriate for a polling of the clubs or where otherwise required by the By-Laws. In such event, the Executive Board shall direct the Secretary to prepare and mail ballots in the manner otherwise described in these By-Laws to all of those clubs within the Regions, as shown on the records of the Region ninety days prior to the date of the Board's resolution requiring such election.
G. In the event that proper nominations are held, and all officers of the new board are running unopposed, it will not be necessary to hold elections. Those officers nominated will automatically become the officers for the next term.
4. No person may be a candidate for office who has not been nominated in accordance with these By-Laws. Nomination for elected office shall be by each of the clubs within the Western Region. Each club may certify a slate of nominees for the offices to be filled, with such slate to be submitted to the Secretary on or before December 20th of the year prior to the year of the election. Each club may only submit one slate of nominees and no slate shall contain more than one candidate for each office. A club's slate may contain nominees from any club within the Western Region.
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ARTICLE V COMMITTEE
1. The Executive Board may each year appoint chair people and standing committees to advance the work of the Western Region. Such chair people and committees shall also be subject to the final authority of the appointing Board.
2. All appointed assignments terminate on January 1 of each year, unless extended by vote of the Executive Board.
3. Any chair people, committee or committee member appointed by the Executive Board may be terminated by majority vote of the Executive Board and/or the Board.
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ARTICLE VI
POWERS OF THE BOARD
The Executive Board of Directors of the Western Region shall have the power to exercise all rights and privileges granted to them by these By-Laws and the laws and rules of Landesverband DVG America or DVG. In addition, the Executive Board shall have the authority to determine and administer policy on all matters of national concern through Landesverband DVG America, and to establish a relationship of cooperation and communication with the administrative officials and policy making bodies of Landesverband DVG America. All powers not expressly granted to the Executive Board by this Article are reserved to the member clubs. The Executive Board of Directors of the Western Region shall carry out the responsibilities dictated in the By-Laws. Additionally, the Executive Board is authorized to deal with issues that have immediacy and/or are of an administrative distinction. Issues that have a significant impact on the Western Region's nature, objectives and/or purpose must be decided by a Board of Director's quorum. All issues must be reported and approved by the Board of Directors.
ARTICLE VII
MEETINGS
1. Regular Board meetings shall be held no less than once each six months with one meeting to be held within 30 days prior to the annual general membership meeting of Landesverband DVG America. Regular meetings of the Board may be held, from time to time, as required. Any Board meeting may be held by telephone conference. A regular meeting of the Board may be held at anytime when called by two or more Board members, provided that at least five days prior notice is given or notice is waived by all Board members.
2. Special meetings of the Board may be called by the President at any time provided that five days prior notice is given or notice is waived by all Board members.
3. At any meeting sanctioned by these By-Laws, the most recent "Robert's Rules of Order, Revised" shall generally govern parliamentary practice on all matters, unless expressed otherwise in these By-Laws.
4. Special meetings of the Executive Board may be called by the President at any time, provided that five days prior notice is given or notice is waived by all Executive Board members.
ARTICLE VIII
AMENDMENTS TO THE BY-LAWS
1. Amendments to these By-Laws shall be made in only one of two ways.
2. Amendments may be proposed by a majority vote of the Executive Board or by a petition signed by twenty percent of the then total DVG clubs within the Western Region, in good standing.
3. Upon proposal of an amendment by either Executive Board action or petition, the issue shall be voted on by written ballot from the clubs within the region, either in a general or special election, at the option of the Executive Board. Copies of the proposed amendment(s) along with a club voting ballot shall be sent to an officer of each club within the region. After voting, the club shall return the ballot on or before the deadline to the designated Western Region Executive Board officer showing the number of votes cast both for and against the proposed amendment. Any amendment shall be subject to approval by DVG.
4. Upon a simple majority approval of the members voting, any amendment shall become effective 30 days following such approval or approval by DVG, whichever date is later. The Secretary shall be required to forward copies of all amendments to the Clubs.
ARTICLE IX
DISSOLUTION
The Western Region may be dissolved at any time by the written vote of not less than two-thirds of the then member clubs within the Western Region, in good standing, and further provided the approval of DVG is obtained. In the event that the Western Region shall ever be dissolved, then upon such dissolution, any assets remaining thereafter shall be conveyed to such organization or organizations as shall be elected by a majority of the Board, provided, however, that such recipient shall be exempt under the requirements of Section 501 (c) of the Internal Revenue Code and further provided that such recipient shall be one which generally promotes the purposes which are enumerated in the Articles of Incorporation and these By-Laws.
ARTICLE X
DEFINITIONS
1. For all purposes hereunder, the term individual member shall mean a person who is a member in good standing of DVG America.
2. For all purposes hereunder, the term club or member club shall mean a local club, within the geographic area of the Western Region, affiliated with DVG and in good standing.
3. For all purposes hereunder, mailing shall mean either hard copy or electronic.
ARTICLE XI
DISCIPLINE
1. Any DVG club within Landesverband DVG America, individual member within Landesverband DVG America, or the Executive and/or general Boards may prefer charges against any individual member for conduct harmful to the interests of DVG, the Western Region or any club within the boundaries of Landesverband DVG America for major violations of these By-Laws or the training rules of DVG. Written charges must be filed by the complainant, signed and setting forth the specific facts supporting the complaint. All complaints shall be accompanied by a payment of fifty dollars, which shall be forfeited in the event the charges are not sustained. The payment will be refunded in the event the charges are sustained.
2. Charges against an individual member shall be filed with that member's club by filing the complaint and payment with the secretary of that club. The complaint shall be disposed of in accordance with the procedure set forth for disciplinary proceedings established by that Club. Each club in such proceedings shall minimally provide standards for due process and a fair hearing with all parties being allowed to submit relevant evidence concerning the complaint through witnesses and/or otherwise as the club shall determine.. Following the disposition of the complaint, the club, through its members charged with reviewing the complaint shall give a written decision setting forth factual findings and whether the accused party is guilty of the violation which is the subject of the complaint. A copy of these findings shall be delivered to the complainant, the accused party, the accused party's club and the Secretary of the Western Region within ten days following the date that the club publishes its findings. Upon the publication of the findings, either the complainant or the accused party shall have the right to file an appeal with the Executive Board of the Western Region, provided written notice of appeal shall be delivered to the Secretary within thirty days of the date that the club publishes its findings. The Executive Board shall then hold an appeal hearing to consider the charges and, at that hearing allow the accused party to be heard. At its discretion, the Executive Board may allow testimony from witnesses either in person or by sworn affidavit. The accused party shall have the right to counsel during any appeal hearing at his or her own expense. The appeal hearing may be conducted by telephone conference. Within thirty days of the hearing, the Executive Board shall give its decision in writing. The Executive Board shall have the right to sustain or reverse the decision of the club and, additionally, modify any penalty imposed by the club. The decision of the Executive Board shall be final in all cases, subject to approval by DVG in accordance with its By-Laws and the right of appeal to Landesverband DVG America, in accordance with its By-Laws.
3. Charges against a club may only be filed with Landesverband DVG American in accordance with its By-Laws.
4. In the event that any accused party shall be found guilty of the charges, the penalties which may be imposed shall only be one or more of the following: (1) warning, (2) reprimand, (3) fines up to $400 for each offense, (4) suspension from all official functions as a member of DVG and/or (5) expulsion of an individual member from DVG.
5. No DVG Judge shall be subject to disciplinary proceedings under this Article for alleged acts committed while performing the functions of his or her office. All such complaints shall be made in accordance with the laws and regulations of DVG.
ACCEPTED AND ADOPTED by the Board of Directors of Western Region Schutzhund Verband, DVG, Inc. on July 26, 1994.
AMENDED AND APPROVED by vote of the clubs within the Western Region Schutzhund Verband, DVG, Inc., on April 12, 1997.
AMENDED AND APPROVED by vote of club members within the Western Region Schutzhund Verband, DVG, Inc, on February 20, 2006 to be effective March 22, 2006.
AMENDED AND APPROVED by vote of club members within the Western Region Schutzhund Verband, DVG, Inc, on May 25, 2007 to be effective July 20, 2007.
AMENDED AND APPROVED by vote of club members within the Western Region Schutzhund Verband, DVG, Inc, on February 19, 2008 to be effective March 21, 2008.
AMENDED AND APPROVED by vote of club members within the Western Region Schutzhund Verband, DVG, Inc, on May 19, 2016 to be effective July 19, 2016. top of page |
