Scottish Irish Society of the Black Hills Robert Rules of Order (abridged) 01/16/06 SIS meetings will use a simplified set of Robert’s Rules of Order to conduct business as needed and only when declared. This is an abbreviated set of rules, generally under the guidelines of Robert’s Rules. Robert’s rules in their full text are hereby excluded. Declaration of Meeting under Roberts Rules of Order Conduct of business by Roberts Rules of Order may not always be required or appropriate. Use of the rules may be declared by a member of the group at anytime when business is in progress. 1) SIS general membership and board meetings will not automatically be considered under Robert’s Rule unless declared. 2) Declaration of Robert’s Rules of Order shall be considered to mean this set of abridged rules unless otherwise moved and voted by the members at the meeting. 3) The presiding officer, usually the SIS President, may at any time declare that the meeting will proceed under this set of rules without a motion from the floor. 4) A member of the meeting group may declare that the meeting should be conducted under these rules at any time. A simple second from one other member is required. Upon second, the meeting will proceed under this set of rules. 5) The presiding officer shall have control of the floor at all times. Business Motions The motion will generally control the conduct and discussion of any business. 1) No discussion may proceed unless a motion is on the floor. 2) A motion must be made by a member in the group. 3) A motion shall be a statement of the business or action to be taken by the group. No discussion, justification or evidence may be presented at this time. 4) The presiding officer will offer the motion for second. 5) The presiding officer shall declare the motion “on the floor” when and only it has been seconded by another member. 6) If there is no second, the item will be declared dead. 7) Only one motion may be on the floor at a time. 8) The member making the motion may be the first to present discussion. 9) The presiding officer shall have ultimate freedom to control discussion as to number of points made by a speaker and the length of time that a speaker may talk. If speaking time is to be limited, all speakers will be limited. 10) If a report or presentation is to be made to support the motion the presiding officer may pole the members whether to yield the floor for an extended period of time. 11) The presiding officer calls for the vote when no more discussion is offered from the floor. 12) The original motion is to be read by the meeting recorder in its entirety before the vote. 13) Any member may “call for the question” at anytime. This is a motion to stop discussion and vote. This motion requires a second and is not subject to discussion. Upon second, the vote to end discussion is counted. If discussion is ended the presiding officer calls for the vote on main motion without further discussion. 14) A motion may be “tabled” or held for consideration at a later time pending more information or another event. The author and person seconding the motion may consent to table the motion or it may be tabled by vote of the group. Amendments to Motions Amendments to motions can be used to clarify or adjust a motion to the liking of the membership. They can also become complicated if several amendments are made to a single motion or if amendments are amended. 1) A single motion on the floor may only be formally amended three times. 2) Amendments to amendments will not be used. 3) The author of the original motion and the member seconding the motion may agree to adapt a suggested amendment to shortcut the amendment process. The amendment then becomes part of the original motion statement. 4) An amendment is a motion to change the original motion. It requires a second and discussion. A vote must be taken on the amendment before other business or discussion of the original motion may proceed. 5) When the original motion is voted it must be stated as originally moved and seconded with the stipulation that it has been amended. The amendments may be repeated as appropriate. Record Keeping All meetings of the SIS must be recorded on paper. A copy of all meeting minutes will be maintained by the SIS Secretary. 1) The recorder should generally follow the format of the meeting agenda. The recorder should check with the presiding officer if any items are missed during the meeting. 2) The exact and complete discussion at a meeting should not be recorded. General discussion of a business item may be noted using phases or short sentences. 3) The exact wording of all valid decisions, resolutions, motions and amendments must be recorded. The recorder should interrupt the meeting when required to be sure that the wording is correct. 4) The author and seconding member of a motion shall be recorded. 5) Minor errors or omissions in recording of the meeting shall not automatically invalidate the business. Recording corrections should be made at the next business meeting. 6) A summary of the meeting minutes may be published in the SIS newsletter. Only final business actions need be mentioned in the summary. Meeting Agendas The President, presiding officer, Secretary or recorder should prepare an agenda for a meeting. With or without an agenda the following should be a part of every business meeting: 1) Read Minutes of the previous meeting. Errors should be noted in the current minutes for the record. Old minutes should then be approved by a floor motion. Since they do not attend board meetings the general membership would not approve the board minutes. A motion to accept the minutes as read would be appropriate. 2) Treasurers Report. As a minimum, a short description of income and cash outflow should be read ending in the current balance of accounts. Data would be recorded in the minutes. When possible a detailed list of all transactions since the last meeting should be available to answer questions. The Treasurers report must be approved by motion from the floor. 3) Old Business Tabled motions, developing projects, follow-up on old motions, etc. The agenda should list these in a logical order. 4) New Business New items anticipated by the author of the agenda are listed. Finally the floor is opened to new business. These rules are not intended to be iron-clad and may be followed loosely if the participating members are agreeable. When appropriate a member of the presiding officer should review these guidelines with the group at a meeting.