Constitution

lakeland officials association

article I – Name

1.01 The name of this organization shall be the Lakeland Officials Association.

ARTICLE II – PURPOSE

2.01 The purpose of the Association shall be to obtain uniform interpretation of sports rules, to improve officiating techniques by means of rule interpretation meetings, and to foster higher standards of officiating.

ARTICLE III – MEMBERSHIP

3.01 Limitation- Membership in the Association shall be limited to one hundred (100) WIAA officials. This number includes Regular and Associate members only. When a vacancy in the Association, the Executive Secretary shall notify the first eligible applicant. Upon being notified of the vacancy, the first eligible applicant has two (2) weeks in which to accept Association membership by paying the prescribed membership dues and fees.

3.02 Trial Member – Upon acceptance as a Trial Membership by the Executive Board, the applicant shall then be subject to all the conditions of the membership of the Association. The Trial Member shall complete one (1) year in that sport(s) for which the Trial Member is active before considered by the board for Associate Member status.

Trial Members may not vote nor hold office.

A Trial Member who is certified by the Sport Chairperson shall then be placed on the Associate Member eligibility list based on the date the application for the Trail Membership was received.

3.03 Associate Members – An Associate Member shall complete two (2) years as an Associate member and fulfill all other obligations before being considered for Regular Membership.

Upon completion of two (2) years as an Associate Member, the Associate Member may, by written request to the Executive Secretary, ask to be considered for Regular Membership status. If the request is denied, the member may remain as an Associate member and may reapply for Regular Membership status after six months.

Associate Members may vote but may not hold office.

Associate Members shall be identified on the roster as such.

3.04 Regular Members – Regular Members shall have fulfilled the prerequisites of membership. Regular Members shall have voting privileges and will be eligible to hold office.

3.05 Inactive Members – A member who desires to temporarily relinquish Regular Membership may be placed on the Inactive List by requesting such action in writing and receiving a favorable approval by a majority vote of the membership.

Only members in good standing shall be eligible.

Inactive Members may, by written requests and payment of dues, have their Regular Members reinstated if a vacancy exists. If no vacancy exists, the Inactive Member seeking reinstated shall be considered before any other eligible applicant. Members on the Inactive List for more that two years shall be dropped from the Association.

3.06 Honorary Members – Members who no longer are active in the Association may be nominated for Honorary Membership, subject to the following requirements:

  1. Must have held at least one office in the Association.
  2. Must have made significant contribution to the advancement and welfare of the Association.
  3. Must have the intention of giving up officiating.
  4. Must be approved as Honorary Member by a majority mail ballot vote of the present membership.

Honorary Members will have the following rights and privileges:

  1. Will not be required to pay annual dues.
  2. Permitted to attend all meetings and social affairs of the Association, but not eligible to vote
  3. Will receive a certificate attesting to this membership.
  4. Will be listed in the Membership directory and be sent a copy each year.

ARTICLE IV – OFFICERS AND TERMS

4.01 The officers of the Association shall be President, Vice President, and Past President.

4.02 The President and Vice President shall serve a term of one year each. Newly elected officers shall take office on January 1 of the year following election.

ARTICLE V – DUTIES OF OFFICERS

5.01 The President shall conduct all business meetings and shall appoint all committees. The President shall have authority to call special meetings of the Association and it’s Executive Board, as the President deems necessary. The President shall automatically serve one additional year on the Executive Board following completion of the term of office.

5.02 The Vice President shall preside in the absence of the President and shall automatically succeed the office of the President on the completion of the latter’s term of office.

ARTICLE VI – EXECUTIVE BOARD

6.01 The executive Board shall be composed of the officers of the Association together with the Executive Secretary and three (3) members elected at-large. One Board Member at-large shall be elected annually for a term of three (3) years.

6.02 Officers of the Association shall not serve as a Sport Chairperson. A Sport Chairperson, who is on the Executive Board as at-large members, shall serve the Executive Board in an ex-officio capacity.

6.03 In the event an Executive Board member is unable to complete a term office, the President shall appoint a Regular Member to fill the vacated position until the next regular election. Such appointment shall be subject to the approval of the members present at the next regular meeting. Said appointee must have been a member of the Association for a minimum of two (2) years.

6.04 Members shall not be eligible to serve more than four (4) consecutive years on the Executive Board.

6.05 The Executive Board shall meet monthly, if necessary, for the purpose of transacting Association business as prescribed by the Constitution.

ARTICLE VII – ELECTION OF OFFICERS AND BOARD

7.01 The Nominating Committee shall submit a slate of at least two (2) nominees each for the offices of Vice-President, and Executive Board. Additional nominations may be made from the floor at the Annual Meeting.

7.02 Elections shall take place at the Annual Meeting. Voting shall be conducted for one office at a time, beginning with the position of Vice-President. A defeated candidate for any office may be nominated from the floor for any remaining vacancy.

7.03 The Nominating Committee shall consist of the out-going officers.

ARTICLE VIII – MEETINGS

8.01 The Annual Meeting shall be in November.

8.02 A quorum for meetings of the Executive Board shall be one-half of its membership. A quorum for Association meetings shall be twenty-five (25) percent of the active membership. No regular business shall be conducted unless a quorum is declared present.

8.03 Robert’s Rule of Order – Revised Edition, shall govern the conduct of all meetings.

8.04 Rules clinics shall last no longer than two (2) hours.

ARTICLE IX – APPOINTED POSITIONS

9.01 The Association shall have the following:

  1. Nominating Committee.
  2. Constitution Committee.
  3. Sport Chairperson.
  4. Honorary Membership Committee.
  5. Historical Committee.
  6. Public Relations Committee.
  7. Audit Committee.
  8. Social Committee.

9.02 The President will appoint the chairperson for each committee and sport.

9.03 The primary responsibilities of the Sport Chairperson will be to set up a schedule of meetings, dates, programs, rules topics, testing, and to keep a progress record of the Association members in that particular sport, and to attend Executive Board meetings during that sport’s season.

9.04 Special appointments shall be made by the President or by a majority vote of the Executive Board or membership.

9.05 The President, with the approval of the Executive Board or the membership, may terminate any appointed position(s) as is deemed necessary for the welfare of the Association.

ARTICLE X – SPORT AND OFFICIATING ELIGIBILTY

10.01 To be qualified in a sport as a Lakeland Official, the member must be currently registered with the WIAA.

10.02 Sport Chairpersons shall recommend to the Executive Board any additional qualifications desired in that sport.

10.03 A member who is qualified in one sport may become qualified in any other sport by the Association by taking the examination in that sport and meeting any other qualifications deemed necessary by the Executive Board.

10.04 Members qualified in more than one sport and who desire to have their name disassociated from a sport, may upon written notice to the Executive Secretary, request their status to be changed.

10.05 Any member so disassociated from a sport, may before the lapse of two (2) years, request and be reactivated in that sport. In the event a member has been inactive for more than two (2) years, the member must again become qualified by the following the prescribed procedures.

10.06 Any member going inactive from a sport because of that member being a coach in any sport sanctioned by the WIAA, may upon written request and payment of dues, be reinstated as a Regular Member.

ARTICLE XI – DISQUALIFICATION OF MEMBERS

11.01 Members shall be disqualified for any of the following:

  1. Non-payment of dues and assessments in full by the third Monday in July
  2. A Regular Member shall attend a minimum of 50% of the meetings pertaining to that sport in which the member is active.
  3. A Trial and Associate Member shall attend a minimum of 75% of the meetings pertaining to that sport in which the member is active.
  4. Attendance at the Annual Meeting may be used to meet the requirements in 11.01.02 and 11.01.03 for all members.
  5. Conduct detrimental to the purpose of the Association.

11.02 Members may be excused from meetings by sending a written excuse to the Executive secretary and postmarked no later than three (3) days after the missed meeting. Excuses will be limited to causes related to the member’s job, school, home life factor, and to officiating a WIAA or college contest in that sport in which the LOA clinic(s), meeting(s), or seminar(s) were held. Any member who does not meet the attendance requirements will be put on probation for a one-year period. After two consecutive years of violating the attendance policy, the member must appear before the LOA Executive Board to show just cause to remain a member in the Association.

11.03 Charges against a member must be in writing and be presented to the Executive Board through the Executive Secretary. The charged member must be appear before the Executive Board for a hearing along with the member presenting the charge. The Executive Board shall them make a recommendation regarding the charge to the membership at a regular meeting.

11.04 Alleged detrimental conduct charges coming from outside the Association shall be investigated by the Executive Board and discussed with the charged member. The Executive Board shall then make a recommendation regarding the charges to the membership at a regular meeting.

11.05 The regular membership at a regular meeting shall determine the validity of the charges.

11.06 A member found to be in violation of the association requirements on dues or excessive absences from rules meetings is eligible to rejoin the Association by following the prescribed procedure.

11.07 A member dropped for conduct detrimental to the purposes of the Association shall be barred from membership for a period of one (1) year. The individual may then reapply for membership to the Executive Board. On approval from the Executive Board, the individual is eligible to rejoin the Association by following the prescribed procedure.

ARTICLES XII – DUES AND FEES

12.01 The annual dues for the Association shall be set by the Executive Board subject to the approval of a majority vote of the membership at the Annual Meeting.

12.02 Dues shall be assessable from July 1 of each calendar year payable by the third Monday in July. Associate members paying original dues at time of acceptance, if prior to January 1, shall be liable for regular membership dues on the succeeding July 1. If acceptance was after January 1, dues will be one-half of the annual fee for that year and will then be liable for regular membership dues on the succeeding July 1. Members paying dues after July 1 shall be assessed an additional $2 fee.

12.03 The Executive Board shall set the Association initiation fee. Subject to approval of the majority vote of the membership present at the Annual Meeting.

ARTICLE XIII – AMENDMENTS

13.01 Proposals for amending the Constitution and By-Laws shall be presented to the President or Constitution Committee in writing.

13.02 The President shall refer the proposal to the Constitution Committee for editing, recommendations, and presentation to the membership at the next regular scheduled business meeting. At this meeting the attending membership shall determine by a majority vote whether the proposal should be presented to the entire membership.

13.03 If the approval received an affirmative vote, the following procedure shall be followed:

  1. The Executive Secretary shall mail the proposal to all Regular and Associate members within fourteen (14) days of such action.
  2. Included in the proposal shall be a ballot for the members to vote, signed and return.
  3. A two-thirds vote of all members returning a properly executed ballot within fourteen (14) days from the original date of mailing is required to amend the Constitution.

13.04 The Executive Secretary will present the returned ballots for tabulation to the President at the next Regular Board meeting, such tabulation officially indicating acceptance or rejection of the proposed amendment.

ARTICLE XIV – EXECUTIVE SECRETARY

14.01 The Executive Secretary shall be recommended by the Executive Board and approved at the Annual Meeting by a majority vote of the membership present. The term of service shall be two (2) years beginning January 1 of the following year.

14.02 The duties and responsibilities of the Executive Secretary shall be:

  1. As a voting member of the Executive Board.
  2. Maintain records of all members to include attendance, dues, classifications, and all other information deemed necessary by the Executive Board.
  3. To review the status of new members with Sport Chairperson.
  4. To advise the President or presiding officer as to the need for special meetings.
  5. To conduct all correspondence as necessary for association business.
  6. To assume all duties of Treasurer, including maintaining and accounting for all Association dues and assessments.
  7. To maintain a record of all contest assignments made by the Association at the request of schools.
  8. To maintain a Journal of Minute fro all association meetings.

14.03 The Executive Secretary shall be reimbursed for all costs incurred in the name of the Association, subject to the approval by the Executive Board. The Executive Secretary shall receive an annual fee, to be recommended by the Executive Board and approved by a majority of the membership.

14.04 In the absence of the Executive Secretary, the Executive Board shall appoint a temporary replacement for no more than sixty (60) days, at which time the Executive Board shall recommend a permanent replacement.

ARTICLE XV – OMNIBUS CLAUSE

15.01 All matters not specifically covered by the foregoing Articles may be submitted to/or by the Executive Board for recommendation to the general membership. Voting on these matters would be by mail ballot with a majority of eligible voters needed for passage.

As accepted on November 10, 1960

And amended on October 23, 1961

October 8, 1970

March 6, 1972

April 5, 1973

January 1, 1975

July 15, 1975

January 1, 1976

November 8, 1976

May 7, 1978

June 11, 1979

November 13, 1979

February 21, 1982

November 3, 1983

April 24, 1985

March 23, 1987

November 1, 1989

November 1, 1994

November 12, 1996

July 17, 1997