BY-LAWS
OF THE CHEROKEE COUNTY GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY
AS AMENDED 05-13-2024
ARTICLE - I - NAME
Section I
The name of this organization
shall be CHEROKEE COUNTY
GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY
The location shall be
JACKSONVILLE, TEXAS
The business address shall be
P.O. BOX 1332, JACKSONVILLE,
TEXAS 75766-1332.
ARTICLE - II - PURPOSE
Section 1
The purpose of this Society
shall be:
(1) To bring together persons
who are researching family
history and to promote fellowship and co-operation
among them.
(2) To foster, stimulate and
share ideas, information,
methods, and practices in family research as well
as act as a training agency
for persons interested in genealogical research.
(3) To collect, preserve and
make available to interested
persons, material on family history, with special
emphasis on research material
concerning past and present families in the
(4) No part of the net earnings
of the Society shall inure
to the benefit of or be distributable to its
members, officers, directors,
representatives, or other private persons, except
that the Society shall be
authorized and empowered to pay reasonable
compensation for services
rendered and to make payments and
distributions in furtherance of the purposes set
forth in these By-Laws. No
substantial part of the activities of the Society
shall be the carrying on of
propaganda, or otherwise attempting
to influence legislation and
the Society shall not
participate in or intervene in (including the
publishing or distribution of
statements) any political campaign on the behalf
of any candidate for public
office.
Notwithstanding any other
provision of these articles, this Society shall
not carry on any other
activities not permitted to be carried on (a) by a
corporation exempt from
Federal income tax under section 501(c)(3) of the
Internal Revenue Code (or the
corresponding provision of any future United
States Internal Revenue Law) or
(b) by a corporation, contributions to which are
deductible under section
170(c)(2) of the Internal. Revenue Code of 1954
(or the corresponding provision
of any future United States Internal Revenue Law).
(5) Upon the dissolution of the
Society, the Executive Board
shall after paying or making provision
for
the payment of all liabilities of the Society,
dispose of all the assets of
the Society exclusively for the purposes of the
Society in such a manner, or to
such organization or organizations organized and
operated exclusively for
charitable, educational, religious or scientific
purposes as shall at all
times' qualify as an exempt organization or
organizations under section
501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954,
(or the corresponding provision
of any future United States
Revenue Law), as the Executive Board shall
determine. Any such assets not so
disposed of shall be disposed of by the Court of
the County in which the
principal office of the Society is then located
exclusively for such purposes
or to such organization or organizations as said
Court shall
determine, which are organized
and operated exclusively for
such purposes.
(6) To co-operate, to the
extent practicable, with other
similar societies and associations that are
interested in genealogy and
history.
(7) To
encourage
those officials in charge of public records,
genealogical, and historical
collections, to preserve them and make them
readily accessible to interested
persons.
(8) To
encourage
respect for and preservation of the family unit.
Section-2
The said Society is organized
exclusively for educational, scientific,
and literary purposes, including, for such
purposes, compiling and distributing
genealogical research publications.
Section-3
Said Society is formed as a
non-profit organization and such
monies or items of value received shall go for
stated purposes of the Society.
ARTICLE - III - MEMBERSHIP
Section-1
Membership shall be open to
anyone interested in subscribing
to the purposes of this Society, whether living in
the general area or
elsewhere.
Section-2
A member shall have all the
duties and privileges of
membership and shall be encouraged to bring in new
members and generally
promote the objectives and aims of the Society.
ARTICLE - IV - DUES
Section-1
No dues are charged
ARTICLE - V - MEETINGS
Section-1
Meetings are to held quarterly
as announced by the President.
Section-2
At such times as the meeting
falls on or near a conflicting
date, the President
is empowered to set a date for that quarter.
Section-3
Special meetings may be called
by the Executive Board and/or
5(five) members of the Society, provided the
members are notified 3(three) days
in advance, stating the purpose for which the
meeting is called.
Section-4
Those members in good standing
in attendance shall
constitute a quorum and 51% vote of members shall
decide the matter or the
question.
Section-6
Two (2) members
of
the Executive Board at any meeting shall
constitute a quorum.
SUGGESTED ORDER OF BUSINESS
(1) Call to
order
(2) Pledge
of
allegiance and prayer, at the discretion of the
presiding officer
(3) Reading
of the
minutes of previous meeting
(4) Treasurer's
Report
(5) Officer's
Reports
(6) Committee
Reports
(7) Unfinished
Business
(8) New Business
(9) Program
(10) Announcements
(11) Adjournment
ARTICLE - VI -
OFFICERS AND EXECUTIVE BOARD
Section-1
The Officers of this Society
shall be:
(1) President and Facebook
Editor
(2) Editor and Web Page Editor
Section 2
An elective officer shall serve
for a term of one year with
no limit to the number of terms he/she may be
re-nominated and re-elected.
Section-3
The officers shall be elected
at the regular and installed
at the regular Spring meeting to assume their
duties at the regular Spring
Meeting. The President may determine the method of
voting and appoint tellers
to count the vote if a secret ballot is requested.
Section-4
The Executive Board shall
consist of the above officers and
the immediate past president.
ARTICLE - VII - THE DUTIES OF
OFFICERS AND EXECUTIVE BOARD
Section-1
The
President shall:
(1) Preside at all regular
meetings of the Society.
(2) Preside at all meetings of
the Executive Board.
(3) Appoint the chairperson of
special committees (except
the nominating committee).
(4) Collaborate with each
committee in the selection of
committee members.
(5) Serve as an ex-officio
member of all committees (except
the nominating committee).
(6) Perform such additional
duties assigned by the Executive
Board.
(7) Appoint at his/her
discretion a parliamentarian to
advise him/her in matters of parliamentary
procedure.
[(8) File the annual Federal
Tax return IRS Form 990-N.]
Section-4
The Editor shall:
(1) Keep a factual and unbiased
record of all proceedings of
all meetings of the Society and the Executive
Board.
(2) Furnish to the president as
soon as possible and prior
to the next meeting a copy of said record.
(3) Have custody of the By-Laws
and shall handle all of the
general correspondence.
(4) Handle correspondence of
appreciation and other
correspondence deemed necessary by the Society.
(5) Read all pertinent
communications at the meetings.
(6) Assume the duties of
president in the absence of the
president
(7) Receive all the income of
the Society and give receipts
therefor.
(8) Keep accurate records of
all receipts and disbursements.
(9) Deposit all funds in the
Society bank account at a.
local bank in Cherokee County, Texas, to be
decided upon by the Executive
Board.
(10) Pay by check expenditures
not to exceed $100.00 unless
authorized by the membership.
(11) Submit books for the
annual audit by an auditing
committee.
(12) Give a report at each
regular meeting as to the amount
for budget.
(Section-6
A. The Editor shall be the
chairperson of Publications and
Sales Committee (see Article IX, Section 4)
(1) Answer any letter inquiring
about Cherokee County
Genealogical Society and attach copies of our
membership application and
"List of Publications" available.
(2) Deposit all checks and
monies received for to the bank
account.
(3) Maintain the Mailing List,
Former Member List and
Non-Member Contact List and furnish copies of
these lists to the President.
Section 10
The Web Page Editor shall be
the chair-person of the Web
Page committee and a member of the Publication and
Sales Committee.
Section 11
The Executive Board shall;
(1) Have general supervision of
the Society between its
regular meetings.
(2) Make recommendations to the
Society.
(3) Perform such other duties
as are specified in these
By-Laws.
(4) Be subject to the orders of
the Society and none of its
acts shall conflict with the action taken by the
Society.
ARTICLE - VIII - COMMITTEES
Section-1
There shall be two standing
committees:
(1) Programs and Arrangements.
(2) Web Page Committee
ARTICLE - IX - DUTIES OF THE
STANDING COMMITTEE
Section-1
The Programs and Arrangements
Committee shall:
(1) Be chaired by the President.
(2) Be responsible in arranging
for appropriate programs.
(3) Secure adequate meeting
places.
Section-4
The Publication and Sales
Committee shall:
(1) Be chaired by the Editor.
(2) Compile, edit, publish and
advertise the Society's
publications for sale as a source of income for
the Society.
(3) Handle sales, distribution
and advertising of all
regular and special publications of the Society.
(4) Be responsible for the sale
of charts, forms and other
supplies offered by the Society.
Section 7
The Web Page Committee shall:
(1) Select the Web Page Server
Vendor.
(2) Edit and maintain the
Official Web site of the Society.
(3) Advertise the Society's
publications for sale on the Web
Page.
(4) Advertise and solicit
membership in the Society on the
Web Page.
(5) Comply with the Basic
County Page Requirements of the
Texas GenWeb Project as may be required by the
ARTICLE - X - PUBLICATIONS
Section-1
The official publication of the
Cherokee County Genealogical
Society shall be "TREE TALK".
(1) "TREE TALK shall be
published at the direction of
the President.]
Section-2
Other publications shall be
compiled which shall be offered
for sale to serve as a source of income to the
Society.
(1) No genealogical material
shall be purchased by the
Society that can be compiled, procured or produced
by the Society itself.
(2) Future material compiled by
the Society shall be
copyrighted according to proper procedure.
(3) Publications advertised or
sold by the Society through
"TREE TALK" authored or copyrighted by anyone
other than the Society
shall be on a commission or fee basis to provide
income for the Society.
(4)Complete a Preassigned
Control Number Application form
with the Library of Congress for each title for
which a preassigned control
number is requested. Upon receiving the number,
print it on the back of the
title page (i.e., the copyright page) in
accordance with the rules of the
Library of Congress.
(5) Maintain the International
Standard Book Number (ISBN)
log, and comply with the standards for
printing the ISBN on the
copyright page and back cover.
Section 3
The Official Web page
publication of the Cherokee County
shall be "Cherokee County Texas GenWeb Page”.
ARTICLE - Xl - BY-LAWS
Section-1
These By-Laws may be reviewed
and/or revised by a 51% vote
of the membership at a regular meeting.
Section-2
Written notice of any proposed
revision and/or amendment
shall be by the President a minimum of 4 weeks
prior to the meeting at which it
shall be submitted for vote.
ARTICLE - XII - PARLIAMENTARY
PROCEDURE
Roberts' Rules of Order shall
be the parliamentary authority
in all matters of procedure not specifically
covered by the By-Laws of this
Society.
Revised June 11, 2024.