THE FEDERAL PROBATION OFFICERS ASSOCIATION, INC.
CONSTITUTION AND BY-LAWS
Believing that it is 1n the public interest to improve a public service through association in an organized group in pursuit of a common interest, with its own organized self-contained administrative structure, and that in order to do so, it is necessary to provide (1) an opportunity to maintain high professional personnel standards, (2) an avenue for advocating appropriate economic status for its members, (3) a medium through which members may function together in matters of mutual professional concern, and (4) means to promote a program of public relations in order to build and maintain an enlightened public interest in the proper administration of probation, parole and other correctional services, we, the Probation Officers of the United States Courts, resolve to unite in common efforts as herein set forth:
I. The name of this organization shall be, "The Federal Probation Officers Association Incorporated."
II. Objectives. The purpose and objectives of the association shall be the following.
A. To study and improve methods of correctional service and philosophy through research, publication, conferences and advocation of pre-service and in-service education.
B. To promote a program of public relations in order to build and maintain an
enlightened public interest in the proper administration of probation and parole and other correctional services.
C. To collaborate and, when appropriate, affiliate with other associates and groups interested in the prevention and treatment of crime and delinquency.
D. To continually maintain and advocate high professional personnel standards.
E. To promote the improvement of the laws governing criminal justice and correctional process.
F. To support and assist in studies for the determination and evaluation of fiscal and personnel needs and to make appropriate recommendations.
BY-LAWS
ARTICLE I - MEMBERSHIP AND DUES: There shall be 4 classes of membership: Active, Associate, Contributing and Honorary.
Section 1. ACTIVE MEMBERSHIP. Active membership in the association will be limited to United States Probation Officers.
Section 2. ASSOCIATE MEMBERSHIP. Associate membership shall be open to all retired or former Federal Probation Officers who have been members of the Federal Probation Officers Association for 10 years preceding separation from active service, without further payment of dues. Those officers resigning or retiring with less than 10 years accumulative service, Federal Probation Officer Assistants and officially appointed Voluntary U. S. Probation Officers, shall be eligible as associate members upon the payment of $5.00 annual dues, except that the Executive Board shall have the authority, for good and sufficient cause, to make exceptions to this provision. Associate members shall be entitled to all the privileges of membership, except voting and holding office in the association.
Section 3. CONTRIBUTING MEMBERSHIP. Contributing membership shall be open to individuals or organizations who have an interest in the correctional' field and shall be granted by the President with the approval of the Executive Board upon payment of $25.00 or more annual dues.
Section 4. HONORARY MEMBERSHIP. Honorary membership shall be awarded by the President with the approval of the Executive Board.
Section 5. EXECUTIVE BOARD. The Executive Board is authorized, upon approval of two-thirds of the membership, to adopt, modify and revoke such rules and regulations as it may deem necessary and appropriate with reference to the admission, classification, and dues of members.
Section 6. DUES. Annual dues for active membership shall be determined by the Executive Board not to exceed two-tenths of one percent (.2) per member of the annual entrance level salary of U. S. Probation Officers. Non-payment of dues by active members shall result in loss of membership. Officers entering into the service after June 30, will be required to pay one-half of the established annual dues for the year of entry.
Section 7. VOTING. Each active member in good standing shall be entitled to one vote. The Secretary shall provide on each ballot a space for a write-in candidate for each office. Candidates whose names are written in must have certified, in writing, their willingness to accept the nomination. Completed ballots shall be sealed in a special "ballot" envelope to be provided by the Secretary and no identification shall be placed on the “ballot envelope.” The "ballot" envelope shall be sealed inside a self-addressed envelope and the membership card number shall be placed in the usual "Return Address" area of the outer envelope and be mailed to an election committee appointed by the President. As the self-addressed envelopes are received, the member's name shall be checked off the voting list by the Election Committee, thus indicating that the member has voted. Afterward, the outer envelope shall be opened, and the sealed "ballot" envelope removed and placed, still sealed, in a ballot box for counting by designated tellers.
ARTICLE II - OFFICERS AND DUTIES:
Section 1. OFFICERS. Officers of the association shall be the President, the Executive Vice-President, the Secretary and the Treasurer; each to serve a term of two (2) calendar years, upon election by mail ballot by the active membership at large, first term of office to begin January 1,1975. The Executive Vice-President shall serve in the absence of the President. Further succession will be the Secretary and the Treasurer, respectively.
Section 2. REPRESENTATION. There shall be six (6) regions, each of which shall elect a Vice-President residing within the region to represent that area for a term of three (3) years. Those persons constitutionally elected by regional organization of the Federal Probation Officers Association will serve as regional representatives until duly replaced in accordance with these by-laws. Upon election representatives will assume their term of office according to the following schedule: Great Lakes, January 1,1975; Western, January 1,1975; Mid-Atlantic, January 1, 1976; Central States, January 1, 1976; Northeast, January 1,1977; Southeast, January 1, 1977. The regions shall be comprised of the following geographical areas:
GREAT LAKES – Jan. ‘75
Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin
CENTRAL STATES Jan. ‘76
Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico, No. Dakota, Oklahoma, So. Dakota, Texas
WESTERN STATES - Jan. '75
Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Hawaii, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Washington, Wyoming, Guam
MID-ATLANTIC - Jan. '76
District of Columbia, Kentucky, Maryland, No. Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia
NORTHEAST - Jan. ‘77
Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, Vermont
SOUTHEAST - Jan. ‘77
Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, So. Carolina, Tennessee, Canal Zone
These regions may be modified by a majority vote of the Executive Board, providing the Regional Vice-President of the regions involved approve.
There shall be a seventh representative who shall be elected by the Chief Probation Officers Council to serve a term of 2 years to commence January 1, 1975. Except for serving on the nominating committee, he will perform the same functions as other members of the Executive Board.
Section 3. CHIEF PROBATION OFFICERS COUNCIL. The Chief Probation Officers Council shall consist of all Chief Probation Officers who are members of the Federal Probation Officers Association.
Section 4. DUTIES
A. The President, Executive Vice-President, Secretary, Treasurer, representative from Chief Probation Officers Council and the Regional Vice-Presidents shall constitute the Executive Board of the association and shall be authorized to act on behalf of the association.
B. The Secretary, shall keep minutes of all Board meetings, carry on all necessary correspondence, as well as all nonfiscal records of the association, and keep the membership advised of the actions of the Executive Board.
C. The Treasurer shall be the chief financial officers of the association, shall be responsible for the custody and disbursement of the association's funds and other assets; shall be custodian of the financial records of the association, and shall have charge of the investment of the association's funds, subject to direction and approval of the Executive Board. The Treasurer shall give such bond for the faithful discharge of his duties as the Executive Board may require, at the expense of the association, and shall perform such duties as may from time to time be assigned to him by the Executive Board. He shall also be responsible for maintaining the membership mailing list.
D. The Regional Vice-Presidents shall serve as a nominating Committee for the nomination of candidates for the offices of President, Executive Vice-President, Secretary and Treasurer.
E. The President shall appoint a Communications Editor who shall be approved by the Executive Board to serve until such time as he resigns or a new Communications Editor is appointed. He shall participate in Executive Board meetings with all privileges, except voting. It is his responsibility, in conjunction with the Secretary, to keep the membership advised as to the actions of the Board, pertinent information in the field of probation and corrections in general, pending legislation in corrections and other responsibilities regarding corrections together with any other communications assigned by the President.
ARTICLE III - COMMITTEES: There shall be such standing and special committees as may be appointed by the President and approved by the Executive Board of the association.
ARTICLE IV - MEETINGS OF THE EXECUTIVE BOARD:
Section 1. TIME, PLACE, QUORUM. Regular and special meetings of the Executive Board shall be called by the President at such time and place as he shall designate. The quorum shall consist of a simple majority of the Executive Board. An annual business meeting shall be held not later than May 30th of each year as directed by the Executive Board.
Section 2. AGENDA. An agenda of the proposed business of the regular meetings shall be submitted to the membership by mail 30 days prior to said meeting. Any member may submit a topic for consideration through his representative.
ARTICLE V - ORDER OF BUSINESS: At all regular meetings, the order of business shall be as follows:
1. Reading of Minutes
2. Treasurer's Report
3. Communications
4. Report of Committees
5. Appointment of Committees
6. Unfinished Business
7. New Business
8. Adjournment
ARTICLE VI - AMENDMENTS: These By-Laws may be amended by a two-thirds majority of the voting members of the association.
A STATEMENT ON PROPOSED CHANGES IN THE NEW FPOA
CONSTITUTION AND BY-LAWS
It is rare that organizations are able to reconsider a Constitution and to submit a complete revision to the organization's constituency. The FPOA Executive Board has, for the past three years, considered and worked on several key changes in the Association's structure; these changes have now been approved by the Board and are submitted to the membership for study and vote.
Enclosed you will find a ballot and a copy of the proposed Constitution. First, however, the Board has approved the following explanation of the major changes which you will be asked to consider.
The Board, in developing the proposed new Constitution, sought the advice of two former USPO's: Louis Grout, former Chief U. S. Probation Officer, and Acting Chief of the Division of Probation (during World War II): and Richard Chappell, former Chief U. S. Probation Officer, Chief of Division of Probation, and Chairman of the Board of Parole. Both men are currently co-legal counsel for the Association.
The Chairman and a Committee consisting of several current and former USPO's from throughout the System participated in developing the proposed Constitutional Revision.
THE PROPOSED NEW CONSTITUTION provides for the Association to become a nonprofit corporation, thus affording us these advantages:
Accept gifts and donations.
Enter into contracts to do research, training and other activities in furtherance of the purpose of the corporation on.
Own real estate as well as personal property.
Minimize or eliminate liability on the part of members for debts of the organization, or negligence, etc., of the agents of the organization.
Facilitate business transactions by conferring a well recognized legal status of a permanent nature on the organization.
For its purposes, the Association can incorporate in any state. The State of Georgia was selected because it is the location of our legal counselors. State law requires one resident of the State of Georgia to be among the incorporators for a period of six months; therefore, the Board has asked Chief U. S. Probation Officer Patrick J. Murphy, and he has agreed, to fulfill the legal requirement. The other two incorporators are the current President and Executive Vice-President, Walter Evans and Logan Webster, who will also serve for the six months required by law.
The six regions that have traditionally existed are retained with only minor modification, (District of New Mexico and all of Texas are proposed to be in the Central States region). Modification of regional lines by the Executive Board would be permitted with the consent of the regions affected.
FOUR CATEGORIES OF MEMBERSHIP are contemplated by the new Constitution. These
are: Active, Associate (which would include Probation Officer Assistant); Contributing- a class open to individuals or organizations having an interest in the correctional field, and Honorary - a type of membership which can be awarded by the President with the approval of the Executive Board.
DUES will be scaled, if the Constitution is approved, to a formula not to exceed two-tenths (.2) of one percent of the entry-level salary (GS-9/1). This would allow for inflation without requiring future Constitutional changes; such a structure if applied at present, for example, would allow a maximum annual dues of $24. Any increase in dues from the present $15, however, would still require Board approval; the formula merely sets a possible maximum without requiring future alteration of the Constitution, and provides an easy index for members to understand current dues maximum at any given time.
A CHIEF PROBATION OFFICERS' COUNCIL is provided for in the new proposed Constitution which will enable Chief Probation Officers who are members of the Association to elect a representative to serve on the Executive Board of the Association. It is the intent of the drafters of the new proposed Constitution that in the pursuit of the Association's goals, Federal Probation Officers at all levels of responsibility will continue to work together within the Association.
The Chief's representative would have one vote at Board meetings, along with the National Officers and the six Regional Vice-Presidents.
THE OFFICE OF SECRETARY-TREASURER is abolished, and the new Constitution establishes separate offices of Secretary and Treasurer with detailed descriptions of the duties for each office. This division of offices and duties has long been an obvious need; the growth of our Service, and the accompanying growth of our Association, has imposed extremely heavy duties on the existing office of Secretary-Treasurer. Each office holder is, of course, an active Probation Officer and all efforts expended for the Association are in addition to regular duties. The Secretary, if the change is approved, would continue to record the Board meetings and provide the minutes, as well as handle all Association correspondence; the Treasurer would continue to process all dues received, issue membership cards, maintain fiscal accounts, and prepare the annual budget. It is no longer feasible, and in fact has not been feasible for some time, to expect one person to keep up with these time-consuming responsibilities.
THE EXECUTIVE BOARD OF THE ASSOCIATION, after 3 years of study, considers these Constitutional changes to be important and necessary, and recommends the proposed new Constitution to the membership for adoption. These changes, it is believed, will make it possible for the Association to continue to be effective in its relationships with the Judicial Conference, the Administrative Office, the Congress, the public and with other agencies with which we wish to have a voice. With an enlarged organization it presents increasing challenges for further professional development, innovations and assertions in the interest of our membership.
