Constitution & By-Laws

Article I

Name

Section I. This association shall be named The Connecticut Surety Association.

Article II

Purpose

Section I. The primary purpose of the Association shall be the constant improvement of the services rendered to the general public by its Members.

Section II. The secondary purpose of the Association shall be to promote harmony among its Members as well as an understanding of local and national surety issues, maintain ethics, and sound business principles in the conduct of surety business and provide an open forum for advancement of each of the foregoing.

Section III. The Association shall provide a central facility for correspondence with other organizations and public bodies, disseminate useful and interesting information to interested parties and perform such other function, as may be incidental to the purpose of the Association.

Article III

Membership

Section I. Members are defined as any professional vested with authority as a representative of a company transacting any class of fidelity, surety, and forgery business, duly licensed independent insurance agents and other professionals associated with the surety industry and each shall, in his individual capacity be eligible for membership in the Association: provided that two or more members representing the same company shall be entitled collectively to only one vote, and the company so represented shall designate in writing the members entitled to cast such vote. The company may change its voting member at any time.

Section II. Application for membership shall be submitted in writing to the Association or to a member thereof. The collective members of the Association shall deny or approve membership as determined by majority vote.

Section III. Any vote of membership shall be conducted during the earliest, most convenient regular meeting of the Association provided that no vote shall be taken later than the first regular meeting following application of membership and provided that no vote shall be taken before application of membership.

Section IV. Any member of the Association may at any time withdraw from the Association by filing his resignation in writing with the President thereof, at least ten days before such resignation is to become effective.

Section V. The Association shall be the judge of the qualification of its members but no membership shall be terminated except for reasonable cause and except by a vote of two-thirds of all the members of the Association qualified to vote.

Section VI. Upon termination of membership of any member of the Association for any reason or cause whatsoever, such member shall have no rights whatsoever to any asset or benefit of the Association.

Article IV

Officers

Section I. The officers of the Association will be a president, vice-president, treasurer and secretary. Officers will be elected by a majority vote cast by ballot at the annual November meeting of the Association as set forth in more detail within Article VII herein. Each officer shall serve for one year from the date of taking office or until his successor is elected.

Section II. The term of the office shall be defined as one year starting January 1st following the elections.

Section III. In the event of the resignation, removal, or death of any officer other than the president, the remaining officers shall be promoted pursuant to the hierarchy set forth in Section III of Article VII herein with any vacant offices being filled by an election at the next regular meeting, or at a special meeting, called by the president, provided ten days notice of said meeting is given to all Voting Members; and the candidate receiving the greater number of votes cast at the said meeting shall be elected to the vacant office(s).

Article V

Duty of Officers

Section I. The president shall preside at all meetings of the Association and of the Board of Directors. He may call a special meeting of the Association whenever special meetings seem to him necessary or advisable and he shall call such meetings at any time upon the written request of three (3) members.

Section II. The vice-president shall perform the duties of the president when the latter is absent or incapacitated; and in the event of resignation, removal or death of the president he shall automatically become the president for the remainder of the term. The vice-president shall also be in charge of determining the speaker for each meeting.

Section III. The secretary shall be responsible for keeping the minutes of the meetings of the Association, shall be the custodian of its records, and shall conduct the correspondence of the Association, except in cases where the President may desire, or may be requested by the Association, to conduct it.

Section IV. The treasurer shall collect, hold, disburse and account for the funds of the Association in such a manner as the Association may prescribe. The treasurer, and in his absence the president, shall have the authority to sign checks drawn against the account of the Association. Either one shall be authorized to sign checks up to $500.00. Signatures of both officers will be required for exceeding that amount.

Section V. A fidelity bond in the amount of $1,000.00 shall be secured for each officer. The fidelity bonds will be paid by the Association.

Section VI. The officers of the Association shall also perform such other duties as commonly pertain to their respective offices.

Article VI

Board of Directors

Section I. The Board of Directors is constituted as follows: there shall be six (6) directors. Each officer is a board member. A majority vote cast shall elect two additional Directors by ballot at the November luncheon meeting of the Association. Each Director shall serve for one year or until a successor is elected.

Section II. The Association president shall preside over and direct the Board of Directors. The duties of the Board of Directors include directing the activities of the Association to fulfill its purpose as outlined in Article II, chairing all standing committees as follows: president – legislative committee; director serving his/her second year – education committee; director serving his/her first year – activities committee. All decisions by the Board of Directors will be done by a majority vote of all six (6) directors. If a quorum of (6) is unavailable for voting, a missing director may designate a substitute (member) to vote in his/her place.

Section III. The president, with the approval of the Board of Directors may appoint other committees by vote, as needed. The tenure of office of these committees shall be co-terminus with the term of the president.

Article VII

Election of Officers

Section I. At least two (2) nominations for each vacant office shall be provided on the final ballot by open election at the October luncheon meeting by the Association members.

Section II. Officers shall be elected by ballot of the majority vote of the membership to be held at the November meeting by the Association members.

Section III. Any vacancy occurring other than president which will be filled by the vice-president; and vice-president which will be filled by the treasurer; and treasurer which shall be filled by the secretary; shall be filled by ballot election at the next meeting of the Association after such vacancy arises. Nominations for the position shall be accepted from the floor at the time of the meeting.

Section IV. An officer shall be disqualified for service thereon for or in consequence of any violation of the Constitution or By-Laws of the Association.

Article VIII

Meetings

Section I. Regular meetings of the Association will be held on the third Tuesday of each month. Regular meetings will be held from September thru May.

Section II. The annual meeting for the election of officers of the Association shall be in the month of November. Election results shall be reported at the December luncheon meeting.

Section III. Special meetings shall be held as herein before provided.

Section IV. Unless otherwise provided by the Constitution or By-Laws, any matter presented for a vote at any meeting of the Association, or any committee, shall be adopted only on two-thirds vote of those present at such meeting.

Section V. Minutes of each meeting shall be held by the Secretary made available upon request by an Association member.

Article IX

By-Laws

Section I. The Association may adopt, amend, or rescind such By-Laws as it may deem advisable; provided however, that no By-Laws shall shall conflict with this constitution, or with the laws of the State having jurisdiction over any of the activities of the Association, or of the United States.

Section II. These By-Laws may be adopted, altered, amended or repealed in whole or in part by a two-thirds (2/3) vote of the members present at any duly authorized meeting of the Association, provided the members present constitute a quorum.

Section III. Notice of a proposed action as described in this section, together with a copy of the proposed action must be filed with the secretary at a preceding regular meeting 15 days prior to a regular meeting. Copies of said proposed change shall be distributed to each member of the association via electronic or standard mail 5 days prior to the meeting where the proposed change will be considered.

Article X

Complaints

Section I. Any member may make a complaint against any other member for an alleged violation of the Constitution of By-Laws of the Association. Such complaints shall be treated in accordance with the rules to be adopted by the Association.

Article XI

Expenses

Section I. The Association, except with the majority consent of the members, shall incur no expense that cannot be met by the annual dues. Additional funds may be collected by assessment of the members with the approval of a majority of the members present at any Association meeting.

Section II. The annual dues shall be one hundred seventy-five dollars 00/100 ($175.00) for each member company. All fees will be fully earned by the Association. A pro-rated fee will be charged for mid-term membership applications that are approved.

Section III. Due billings will be sent out prior to the October meeting by regular postal service or electronic mail. Any member who has not paid their annual membership fee two months after billing will be dropped from the membership roster.