Article I: NAME 
           The name of this special interest section of the American Association of Law Libraries (AALL) shall be the Government Documents Special Interest Section (GD/SIS).

Article II: OBJECT 
           The object of the Government Documents Special Interest Section shall be to disseminate information on government documents to the AALL membership; to further continuing education of law librarians in the area of government documents; to coordinate the activities of law libraries in representing their interests to public and private groups with regard to the publication, dissemination, citation, and use of government documents; and to work in cooperation with documents groups in other associations and organizations. 

Article III: MEMBERSHIP
           Any active individual member or a designated institutional member of the AALL, as defined by its Bylaws, may affiliate with GD/SIS upon payment to the AALL of a annual fee for this SIS. All members of the GD/SIS shall have full voting rights. 

Article IV: MEETINGS 

Section 1.      Officers The Officers shall consist of a Chairperson, a Vice-Chairperson/Chairperson-elect, and a Secretary/Treasurer. The Vice-Chairperson/Chairperson-elect shall be elected annually by the GD/SIS. The Vice-Chairperson/Chairperson-elect shall automatically become Chairperson after one year and shall so serve during the second year following his or her election. 

Section 2.      Duties of Officers The Chairperson, a Vice-Chairperson/Chairperson-elect, and a Secretary/Treasurer shall perform the duties usually pertaining to their respective offices and such other duties as may be assigned by the Executive Committee. 

Section 3.      Executive Committee There shall be an Executive Committee of four, consisting of the officers name in Article V, Section 1 and the immediate past Chairperson. The duties of the Executive Committee shall be those usually assigned to such committees in similar associations. 

Section 4.       Committees There shall be such standing or special committees as the Executive Committee shall create or shall be created by a majority vote of those present and voting at the annual meeting of the GD/SIS. 

Section 5.      Appointments The Chairperson shall appoint all members of committees unless the GD/SIS shall direct otherwise. 

Section 6.      Terms of Office All offices and members of committees shall serve until their successors are elected or appointed and qualified. 

Section 7.      Early Vacancy. 
 

a. In the case of the death or resignation of the Chairperson of the GD/SIS, the Vice-Chairperson/Chairperson-elect shall become Chairperson and shall serve until the end of his or her own elected term. 

b. If the Vice-Chairperson/Chairperson-elect cannot assume the duties of Chairperson, the GD/SIS will elect a Chairperson, as specified in Article VI, Section 1 b) and Section 2. 

c. Should the office of Vice-Chairperson/Chairperson-elect become open for any reason, such as the death, resignation, or promotion of the Vice-Chairperson/Chairperson-elect, the office shall remain vacant until filled by the next regular election.

d. The Executive Committee shall have the power to fill any vacancy in the office of Secretary/Treasurer, the person so elected by the Executive Committee to serve the unexpired term.
 

Article VI: NOMINATIONS AND ELECTIONS

Section 1.     Nominations.

 
a. There shall be a Nominating Committee appointed by the Executive Committee, to consist of three members, no one of whom shall be a member of the Executive Committee, and no one of whom shall be a candidate for office at the succeeding election. The Chairperson of the committee shall be designated by the Executive Committee. Two candidates for each office to be elected shall be presented. 

b. In the event that the Vice-Chairperson/Chairperson-elect cannot assume the duties of the Chairperson and such fact is known prior to March 1, the committee shall nominate a candidate for the office of Chairperson for the term of one year. 

c. Names of the candidates, together with their written acceptances, shall be presented by the Nominating Committee to the Chairperson in sufficient time to enable the Chairperson to inform the members of the GD/SIS of the nominations prior to [MARCH 1] (April 1) either by publication in AALL Newsletter or JURISDOCS, or by mail. All candidates must be members of the GD/SIS. 

d. Further nominations, except for the office of Chairperson, may be made upon written petition of ten members in good standing of the GD/SIS. Such petitions, accompanied by written acceptance of the nominees, must be filed with the Chairperson of the GD/SIS, no later than [APRIL 1] (May 1). 

e. The Chairperson of the Nominating Committee shall prepare an official ballot, including nominations by petition. The professional position of each nominee shall appear on the ballot. The ballot also may include some biographical information about each nominee furnished by the nominee. 

Section 2.     Elections. 
 

a. The Nominating Committee shall have charge of the conduct of the annual election and the counting and tabulation of all votes cast. 

b. Prior to [April 15h] (May 15th), the Chairperson of the Nominating committee shall mail a copy of the official ballot to each member in good standing of the GD/SIS. Ballots shall be marked, sealed in plain envelopes marked "BALLOT", and returned to the Chairperson of the Nominating Committee before [May 15th] (June 10). 

c. The candidates receiving the largest number of votes shall be declared elected and shall be so reported by the Chairperson of the Nominating committee at the annual business meeting of the GD/SIS. All candidates shall be notified of the results of the election by the Chairperson of the Nominating Committee at the earliest possible time. 

d. In case of a tie vote, a run-off election shall be held at the business meeting of the GD/SIS at the AALL annual meeting. Run-off elections shall be by secret ballot of the members of the GD/SIS attending the meeting. The ballots shall be counted immediately and the candidate with the largest number of votes declared elected. 

e. The ballots shall be destroyed by the Chairperson of the Nominating Committee after the annual business meeting of the GD/SIS. 
 

Article VII: AMENDMENTS TO THE BYLAWS 

Section 1.          Bylaws of the Section may be adopted, amended, or suspended at the annual meeting of the Section by a majority vote of those present and voting. Or, bylaws may be adopted, amended, or suspended through a mail ballot. Whenever the bylaws are to be changed by mail vote, the Secretary shall mail ballots to every member in good standing of the GD/SIS. Such ballots shall state the text of the proposed change, the purpose of the change, and the date by which ballots must be returned to the Secretary. Proposed changes in the bylaws by mail must receive a majority vote of the ballots returned to the Secretary in order to pass. Tie votes shall be considered failure to pass. 

Section 2.          Any amendment shall take effect after it has been submitted to the AALL Committee on Constitution and Bylaws for review, and thereafter approved by the AALL Executive Board. Text to be added is enclosed within brackets, text to be deleted is enclosed within parenthesis.

THESE BYLAWS WILL BE IN EFFECT, PENDING APPROVAL BY THE AALL CONSTITUTION AND BYLAWS COMMITTEE. 

The executive board of AALL requested that every SIS change their bylaws to comply with the overall policy of electing officers prior to the AALL annual meeting. The proposed amendment follows:

Text to be added is enclosed within brackets, text to be deleted is enclosed within parenthesis.
 

Article VI: NOMINATIONS AND ELECTIONS

Section 2:          Elections

b. Prior to [April 5] (April 15), the Chairperson on the Nominating Committee shall mail a copy of the official ballot to each member in good standing of the GD/SIS. ballots shall be marked, sealed in plain envelopes marked "BALLOT" and returned to the Chairperson of the Nominating committee [No later than two months prior to the annual AALL meeting]. (before May 15th)

Government Documents Special Interest Section
American Association of Law Libraries
URL: http://www.aallnet.org/sis/gd/bylaws.html

Comments, suggestions and/or corrections to the Government Documents SIS Publications Review Committee