ARTICLE I NAME The Cowley County Chapter of the Community Emergency Response Team, hereinafter referred to as Cowley County CERT, was established in 2003, and began in January 2004 under the direction of Cowley County Emergency Management and Cowley County Citizen Corps. CERT is an official training program developed through the Federal Emergency Management Agency. ARTICLE II OBJECTIVE The objective of Cowley County CERT is to provide trained volunteers to assist in emergencies and/or disasters by educating citizens to be better prepared to take care of themselves, family, friends, and neighbors in the event of a disaster of any type until trained emergency responders can arrive. Community Emergency Response Teams are considered to be emergency management resources and volunteer pools from which to draw help during an emergency, and to perform projects that improve the community s preparedness and safety. ARTICLE III MEMBERS I II Membership The membership of Cowley County CERT shall be volunteers of the community who have successfully completed the required training and final drills as determined by the Coordinator of Cowley County Emergency Management. Terms of Membership Cowley County members shall remain members, once trained; until they voluntarily resign or are asked to resign for conduct unbecoming or illegal activities, as voted on by a quorum of members at a regularly scheduled meeting, or as deemed appropriate by the Coordinator of Cowley County Emergency Management. Levels of Membership Cowley County CERT shall consist of three levels of membership, which is determined by intention, service, and participation in community events per calendar year beginning January 1 st and ending December 31 st. Level III: Level III membership will be attained by volunteering a total of 20 documented hours of community events and participation in one emergency drill and/or training session per year. Only 6 hours of the required documented hours may be accrued from online training. In addition, all Level III members will need to complete ICS 100, 200 and 700 courses within the first year of membership. Level II: Level II membership will be attained by volunteering a total of 10 documented hours of community events and participation in one emergency drill and/or training session per year. Only 3 hours of the required documented hours may be accrued from online training. In addition, all Level II members will need to complete ICS 100, 200 and 700 courses within the first year of membership.
Level I: Level I membership shall be the beginning level upon completion of the required Cowley County CERT training. If Level I members intend to maintain their active status, they must complete ICS 100, 200 and 700 within the first year of membership. V Membership Renewal Cowley County CERT Level II & III membership shall be for a period of one calendar year, during which time each member shall be required to satisfactorily complete the above outlined levels of involvement. If the current level is not maintained, membership level shall drop to the next appropriate level as outlined above. Cowley County CERT Level I membership shall be for a period of one year, renewable upon annual contact with the office of Cowley County Emergency Management. The annual contact shall consist of an email or telephone call to update contact information. If this requirement is not met, membership will be terminated. If the member should request reinstatement, Cowley County CERT officers will conduct an interview with the member to determine if the member should be reinstated. No one under the age of 18 will be able to participate in training exercises or real live events. * *Current members under the age of 18 will be allowed to participate in traffic control activities in the company of a Level II or Level III member over the age of 21. Once the two current CERT members under age 18 reach the legal age, this clause (exception) will be removed from the by-laws. ARTICLE IV OFFICERS I II Officers The elected officers of Cowley County CERT shall be the President, Vice- President, Secretary and Treasurer. Appointed officers will be the Training and Communications Officers. Each of the latter will, in turn, appoint an assistant. The line of succession shall follow that order in the event an officer is unable to carry out his/her duties. Qualifications All elected Cowley County CERT officers must be and maintain a Level III status. If they are unable to do so, a special election must take place within 30 days to elect a new officer. Elections and Term of Office The election of officers shall take place at the regularly held monthly meeting in September of each odd numbered year. The officers shall hold office for a term of two (2) years. There will be no term limits.
V Vacancies A vacancy in any office of the group may be filled for the un-expired term by an election at the next monthly meeting of the group. Termination of membership of Cowley County CERT shall result in the automatic vacating of any office the member may hold. Duties The President and Vice-President shall have such powers and duties as may be prescribed by custom or parliamentary rules for office. The President and Vice-president shall also perform additional duties as set by the group. The President shall set the agenda for each monthly meeting and distribute it to the membership at least five (5) days before the scheduled meeting. The Secretary shall record and distribute minutes of each meeting to the membership a minimum of five (5) days before the scheduled meeting. The Treasurer shall maintain a treasury log and report to the group at each regularly scheduled meeting. The Training Officer, in conjunction with the CERT President, plans the training agenda for the year. The officer will provide appropriate training or arrange for a certified instructor to provide the scheduled training. The Communications Officer shall be responsible for training members in communications equipment practice and protocol and other duties deemed essential by the CERT members. ARTICLE V SUBCOMMITTEES Subcommittee The President or the Coordinator of Cowley County Emergency Management may appoint subcommittees as needed to investigate, research, prepare or analyze information and data relative to the group. A designated member of Cowley County CERT shall chair subcommittees, although non-members may serve as subcommittee members or resource persons. ARTICLE VI MEETINGS I Meetings The regular meeting of Cowley County CERT shall be held monthly on the second Tuesday of each month. The meeting shall be held at a place accessible to all CERT members. Quorum CERT members present at the scheduled meeting shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business. A majority vote of the quorum shall be sufficient for the adoption of any motion.
II BYLAWS OF COMMUNITY EMERGENCY RESPONSE TEAM OF Rescheduling Meetings In the event a meeting must be cancelled, the President will reschedule the meeting. Members are to be notified no later than five (5) days in advance of the cancellation and the rescheduled date. In case of an emergency, notification will be given as soon as possible via telephone and email communication. V Open Meetings All meetings of Cowley County CERT shall be open to the public. To facilitate the order of the meetings there shall be an item on each agenda to provide interested citizens an opportunity to address comments or proposals. Special Meetings The President can establish a special meeting when necessary. Notification of the meeting will be sent out in the normal matter (via email) to the membership at least ten (10) days prior to the special meeting date. ARTICLE VII NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION History Cowley County CERT members voted to form a nonprofit organization in conjunction with Cowley County Emergency Auxiliary, County Animal Response Team and Medical Reserve Corps for the purpose of raising operating funds for the individual groups. The nonprofit is called Cowley County Emergency Response Volunteers, Inc. The by-laws were signed into effect in October 2013. CCERV, Inc. has associated with the Legacy Community Foundation to attain the nonprofit status. I Membership Each of the above named organizations making up CCERV, Inc. has two representatives on the board plus there is one at-large representative from the community. Each organization will elect one representative to a two (2) year term and one representative to a three (3) year term. They will also elect one person to serve as an alternate. The Secretary of the organization must provide, in writing, notification of the elected representatives and alternate to the CCERV, Inc. President following the December meeting of each year. If one of the CERT representatives is unable to fulfill his/her term to CCERV, Inc., an election will be held at the next Cowley County CERT monthly meeting following the resignation of the representative to fill the vacancy.
ARTICLE VIII BYLAWS and AMENDMENTS I Amendment of Bylaws A copy of all proposed amendments to these bylaws shall be distributed to each Cowley County CERT member no later than 10 days prior to the meeting date at which the action is to be taken on the amendment. Amendment Vote An affirmative vote of a quorum of members present at a regularly scheduled meeting shall be required to adopt new bylaws or to amend bylaws. Approval: Approved January 2005 Revision approved January 2006 Revised November 2013 Revision approved December 2013