SECTION I

MEMBERSHIP

1. Eligibility for membership shall be set forth in the bylaws, and applicants for membership shall comply with and be subject to the requirements imposed by these bylaws. No one shall be denied membership based solely on race, creed, skin color, sex, or religion.

2. The Association shall have two classes of membership as follows:

    a. Regular Members. A regular member shall be any of the following persons:

• Any active or retired local, state, or county Peace Officer, in good standing, from the State of Alabama.
• Sworn Special Agents of the United States whose primary job assignment is enforcement of criminal statutes of the United States Code.
• Alabama Attorney General and criminal deputies.
• District Attorney of Alabama counties and their criminal deputies.
• City Attorneys of Alabama cities and their criminal deputies.
• Administrators, Investigators, and youth and adult Correctional Agency Officers.
• Director, Alabama Department of Corrections.
• Wardens of Alabama and federal penal institutions located within the State of Alabama.
• Members of the judiciary.
• United States Attorney General, United States Attorneys and criminal assistants.
• Active members of the Armed Forces of the United States assigned to law enforcement or investigative activities within the state of Alabama.
• Active members of the Alabama National Guard assigned to law enforcement or investigative activities for law enforcement.
• Investigative analysts of public agencies or the armed forces of the United States whose principal assignment is to assist narcotics investigators in controlled substance violation investigations.
• Federal or State Forensic Chemists.

Regular members have full voting powers on all issues and may hold any elected or appointed office.

    b. Associate Member. An associate member shall be any of the following persons:

• Any active local, state, or county Peace Officer from any other state.
• Members of the Alabama Legislature.
• Members of the United States Congress.
• Instructors and technical staff of accredited colleges or universities engaged in teaching or research in criminal law, police administration, or other phases of criminal justice.
• Persons employed by law enforcement agencies, i.s. clerks, secretaries, radio operators.
• Persons by the nature of their business, occupation or profession having contact with regular members of the Association in the performance of their duties.

Associate members may not vote on any issue and they may not hold any office, neither elected nor appointed. A regular member in good standing must sponsor an associate member. Associate members shall be subject to the provisions of these bylaws.

3. "Members in good standing" is hereby defined to be a member who has paid his dues on time and met the requirements of membership for this Association and who has not voluntarily withdrawn, become ineligible for continued membership, or been suspended or expelled as provided in the bylaws of this Association. Every member by virtue of his membership in this association is obligated to his rights, duties, privileges, and immunities conferred by them. Each member shall faithfully carry out such duties and obligations and shall not interfere with the rights of fellow members. Rank shall not exist in the Association.

4. All regular and associate members shall make an affirmative declaration of their eligibility to hold membership in the Association at the time of their application for membership and each year they renew their membership.

5. Membership in this Association shall not vest any member thereof with the right, title or interest to or in the funds, property, or other assets belonging to the Association now or hereafter to be acquired. No members shall have a property right to membership in this organization.

6. Any member shall lose his good standing in the organization by suspension or expulsion from membership due to misconduct, by becoming sixty (60) days in arrears in the payment of dues, or by written notification of resignation.

7. Any member losing his good standing status shall not be entitled to attend the meetings or to any of the benefits of the Association.

SECTION II

MEETINGS OF MEMBERS

1. Annual Meeting. An annual meeting of the members shall be held at a date and time designated by the Officers for the transaction of such business as may come before the meeting.

2. Special Meetings. Special meetings of the members may be called by the President, or at the written request of five percent (5%) of the members in good standing. Reasonable notice of such special meetings shall be given to the membership, which notice shall specify the business to be brought before such meeting, and only the business so specified shall be considered at the meeting. Items considered at such special meetings may be brought up for reconsideration at the next regular meeting.

3. Notice of Meetings. Notice of each annual meeting shall be mailed at least thirty days (30) and not more than ninety days (90)prior to the meeting. In the case of a special meeting, notice of time and place and general subject matter shall be mailed at least thirty days (30) prior to the meeting.

4. Members constituting two percent of the total membership of the Association eligible to vote at any meeting shall constitute a quorum and are qualified to transact any business lawfully brought before the Association. If a quorum is not present at any meeting, the majority of members present may adjourn the meeting without further notice.

5. Proxies shall not be allowed at meetings.

6. Minutes of each annual and special meeting shall be available within thirty days (30) of the date of the meeting in a place open for inspection by the members.

7. As an exception to the foregoing, the Association may conduct meetings by telephonic or electronic means.

SECTION III

OFFICERS AND THEIR DUTIES

1. The Officers of the Association shall consist of a President, Northern Vice President, Southern Vice President, Secretary, and Treasurer.

2. Term. The officers of the Association shall hold office for two years unless he/she shall sooner resign, or shall be removed, or shall otherwise be disqualified to serve. For the purposes of this section, two years shall be the calendar year, January 1 through December 31, twice.

3. The Officers of the Association shall have and exercise all administrative powers during the period between annual meetings.

4. Any officer may be removed from office with cause by the membership. Any officer may resign at any time by giving written notice to the President. Such resignation shall take effect on the date of receipt of such notice or at any later time specified therein, and unless otherwise specified therein, the acceptance of such resignation shall not be necessary to make it effective.

5. A vacancy in any office shall be filled as provided in these bylaws.

6. The duties of the officers are as follows:

     a. President. The President shall preside at all meetings of the Association and sign all checks and other written instruments for the Association, appoint the chairperson of committees, and coordinate with the other elected officers on all activities of the Association.

     b. Northern and Southern Vice President. The Vice Presidents shall assist the President in the accomplishment of Association business. The Vice Presidents shall act in the place of the President in the event of his/her absence, resignation, suspension, termination, inability or refusal to act, act as chairpersons for the Membership Committee in their region, and appoint the minority members to all committees.

     c. Secretary. The Secretary shall attend to such correspondence as may be necessary to coordinate Association business, shall maintain a roster of membership, send out notices as necessary for all Association meetings and functions, record votes and keep the minutes of all meetings and proceedings of meetings.

     d. Treasurer. The Treasurer shall have charge of the records of the Association, have custody of the funds (monies) and property of the Association, shall report to the membership at each meeting the condition of the funds and property, shall receive and deposit in appropriate bank accounts all moneys of the Association, shall disburse such funds as directed by the Association, shall sign all checks of the Association, and keep proper books of the Association.

SECTION IV

NOMINATION AND ELECTION OF OFFICER

1. Nomination of Officers. Starting January 1st and no later than March 15th nomination of officers must be done in writing and mailed to the Secretary. A nominated individual must be a member in good standing for at least one (1) year prior to nomination. The offices of the President and Secretary will be made in odd years and the offices of Vice Presidents and Treasurer will be made in even years. Nominated individuals may take the opportunity to address the members at the Annual Conference.

2. The nomination form shall contain the name and signature of not less than two members in good standing with the Association in support of the nominee. The nomination form shall also contain the signature of the nominee indicating the person's desire to be placed on the ballot.

3. Election of Officers. Ballots will be mailed to all members in good standing with the Association the first full month after the Annual Conference. Members will have thirty days (30) to return their ballot to the Election Committee.

4. Announcement of new officers will be made in writing to all members in good standing prior to the end of the calendar year.

5. Special Election. A Special Election will be held at the next meeting of the members after an office has been vacated. Nominations will be taken and a show of hands will be used to count votes. Newly elected officers shall be installed immediately.

SECTION V

REMOVAL OF OFFICERS

Any elected officer of the Association may be removed from office for cause by a two-thirds (2/3) vote of the members.

SECTION VI

VACANCIES

1. Until a Special Election can be held, vacancies in the office of Secretary and/or Treasurer shall be temporarily filled by the appointment of an individual by the President after both Vice Presidents have approved the President's choice.

2. Vacancies in the office of President, Northern Vice President and Southern Vice President shall be filled after a Special Election is held.

SECTION VII

ANNUAL DUES/FEES

1. Each Regular and Associate member shall pay dues.

2. Change to annual dues shall be determined by a majority vote of the Association members present at the annual meeting.

3. Any member who is more than sixty (60) days in arrears in the payment of dues shall be suspended from membership and shall be reinstated only after the payment of dues have been made current and a late fee of $10.00 has been made.

4. Any member suspended for nonpayment of dues shall lose all previous credit for his prior years of membership.

5. There shall be a registration fee for each member attending any conference held by the Association. The Conference Committee will determine the amount to be paid by members. Any existing member who does not pay their annual dues for that year on time will be required to pay the non-member fee for any conferences held that year.

SECTION VIII

MISCONDUCT

1. Each member shall conduct him/herself in such a manner so as to not bring discredit upon him/herself or this Association.

2. Any member suffering a conviction of, or who enters a plea of no lo contend ere to a crime originally charged as a felony shall forfeit his/her membership in the Association.

Misconduct shall include but is not limited to the following:

    a. Refusal or failure without justifiable cause to comply with or abide by the provisions of these bylaws or the valid decision of any officer or officers of this Association.

    b. Committing any act of fraud, embezzlement, larceny or misappropriation of any funds or property or other things of value belonging to the Association or refusing, failing, or neglecting to comply with the provisions of the bylaws.

    c. Committing any physical assault upon any officer or member of the Association while such person is engaged in the performance of his/her duties for the Association.

    d. Failure or refusal to abide by the rules of order or parliamentary procedure established for the conduct of meetings of the Association.

SECTION IX

NON-LIABILITY OF OFFICERS

Non-Liability. The Association and its officers shall not be liable to any of its members for any statements made or published, or for any action taken or not taken, whether in an individual capacity or as a member of a committee, whether the same shall be due to negligence of the Association or elected officers, and each and every member or those that may hereafter become members, shall be deemed to have expressly released the Association and its elective officers from any and all liability for such statements or actions, and further, from any and all liability for any reason whatever in connection with the Association and/or its members.

SECTION X

DISSOLUTION OF THE ASSOCIATION

If the Association shall be dissolved for any reason, the assets of the Association shall be used to fulfill existing financial obligations at the time of dissolution and to pay such expenses as are necessary to dissolve the Association.

SECTION XI

AMENDMENTS

1. The Bylaws Committee shall review the existing bylaws of the Association annually.

2. The Bylaws Committee may propose amendments to these bylaws. Proposed amendments to the bylaws must be submitted at least one month prior to the meeting at which they will be considered for a vote.

3. These bylaws may be amended by a two-thirds (2/3) vote of the membership present at any regular meeting.

SECTION XII

GENERAL MATTERS

The most recent edition of Roberts Rules of Order shall govern the conduct of matters and meetings except in cases where such rules conflict with the bylaws, in which event the bylaws shall take precedence.