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Law, Procedure and Etiquette for the Monastic Order of Knights


General Law

  1. Site is open to all people as guests.
         A) Create a guest account to participate in general forum discussions.
         B) Guests can only view the general forum.
  2. The entire site can be viewed by all members…
         A) Except for Member records and Youth areas.
         B) But members can only comment in areas they have access to comment on based on their rank.
  3. We respect your privacy.  Please respect other people’s privacy.
  4. If you are under 18 years of age, please contact the Youth Officer
  5. Forums are moderated by Security Officers for content and are subject to editing and/or deletion. Things that are monitored for…
         A) Spam
         B) Stealth advertising
         C) Rude or aggressive behavior or language (subject to Security Officer interpretation)
         D) pornography
         E) Personal Information
             (Act as if this site is ran by children, for children)
  6. If you have concerns about something you’ve seen, please contact a Security Officer
  7. For a guest to become a member, they must be sponsored by a knight. 
         A) That knight is responsible for the members they sponsor.


Member’s Laws

  1. All Members are subject to and protected by the Law, procedure and etiquette for the Monastic Order of Knights
  2. All required forms are available to members with the rank knight or above.
  3. All members are expected to conduct themselves in a respectful manor that will represent the Monastic Order of Knights well.

 


General Membership Procedure

  1. When a knight sponsors a guest, that guest must fill out a membership form to be considered for membership.
         A) The sponsoring knight will give a copy of the form to the sponsor.
         B) That sponsor will then return the completed form to the sponsoring knight.
  2. The chief membership officer awards membership to guests that are sponsored after the membership application is submitted, processed and approved according to standard requirements.
  3. For a membership application to be considered for approval it must be filled out completely and be able to be verified and verified by the sponsoring knight. 
         A) Once the information on it is verified, then the sponsoring knight will confirm this to the membership affairs officer who has the option to double check all information for accuracy. 
  4. To advance in rank, requirements must be met for each rank.  (These requirements are listed in the rank descriptions.)
  5. Ceremonies for advancement in rank will be held four times a year, during gatherings, and must be performed live.
         A) At the Spring and Fall Equinox and the Summer and Winter Solstice
         B) Ceremony to be conducted by a member of the Small Council or Officer with Small Council approval.
         C) Correct Uniform to be worn when attending official ceremonies for the Monastic Order of Knights.
         D) Person conducting the ceremony, the honoree and either the training master or sponsoring knight, or both, must be in attendance.
  6. Merit badges may be awarded once they are confirmed to be merited. Or they can be awarded at official ceremonies if the awardee choses.
  7. Oaths of Office must be submitted in writing upon the time of accepting Office.  They should also be done in person upon attending a meeting or official ceremony during one of the gatherings.
  8. Gatherings are held throughout the year in addition to the four quarterly gatherings when ceremonies are conducted. The locations are not permeant and will be predetermined to public announcement.
  9. All members attending meetings or gatherings sponsored by the Monastic Order of Knights must pre-register and sign a waiver before attending.


Authority, Responsibility and Order

The Knight Commander

  1. The Knight Commander is the president and top position, rank and officer of the Monastic Order of Knights.
  2. The Knight Commander holds this position, title and authority for life.
  3. The Knight Commander can appoint a successor before his retirement (Steward).
         A) The Knight Commander when retired becomes one of the First Knights where their efforts and contributions will be recorder by the Librarian after the Small Council approves the information to be recorded.
         B) If the Knight Commander is not able to appoint a successor (due to unexpected death) then a new knight Commander will be selected from the available members by the Small Council and then voted on by all members with the rank of Knight or higher. To confirm the appointment requires a majority vote of eighty percent in favor of all voting participants. Only members actively holding the rank of Knight or higher in the Monastic Order of Knights are eligible participants for the voting procedure.
  4. The Knight Commander has final veto, say and authority over any matter, law, order, decree, legislation, decision brought to vote or created within the bounds of the Monastic Order of Knights by members, small council or any group or individual within the Monastic Order of Knights.
  5. The Knight Commander can be forced into early retirement if there is a public vote where,
         A) All the Small Council votes in favor of the motion
         B) And all the Officers vote in favor of the motion
         C) And eighty percent of the active members that hold the rank of Knight or higher of the monastic Order of Knights vote in favor of the motion.


Small Council and Officers

  1. Officers on the Small Council hold the authority to exercise the function of their office within the limits of their office so long as any action or inaction is not in conflict with the Law, Procedure and Etiquette for the Monastic Order of Knights.
  2. Officers hold the authority to exercise the function of their office within the limits of their office so long as any action or inaction is not in conflict with the Law, Procedure and Etiquette for the Monastic Order of Knights.
         a) They are directly responsible to the Chief of their office.
         b) If the Chief of that Office is not immediately available then they are to report to a member of the Small Council for any matter that needs attention.
         c) The member of the Small Council that was reported to may act on behalf of the absent Chief with the understanding that,
            .1) the decision can be over ruled.
            .2) they must report any decision made to the chief they are acting on behalf of immediately on their return
            .3) they are willing to be held accountable for the decision they made on the chief of that officers behalf. 
  3. All Officers (except the Knight Commander) can be removed from office by a majority vote of seventy five percent of the active members that hold the rank of Knight or higher.
         A) The Knight Commander may and can remove an officer at any time with no reason.
  4. No Officer, Chief Officer or Small Council member (except the Knight Commander) has the authority to issue decrees, policy or any legislative act without the prior approval of the Small Council and/or Knight Commander.
  5. Members of the Small Council are selected by the membership of the Monastic Order of Knights that hold the rank of Knight or higher from among the current officers.
  6. Once the member is approved, by vote, from the body of the membership by the members holding the rank of Knight or higher, then the member selected to Small Council will be approved by the members on the Small Council based on
         A) Was the section made in accordance with the law
         B) Is the selected member eligible to hold office
         C) Are their conflicts that will result in an inability to contribute to the Small Council
  7. Officers are appointed by the Chief of that Office.
         A) The member selected by the chief can be motioned by review of the small council if one of the following conditions is believed to have been met
            .1) favoritism
            .2) not eligible to hold office
         B) If the selected member is not eligible to hold office then another selection must be made
         C) If favoritism is suspected then the chief must submit a list of applicants that were chosen from and explain why that member was decide on over all the rest.
         D) If there was no selection from applicants, or no other applicant was made available, then the submission for the office must be approved by a majority vote of seventy five percent of all members that hold the rank of knight or higher.
         E) If the vote does not pass, then a person from the membership will be selected and voted on by the members that hold the rank of knight or higher to fill the position.
  8. The Chief Officer of a position may dismiss any Officer if they can prove to either the Knight Commander, the Small Council or the members that hold the rank of Knight of higher that the officer is not carrying out their duties satisfactorily. The motion can then be voted on and passed by a simple majority of sixty percent or more.
  9. Members of the Small Council are to serve in one year increments.  Term of Service begins at the Winter Solstice meeting and lasts till the Winter Solstice meeting of the next year where that member will either hand over the Office in an official ceremony or resume the Office after renewing the Oath of Office. 
         A) For a week, two weeks prior to the Winter Solstice meeting, the nominations for the Small Council Positions will be made. The nomination period will be open Monday through Friday of that week.
         B) The week after the nominations are submitted, the vote will be held to decide who will hold the offices.  The vote will be open Monday through Friday of that week.
         C) The tallies will be confirmed by the Knight Commander and three active Officers not serving on the Small Council.
  10. Stewart has no authority except in the absence of the Knight Commander and only if that authority is granted prior to the Knight Commander’s absence.
         A) Except if the Knight Commander dies, retires or is forced into early retirement.  Then the Stewart becomes the Knight Commander.
         B) The authority that can be given to the Stewart in the Knight Commander’s absence, by the Knight Commander, is his proxy vote on Council; the ability to confirm votes and decisions of the Small Council and over rule them; and the banning of members.
         C) All powers granted to the Stewart in the Knight Commander’s absence become automatically void upon the return of the Knight Commander.
         D) And all actions, inactions and decisions are subject to possible reversal.
         E) The Stewart can be lose his position/office by a majority vote of Small Council, The Knights, members or decision of the Knight Commander.

Original doc, CEW