RULES FOR THE SELECTION OF DELEGATES AND ALTERNATES FROM STATE HOLDING COURTS
Fraternal benefit societies are legally required to have a representative form of government. This means that all members must have the right to participate in the governance of Catholic Order of Foresters (“COF”). Since the COF governance process involves election of delegates to each Jurisdiction Convention by Local Courts belonging to said Jurisdiction and some members only belong to State Holding Courts, the COF Constitution & Bylaws (“C&B”) provides at Section 66 that delegates and alternates from State Holding Courts shall be selected in accordance with rules and regulations adopted by the High Court. To that end, the following rules shall apply for the selection of delegates and alternates from State Holding Courts to the applicable Jurisdiction Convention.
COF adult members (“Members”) belonging to a State Holding Court located within one of the following Jurisdictions are eligible to be selected as a delegate or alternate to their respective Jurisdiction Convention: North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky or the New England Jurisdiction (consisting of Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, and Maryland).
NUMBER OF DELEGATES TO ATTEND THE JURISDICTION CONVENTION
Each State Holding Court shall be entitled to the number of delegates and alternates as provided in Section 65 of the C&B based on the number of Members in good standing in the State Holding Court as of September 30, 2023. (1 delegate for a State Holding Court having no fewer than 20 Members and no more than 150; 2 delegates for a State Holding Court having 151 Members and no more than 300; 3 delegates for a State Holding Court having 301 Members and no more than 550; 4 delegates for a State Holding Court having 551 Members and no more than 800; and 5 delegates for a State Holding Court having 801 or more Members).
APPLYING TO BECOME A JURISDICTION CONVENTION DELEGATE OR ALTERNATE
To become a candidate for selection as a delegate or alternate to their respective Jurisdiction Convention, eligible Members shall complete this application and submit it to the Home Office.
The application will be posted on the COF website by September 1, 2023, and must be completed and submitted online. Successful submission will be confirmed via email sent to the address provided by the Member completing the application. If confirmation is not received, the Member should call the Home Office to verify receipt.
All applications must be submitted on or before November 1, 2023, (“Due Date”).
All applications submitted by qualified Members of State Holding Courts by the Due Date shall be included in a drawing for delegates and alternates for the applicable Jurisdiction to be held on or before December 31, 2023.
DELEGATE AND ALTERNATE SELECTION
The High Court shall supervise the drawing of names of the delegates and alternates for each Jurisdiction from the applicable pool of candidates.
Names will be blindly drawn one-by-one until all entitled delegate positions are filled. Subsequently, the same process will be used to fill alternate positions.
If there are not enough candidates to fill all positions, unfilled positions are forfeited.
DELEGATE AND ALTERNATE NOTIFICATION
The Home Office shall notify each delegate and alternate of their selection by January 31, 2024.
The Home Office shall notify Jurisdiction Officers of the names of qualified selected delegates and alternates from their respective State Holding Courts in the same notice that includes the names of qualified elected delegates and alternates from their respective Local Courts by January 31, 2024.