King County Bar Association Expectations for Trustees and Officers

KCBA

DATE: January 1, 2011

TO: New Trustees and Officers 2011-2012

FROM: Andrew J. Prazuch, Executive Director

RE: Job Descriptions

The following are the King County Bar Association’s expectations for each of the trustee and officer positions. Trustees are elected to three-year terms, beginning July 1 and ending June 30. The Treasurer serves a two-year term and Secretary/Trustee serves as Secretary only the first year of the three-year term. The Second Vice-President becomes First Vice-President the following year and President the year after that, as set out in the bylaws.

President

From the bylaws: “The President shall be the chief executive officer of the Association, and, subject to the exercise of power by the Board of Trustees, shall have general control and direction of its affairs. The President shall preside at all meetings of the Association and of the Board of Trustees. The President shall, subject to the approval of the Board, appoint all standing and special committees and shall perform all duties ordinarily incident to the office, and shall recommend such action as the President deems proper.”

These requirements have developed over the years into the following expectations of the President:

serving as chief spokesperson for the Association, although the communication of Association positions can be delegated to others as appropriate;
attending Board meetings and Officers meetings, acting as chair for those meetings
developing agendas with the executive director for Board meetings;
attending Superior Court Bench/Bar Liaison Committee meetings monthly (occasionally delegated to another officer as appropriate)
preside or host other meetings or events of the Association, such as the Annual Awards Dinner, and Martin Luther King, Jr., Lunch;
writing a monthly article on topics of his/her choice for the Bar Bulletin;
responding to members’ inquiries as needed;
appointing all committee chairs in advance of committee sign-up in July (section chairs are elected by members of each section);
performing the usual duties of a Trustee.

First Vice-President

From the bylaws: “The First Vice President shall act as President in the absence of the President and shall perform such other duties as may be assigned to him or her by the President of the Board of Trustees.”

Typically a First Vice President has been expected to:

prepare him- or herself for future leadership and their role as President the following year;
attend and participate in Officers meetings;
during term of First and Second Vice-President, attend nonprofit leadership training programs with executive director;
serve as member of the Membership Committee;
chair meetings in the absence of the President; and
perform the usual duties of a Trustee.

Second Vice President

From the bylaws: “The Second Vice President shall act as President and the First Vice President and shall perform such other duties as may be assigned by the President or the Board of Trustees.

prepare him- or herself for future leadership and their role as President two years hence;
attend and participate in Officers meetings;
serve as member of the CLE Committee;
during term of First and Second Vice-President, attend nonprofit leadership training programs with executive director;
chair meetings in the absence of the President and First Vice President; and
perform the usual duties of a Trustee

Secretary/Trustee

From the bylaws: “The Secretary shall keep minutes of all Board of Trustees meetings and membership meetings. The Secretary shall perform such other duties as may be assigned by the President or the Board.” The trustee in this position serves as Secretary the first year of a three-year term and has only the regular duties of a trustee the second and third years of the term. KCBA staff will prepare the meeting minutes.

Typically we expect of a Secretary:

attending and participating in Officers meetings; and
performing the usual duties of a trustee.

Treasurer

From the Bylaws: “Subject to Article VIII, the Treasurer shall be responsible for the receipt, deposit or investment of all funds of the Association; provided, however, the Treasurer of any section or division shall be responsible for the receipt, deposit, disbursement of investment of funds of any section or division established under Article VII, Section 2, to the extent, and according to policies approved by the Board of Trustees. The Treasurer shall submit annually in the official publication of the Association a report of the moneys received and expended, amounts due the Association and an estimate of the resources and expenditures for the ensuing year. The accounts of the Association shall be reviewed or audited annually by a Certified Public Accountant at the expense of the Association.”

“Article VIII. Appropriations and Expenses.

“Section 1. Appropriations - Generally. Except as provided in Article IV, Section 6, appropriations of the Association’s funds for officer, committee, section, division or other expenses shall be made by the Board of Trustees.

“Section 2. Check Signing. The Board of Trustees may by resolution make provision for the signing and countersigning of checks and notes. Unless the resolution provides otherwise, checks shall be signed by any two officers. [Resolution delegates this to senior staff].

Section 3. Unauthorized Liabilities. Any liability incurred by any officer, division, section or committee of the Association in excess of the appropriation authorized by the Board of Trustees, or any other duly constituted governing body shall be the personal liability of the person or persons responsible for incurring or authorizing the same.”

We have typically expected of the Treasurer that he or she:

present monthly financial reports to the Board;
advise the Board about the advisability of approving any requests for expenditures not authorized in the approved annual budget;
chair the Finance Committee to review staff-prepared financial reports;
with Finance Committee meet with auditor to review annual findings;
attend and participate in Officers meetings; and
perform the usual duties of a trustee.

Trustee

Trustees are expected to:

Attend meetings of the Board of Trustees or contact the Executive Director in advance, requesting he/she be excused. (Bylaws state: “If any Trustee misses three regularly scheduled Board meetings out of six consecutive meetings, the Board, by majority vote, after notice and opportunity to be heard has been provided, may ask the Trustee to resign. If the Board makes such a request, the request shall be deemed to create a vacancy on the Board, and the Trustee shall be removed from the Board.”)
Be prepared to participate in Board meetings by reading the meeting materials sent with each meeting notice, and following up on tasks assigned at Board meetings;
Ensure the financial integrity of the Association through receiving regular monthly reports from the Treasurer and acting responsibly on fiscal matters;
Serve as an active member of at least one committee;
Serve on ad hoc committees and task forces as needed.