Ohio Electronic Records Committee Bylaws

Article I - Name
The name of the organization shall be the "Ohio Electronic Records Committee" (hereafter "OERC").

Article II - Purpose
The OERC is a coalition of policymakers, records managers, IT personnel, archivists, and librarians representing state and local agencies, universities, libraries, and historical societies of Ohio. The OERC is dedicated to drafting guidelines and best practices for the creation, maintenance, long-term preservation of and access to electronic records created by Ohio government and entities.

Article III - Membership
Section 1. Size of the Committee
The OERC shall consist of no more than 30 members.

Section 2. Requesting Membership
Any individual representing an agency, organization or institution may request membership by petition/application to the OERC Membership Committee.

Section 3. Term of Appointment
OERC members shall be appointed for three-year terms. There is no limit on the number of terms a member can serve. Terms of existing members shall be staggered as of January 1, 2005.

Section 4. Termination of Membership
Membership shall be terminated, at the recommendation of the Membership Committee and approval of the Executive Committee, under the following conditions:
A. Failure to attend or be represented for two consecutive meetings.
B. Just cause.

Article IV - Membership Voting and Meetings
Section 1. Voting
A. Quorum
The presence of half the voting members shall constitute a quorum. In the event the Chair deems it impractical to accomplish the work of OERC and if, in the absence of the stated quorum no business can be transacted, the Chair may declare a quorum.

B. Voting
     1. Members shall be entitled to one vote on any issue before the OERC.
     2. Where a quorum is present or has been declared, the members may take      action by affirmative vote of a majority of all members present. A member      may cast a vote as follows:
          a. In-person attendance at the meeting
          b. In-person attendance via conference call
          c. Online when appropriate (At the discretion of the ERC Chair, a vote           can be conducted electronically).
     3. Only OERC members, or their designees, can vote. Visitors are not      members and cannot vote.

Section 2. Meetings
A. Meetings of the OERC shall be held at least twice a year as determined by the Chair. They shall be held at the Ohio Historical Society unless otherwise stated in the meeting announcement. The public is welcomed to attend, but an RSVP is required. Meeting agendas will allow for public comment, as time permits.

B. Attendance and Participation
Members are expected to attend all scheduled meetings. To provide consistency and efficient conduct of business and to facilitate broad representation of the membership, each OERC member may appoint an individual to act as their assigned designee empowered to speak and vote in the member's absence. On request of the member, a designee may receive all communications and materials that pertain to the work of the committee and may vote in the absence of the member they represent. Members or their designee who miss two consecutive meetings shall be replaced at the discretion of the OERC.

Article V - Officers
Section 1. Officers
A. Officers: The officers of the OERC shall be the Chair, Vice Chair, and Secretary. Terms of the initial officers shall be staggered as of January 1, 2005 to ensure continuity.
B. Term: Each officer shall take office at the first meeting of that calendar year and shall serve for a term of two years. Terms are renewable.
C. Candidacy: One month prior to the elections, members shall indicate interest in serving by self-nomination.
D. Duties: The officers shall perform those duties customarily assigned to the offices held.
     1. The Chair shall preside at the meetings of the OERC and shall otherwise      be responsible for the conduct of the business of the organization.
     2. The Vice Chair shall serve as Chair of the Membership Committee, assist      the Chair as may be requested and serve as the Chair in their absence.
     3. The Secretary shall be responsible for the minutes of the meetings of the      Committee and distributing them to all current members at least a week prior      to the next meeting. They shall see that all notices are duly given in      accordance with the provisions of these Bylaws; maintain a list of members;      and perform other duties incidental to the office of secretary.
E. Removal: Motions requesting the removal of an officer for not performing the duties of the office may only be discussed at a scheduled meeting. The proposed action shall be included on the pre-meeting announcement agenda. Such action requires approval of two-thirds of the membership present at the meeting.
F. Resignation: In the event of the resignation of an officer, it is the function of the remaining officers on the Executive Committee to find a replacement until elections to fill the position are held.

Section 2. Past Chair
The Past Chair shall serve as an ex-officio officer assisting the Chair and other officers until a transition has been completed.

Article VI - Committees
Section 1: Executive Committee
The Executive Committee consists of the officers of the OERC, the State Archivist, (who may or may not be an elected officer), and the immediate past chair, who serves in an advisory capacity. The Executive Committee develops agendas, maintains communication with members, and approves recommendations of membership.

Section 2: Membership Committee
The role of the Membership Committee is to review applications for membership to the OERC, to generate interest in membership and to track member attendance and term expirations. The OERC Membership Committee will be comprised of no less than 3 and no more than 5 voting members. There will be at least one member from each of the following constituencies: state agency, local government, and non-governmental entity.

Section 3: Ad hoc Committees
A. At any meeting of the OERC, the members may address tasks, take action on issues or assign deliverables by the creation of an OERC subcommittee. OERC standing subcommittees shall be created to address committee needs for performing a specific on-going function (i.e. communications) or ad hoc subcommittees shall be created to carry out a specific task of limited duration (i.e. creation of bylaws).

OERC subcommittees are populated as the subcommittee deems appropriate. Individuals may participate in multiple subcommittees. A member must chair OERC subcommittees; others need not be members. All recommendations, opinions, research and deliverables of the OERC subcommittees will be brought before the OERC for review, adoption and approval for action.

B. The Committee Chair shall be elected by members of the OERC or appointed by the OERC Chair.

C. The Chair of the OERC shall be an ex-officio member of all subcommittees. At the Chair's discretion, the past-Chair or Vice Chair may be asked by the Chair to serve in this capacity.

D. Meetings of each subcommittee may be called by its Chair or by the OERC Chair on ten days' notice to the members of the subcommittee. Subcommittees shall meet as often as is necessary to conduct business

E. All subcommittees of the OERC shall generate reports to be submitted at the OERC meeting summarizing the actions taken at subcommittee meetings.

Article VII - Amendments
These Bylaws shall be amended by a two-thirds majority vote of the OERC members present and voting at any duly called meeting or special meeting of the OERC called for that purpose. Each proposed amendment shall be made available prior to the meeting at which it is presented and voted upon. Each proposed amendment shall specify the date it is to become effective.

The Bylaws are hereby adopted by affirmative vote this 6 day of December, 2004.