Corrections Technology Association By-Laws
Article I: NAME OF THE ASSOCIATION
The name of the association is the Corrections Technology Association (CTA) hereafter called the Association.
Article II: MISSION AND GOALS OF THE ASSOCIATION
The Mission of the Corrections Technology Association is to provide national leadership in the form of an association of executives serving the corrections field to address challenges, set standards, promote information sharing, and advise on emerging technologies affecting corrections.
The Goals of the Association are to:
A. Be the leading forum for addressing the opportunities, implications and challenges for improving correctional operations through the use of information technology and other operational technologies.
B. Provide a vehicle to identify current, new and emerging technologies as a means to advise and promote sharing of information throughout the corrections community.
C. Provide a forum for exchange of information, professional experiences, and knowledge related to the application of technology in corrections.
D. Develop standards to insure uniformity throughout the corrections environment.
E. Encourage education of its members in latest technology advancements and current objectives of the association.
F. Encourage participation of members in corrections environment.
Article III: STRUCTURE OF THE ASSOCIATION
The Association is organized as a 501 (c)(6) non-profit organization and none of its earnings shall inure to the benefit of any of its members.
Article IV: MEMBERSHIP
There shall be three major classes of memberships: Regular, Associate and Corporate Sponsor.
A. Regular Members. Persons having executive level responsibility for the management of information and/or operational technology resources for Corrections of their respective entity (federal, state, county, parish, municipality, province, or territory) as designated by the executive in charge of Corrections for the agency; and shall be voting members and have the right to cast one vote per entity.
B. Corporate Sponsors. Those members who make an annual contribution to the organization to further its Mission and Goals. The contribution will be determined by the Executive Committee annually.
C. Associate Members. Line of Business Information Technology staff serving their respective private sector organization in a role that includes the full scope of IT decision making, in conjunction with Governmental corrections organizations and facilities. The Associate member categorization is at the discretion of the CTA Board. Individuals meeting the criteria outlined herein can submit a justification to the CTA Board for approval of the associate member designation. Associate members are non-voting members.
Article V: OFFICERS OF THE ASSOCIATION
Only regular members may hold an office in the Association. The officers of the Association shall be: President, Immediate Past-President, President-Elect, Secretary, and Treasurer.
A. Officers
1. President. The President shall serve as the chief executive of the Association and shall perform duties as prescribed in the By-laws and by the Executive Committee. Candidates for this office must be a senior IT decision maker for their respective department of agency. The President is responsible for the overall coordination of the annual conference.
2. Immediate Past-President. The outgoing President shall become the Immediate Past- President and is responsible for the annual election of officers. The Immediate Past- President shall perform such duties as assigned by the President and the Executive Committee.
3. President-Elect. The President-Elect shall serve as President in the event of temporary absence of the President. At the annual election of officers the current President-Elect automatically assumes the presidency of the Association. Candidates for this office must be a senior IT decision maker for their respective agency.
4. Secretary. The Secretary shall be responsible for keeping the official minutes of the Executive Committee meetings, the Annual Technology Summit, and other meetings of the Association and performs other duties as assigned by the President or the Executive Committee.
5. Treasurer. The Treasurer shall be responsible for overseeing the receipt and disbursement of the funds of the Association. The Treasurer disburses checks for the Association expenditures that are in accordance with the Association budget and Association Operating Rules; and performs other duties as assigned by the President or the Executive Committee.
B. Election of Officers. Officers shall be elected by the majority vote of active regular members who cast a vote at the time of the Annual Technology Summit of the Association. Elections shall be from a ballot circulated to the membership at least 30 days prior to the Annual Business Technology Summit. Nominations may also be added to the ballot from the floor provided that each nomination is made with the prior consent of the nominee.
C. Terms of Office. The Secretary and Treasurer will be elected for a term of two (2) years. The President-Elect shall be elected for a term of one (1) year. The President-Elect shall automatically become the President at the end of his/her term as President-Elect and shall become the Past-President at the end of the term as President.. The offices of the President, President-Elect and Immediate Past-President will be limited to a single term, except in the event of an early exit of the President or the President-Elect. In that case the President, President-Elect and the Immediate Past-President could serve one more term. In the event of an early exit of the President-Elect, the President may be elected to serve a second term to maintain continuity.
In the event the President resigns or is unable to complete a term of office, the President-Elect shall succeed the President and complete the President's term of office, then complete their elected term as President. In that event, the Executive Committee may appoint another regular member to assume the remainder of the position of President-Elect. That individual may elect to stand for election for the position of President-Elect at the next annual meeting and will not automatically assume the office of President.
If any officer retires during the term of their office, the Executive Committee may at their discretion allow the individual to complete their term of office.
D. Compensation. Officers shall serve without compensation, but may receive reimbursement for out-of-pocket expenses incurred on behalf of the Association in accordance with the Association’s Operating Rules.
Article VI: EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
A. Membership. The Executive Committee is composed of the President, Immediate Past-President, President-Elect, Secretary, Treasurer, Corporate Leadership Council Past-Chair, Corporate Leadership Council Chair, Corporate Leadership Council Chair-Elect, Membership Director, Marketing Director and Technology Director. Each member of the Executive Committee will have one vote on issues affecting the Association.
B. Purpose and Duties. The purpose of the Executive Committee is to direct the management of the Association. The duties of the Executive Committee shall include:
1. Directing through executive management the general business of the Association including but not limited to accounting, secretarial, property, and program administration services.
2. Adopting any procedure or method of performing its duties, including the delegation of duties, or otherwise, which it believes to be in the best interests of the Association, including the establishment of membership fees.
3. Establishing membership policy, dues, fee assessments; and approved annual budget of the Association.
4. Creating such Task Forces and Committees as it sees fit, and to designate or delegate to the President the power to select Task Force and Committee members from the membership for such periods as the Executive Committee may determine. Task force and committee members shall serve without compensation, but may receive reimbursement for out-of-pocket expenses incurred on behalf of the Association
5. Appoint Membership Director, whose responsibility will be to promote CTA to those persons having senior level authority in Corrections technology.
6. Appoint Marketing Director whose responsibility will be to promote CTA using social media and other mechanisms to connect with correctional jurisdictions, educators, companies and other participants throughout the correctional industry. The Marketing Director may represent CTA at industry events and meetings conducted by correctional organizations .
7. Receiving recommendations and reports from the various committees of the Association, and after modification, if necessary, and approval, making recommendations to the membership for action on matters where no policy has been adopted or other matters of special significance to the Association.
8. Appoint Technology Director whose responsibility will be to provide technology leadership to the Board, manage CTA technology assets and contracts, manage operation of the association website, and manage technology implementations for Summits and CTA operations.
C. Meetings. The Executive Committee shall hold business meetings at least semi-annually. The President or President-Elect may call special meetings of the Executive Committee at any time with two weeks’ notice to the members of the committee. Additionally, upon the written request of any three Executive Committee members a meeting will be held after at least two weeks’ notice to the other members. Notices will be sent to each Committee member. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in these By-laws, any action may be taken without a meeting if such action is authorized by unanimous consent of the Committee. Such consent may be taken by postcard, letter, electronic mail, or telephone ballot and confirmed by the Executive Committee members individually in writing within one week of the ballot.
D. Voting. A majority of the voting members of the Executive Committee shall constitute a quorum, and all actions will be taken by majority vote. The Executive Committee shall have the authority to conduct the business of the Association between meetings of the members, and such other authority as granted in these By-laws and the Association Operating Rules.
E. Chairperson. The President shall be the Chairperson of the Executive Committee.
F. Rules of Order. The rules contained in Robert's Rules of Order, newly revised edition, and shall govern all proceedings of this Association as well as the proceedings of the Executive Committee and all other committees except where modified procedures have been established by action of the Executive Committee.
G. Executive Session. The Executive Committee may meet in Executive Session upon an affirmative vote of a majority of the Executive Committee members in attendance. An Executive Session is defined as a meeting of the voting members of the Executive Committee only.
H. Compensation. Executive Committee members shall serve without compensation, but may receive reimbursement for out-of-pocket expenses incurred on behalf of the Association in accordance with the Association’s Operating Rules.
I. Vacancies. Any vacancy occurring after the election of officers of the Association, among the Officers or Executive Committee members, with the exception of the President, shall be filled by appointment by the President with the approval of the Executive Committee. The appointee shall serve until the next regular election. When a vacancy occurs in the office of the President, the President-Elect shall become President and serve for the balance of the term.
J. Removal of an Officer. The Executive Committee may remove an individual from office if:
1. Action or inaction has caused the disruption of or discredit to the Association, has caused the Association to fail to serve its purpose in a proper and timely manner, and the By-laws are not adhered to in the opinion of a minimum of two-thirds of the members of the Association.
2. Action to remove is preceded by a letter to the individual signed by a minimum of two-thirds of the Executive Committee stating what action is necessary by a certain date to satisfy the needs of the association.
3. If the individual is no longer working in a position that qualifies them for Regular membership in the Association.
Article VII: Corporate Leadership Council
A. Corporate Leadership Council. The Corporate Leadership Council is comprised of Corporate Sponsor members and one Regular Member.
The purpose of the Corporate Leadership Council is:
1. To represent the Association's corporate membership.
2. To increase communication among the corporate members.
3. To acclimate new corporate members to the culture of the Association.
4. To develop procedures for the selection of the Council Chair-Elect and its members.
The Corporate Leadership Council will meet at the annual summit and elect a new Council Chair-Elect from the Platinum Council members. Following the election, the current Council Chair-Elect will transition to the Council Chair, and the current Council Chair will transition to the Council Past-Chair.
Any vacancy occurring among the elected Council members, shall be filled by appointment from the Corporate Sponsor they represented, with the approval of the Executive Committee.
All policies and procedures of the Corporate Leadership Council must be approved by the CTA Executive Committee. The CTA President will appoint a Regular Member (normally the President-Elect) to serve as a non-voting member of the Corporate Leadership Council. The three elected representatives of the Corporate Leadership Council will serve as voting members of the CTA Executive Committee.
Article VIII: AMENDMENTS TO THE BY-LAWS
These By-laws may be altered, amended, or repealed and new By-laws may be adopted by a two-thirds vote of the membership present, and voting at any duly constituted meeting of the membership. At least thirty calendar days prior to the meeting, written notice must be sent to all members giving the intention to alter, amend, repeal, or adopt new By-laws at such meetings. The text of such proposed modifications shall be distributed to the membership at least ten calendar days prior to the date of the meeting (notice given by the Secretary).