GNOSB Bylaws
Greater New Orleans Service Board
GNOSB Bylaws
Document Date: May 1, 2021
GNO Service Board Bylaws, Updated 5/2021 GREATER NEW ORLEANS SERVICE BOARD, INC. Bylaws As Amended and Adopted by the Service Board May 2021 ____________________________________________________________________________
I. Purpose and Function
The Greater New Orleans Service Board, Inc. coordinates efforts for A.A. in the New Orleans area, supports and organizes A.A. services, and assists and coordinates members, groups, and districts in matters related to A.A. service work and policies.
The Service Board acts in support of and service to members, and it never acts as a governing body. It adheres to and supports the A.A. Traditions, although it is not directly affiliated with Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc.
The Service Board reports to member groups on actions that it takes or are proposed. It publicizes A.A. news by publishing a regularly scheduled A.A. bulletin and sending updates to the Central Office email list.
The Service Board maintains a Central Office whose primary goals are to provide support and services to members and New Orleans area groups, to coordinate Twelfth Step activity and engage with the general public when appropriate.
The Service Board may employ a full-time or part-time paid manager and other staff as necessary to operate the Central Office. Those employed by the Service Board, if they are members of A.A., have the right to attend and be heard at Service Board meetings in the same manner as any other A.A. member.
II. Composition
The Service Board is composed of one representative from each A.A. group within the New Orleans area, provided that a group chooses to be represented on the Board. A group’s representative must be authorized by the group each year. The areas supported by the Service Board are Districts 12, 17, 18, 19, 20, and 21/23. Voting members include the Vice-Chair, Secretary, Treasurer, Central Office Manager, District Committee Members (DCMs), Group Service Board Representatives (SBR), and Committee Chairs.
A group’s representative may be selected in whatever manner a group chooses.
However, all representatives are free to vote as their conscience dictates when necessary, not as directed by their homegroup, and they are free to bring any issue, question, or suggestion to the Service Board. 1
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III. Board of Trustees
The Service Board elects a Board of Trustees consisting of a Chair, a Vice-Chair, Treasurer and a Secretary.
The Board of Trustees manages the routine conduct of the business affairs of the Service Board and the Central Office. Primary responsibilities include, but are not limited to:
- Providing oversight and support of Central Office manager, finances, and
operations
- Creating and implementing an annual budget for Central Office and Service
Board affairs
- Supporting the development of Service Board committees and their respective
activities
- Serving as a resource for all districts, groups, and members of Alcoholics
Anonymous
- Planning and executing monthly Service Board meetings
- Hosting and responding to the bi-annual Service Board inventory
The Chairperson does not vote at Service Board meetings, except in the case of a tie vote, when the chairperson may vote to break the tie.
The Service Board can dismiss the Board of Trustees, or any member of it, and can replace dismissed trustees by a two-thirds vote of the Service Board members at a regular service board meeting.
V. Special Meetings of the Board
A “Special Meeting” [formally called a “Quorum Meeting”] is a Service Board meeting called for extraordinary and unusually important issues or decisions. A Special Meeting can be convened only after being authorized by a majority vote of the Service Board and after fifteen days’ notice by publication in the A.A. bulletin or via the Central Office email list. Such notice must detail with reasonable specificity all motion(s) or issue(s) for which the Special Meeting is called.
In order to vote at a Special Meeting, a group’s representative must not only meet the ordinary requirements for voting at a Service Board meeting, but the member must also represent a group that has existed and been registered with the Central Office Manager or Service Board Secretary for at least three months.
Any Service Board member can move to hold a Special Meeting relating to any issue.
Actions that may occur during regular service board meetings may include but are not limited to the following matters:
- The election of the Board of Trustees
- The dismissal of Trustees and the election of their replacements
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- Changes to long standing policies or customs
- Proposed withdrawals from the Prudent Reserve
- Making an amendment to the Bylaws.
V. Scheduling of Service Board Meetings
The Board of Trustees schedules monthly Service Board meetings during the last week of each month at convenient times.
The Board of Trustees may call additional meetings to conduct all business other than that requiring a Special Meeting. The Board of Trustees must provide fifteen days’ notice of the meeting in the A.A. bulletin or via the Central Office email list. In addition to the current members of the Service Board, any ten Service Board members may call a Service Board meeting, provided they file with the Central Office manager or a Trustee a written request, which each has signed. Fifteen days’ notice of the meeting must be given by publication in the A.A. bulletin or via the Central Office email list.
VI. Election of Trustees
The annual elections of incoming Trustees is held at the May Service Board meeting with an intended onboarding period held until those elected officially assume office. The new Trustees take office July 1 and serve for two years.
The election of Trustees is conducted each year in an alternating pattern as follows: For Chair and Secretary, this should be done in odd numbered years, and, for the Vice-Chair and treasurer, this should be done in even numbered years. All officers serve a period of two years and the Service Board’s calendar year is marked from July 1 through June
30. Voting should take place in light of the following:
1. The following qualifications should be met in order for a person to be nominated as a Trustee: The Chair and Vice-Chair should have at least four years of continuous sobriety and the secretary should have at least two years of continuous sobriety. The treasurer should have at least five years of continuous sobriety and a financial or business background. 2. Each Service Board member (see composition in section II) is entitled to one vote for each Trustee position.
3. The Trustees are chosen using the Third Legacy procedure found in the A.A.
World Service Manual at the regular May Service Board meeting. The results of the election are announced at that meeting.
4. There is no proxy voting.
5. The newly elected Trustees take office July 1st of the year they are elected.
6. A nomination for any Trustee position cannot be accepted if that person has
already served in the same position for a full-term previously, except in the case that there are no other nominees for that position. 3
GNO Service Board Bylaws, Updated 5/2021 In the event that a Trustee resigns, is unable to continue to serve for reasons other than dismissal, or fails to maintain sobriety, that office is vacated and a replacement is to be elected at the next regular Service Board meeting to complete the unexpired term.
Eligible candidates for replacement can be nominated by a Service Board member and the election will follow immediately using the Third Legacy procedure.
VII. Appointed Officers
Chairs of all standing committees are appointed by the Service Board Chair in consultation with the other Trustees in the first two months of the Chair’s term in office.
Committee chairs should have at least one year of continuous sobriety and will serve for:
- 1 year: Big Deep South Chair, DAAY in the Park Chair
- 2 years: Treatment & Corrections, Cooperation with the Professional
Community/Public Information, Unity & Service, Budget & Finance, Website,AA Hotline / Twelfth Step List
VIII. Function of Officers
The Chair presides over all Service Board meetings and sets the time and date of all meetings with the approval of the other Trustees. The Chair provides oversight of and support to all committees and supervises the operations of the Central Office and the Service Board.
In the absence of the Chair, the Vice-Chair assumes the Chair’s functions. The Vice-Chair supports the activities of the standing committees and participates as a member of at least one committee. The Vice-Chair also performs other duties as designated by the Chair.
The Secretary records and publishes the Minutes of the meetings and works closely with the Central Office staff to maintain the records of the Service Board. The Secretary assists, advises, serves as a member of a standing committee and performs other duties as designated by the Chair.
The Treasurer presents a complete statement of the cash receipts, disbursements, and the balances for all accounts at each monthly meeting while seeking to assure that the annual budget is followed as closely as possible. All checks and withdrawals must be signed by two Trustees. The Treasurer maintains a continuous record of the receipt and disbursements of Service Board funds and immediately alerts the Trustees and the Service Board when the provisions of section IX are violated. 4
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IX. Financial Responsibility and Accountability
The funds of the Service Board are held in trust. The Service Board does not accept any annual contributions in excess of $5,000.00.
In ordinary and routine circumstances, The Chair disburses funds only in accordance with the budget approved by the Service Board. In an extreme and unanticipated emergency, the Chair, in consultation with the Trustees, and with the approval of at least one additional Trustee, may disburse any or all available funds in any manner necessary to maintain the orderly progress and requirements of the Service Board or Central Office, but must immediately take steps to have the expenditure approved within a reasonable time by the Service Board. Unless there is an emergency, the Chair must have the approval of either the Treasurer or the Chair of the Budget and Finance Committee for any expenditure of less than $200.00 that is not in the budget, and the Chair must have the authorization of the Service Board for any such expenditure of $200.00 or more.
X. Committees
The Service Board’s standing committees are as follows:
- AA Hotline / Twelfth Step List
- Budget & Finance
- DAAy in the Park
- Big Deep South Convention
- Unity & Service
- Public Information/Cooperation with the Professional Community
- Treatment & Corrections
- Website
The function of these committees is to provide planning, activities, and leadership in the area of the mandate given to them by the Service Board.
In addition to the standing committees, the Chair may appoint ad hoc committees for any purpose approved by the Service Board. An ad hoc committee can be formed for any reason by a motion that is approved by a majority vote of the Service Board. Only members of the Service Board can vote. 5
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XI. Prudent Reserve and Operating Fund
The Service Board is responsible for maintaining a Prudent Reserve, which consists of one-half of its annual operating expenses (i.e., the total expenses for the previous fiscal year less the expenses for the Big Deep South Convention and Central Office inventory purchases). It also maintains a separate Operating Fund, which consists of one-fourth of such annual operating expenses. The fiscal year spans from July 1 to June 30.
Funds in excess of the Prudent Reserve and Operating Fund must be dispersed to other A.A. entities (District, Area, Region, or the General Service Office), and the exact provision for this disbursement is to be approved by the Service Board. The Trustees are to report to the Service Board no later than May of the fiscal year if any excess exists and how much it is. In the event that an excess of the sum of the Prudent Reserve and Operating Fund exists, the Service Board should determine how to distribute the funds at the next regular service board meeting.
A withdrawal from the Prudent Reserve for any purpose outside of an extreme emergency requires the approval of two-thirds vote of the Service Board at a regular monthly service board meeting.
XII. Procedure
Except as provided in these Bylaws, Robert’s Rule of Order is the final authority on any dispute involving procedures at Service Board meetings. A simple majority vote is needed to pass motions unless otherwise stated, and motions can be made by members of the Service Board or from the floor.
XIII. Amendments
These Bylaws may be amended, provided that the proposed amendment or amendments are approved by a majority of the Service Board at a regularly scheduled meeting and published in the A.A. bulletin and/or via the Central Office email list at least twice. Amendments must receive approval by two-thirds of the Service Board at a regular Service Board meeting in order to be adopted.
XIV. Dissolution
If the Greater New Orleans Service Board, Inc. is to be dissolved, its affairs are to be settled and its assets liquidated by two Commissioners elected at a meeting of the Service Board convened for that purpose. The decision to dissolve must be approved with substantial unanimity, requiring two-thirds of the votes.
The Commissioners are to remain in office until the affairs of the corporation have been fully settled and its assets fully liquidated. They shall have full power and authority to transfer and pass title for all property and assets of the corporation and to distribute the 6
GNO Service Board Bylaws, Updated 5/2021 remaining proceeds to the General Service Office of Alcoholics Anonymous, New York, New York after all obligations and debts have been paid. 7
Greater New Orleans Service Board, Inc. · 638 Papworth Ave, Suite A, Metairie, LA 70005 · aaneworleans.org