Judge Selection Policy

Nominated Conformation Sweepstakes judges must be currently competing in Conformation or competed in the past five years in Conformation. In addition, candidates must meet at least one of the following criteria:

• Owned or bred a minimum of three Border Collies who have earned an AKC Championship.

• Owned or bred a minimum of five dogs who have earned an AKC Conformation Championship.

• Owned or bred a minimum of five dogs who have earned a Championship in another Country.

Sweepstakes judges are subject to the same code of conduct as AKC licensed judges and must avoid any appearance of bias or conflict of interest.

Conformation

Nominated Conformation Futurity judges must meet at least two of the following criteria:

• Currently competing in Conformation or has competed in the past three years in Conformation with Border Collies

• Bred at least three litters of Border Collies

• Bred at least one Border Collie who has earned an AKC Conformation Championship

• Owner-handled at least three Border Collies to AKC Championships (not necessarily from their own breeding)

• Bred at least four litters of any AKC herding breed, one of which must be an AKC Champion of Record.

• Owner-handled at least four AKC Herding Breed Dogs to AKC Championships.

Herding

Nominated Herding Futurity judges must meet at least one of the following criteria:

• Handled at least one Border Collie to an AKC Herding Intermediate Title on the B Course

• Handled at least two dogs to an AKC herding Intermediate Title on the B Course

• Be an AKC licensed Herding Judge.

Futurity Judges are ineligible if they fall into one of the following categories:

• Breeder/Co-Breeder of a nominated litter

• Owner/Co-Owner of a Stud Dog that sired a nominated litter

• Owner/Co-Owner of a puppy from a nominated litter

Futurity judges are subject to the same code of conduct as AKC licensed judges and must avoid any appearance of bias or conflict of interest.

Three Top 20 judges, one with each of the following qualifications, will be selected by the Venue and Show chairs.

Conformation

Judges with no perceived conflict of interest or affiliation to any of the Top Twenty participants will be selected, one from each of the following categories:

• Breeder – An established and reputable Border Collie breeder who has been breeding for at least five years or who has produced at least five Champions of Record.

• Judge – An AKC licensed Judge, an AKC Provisional Judge, or an Overseas Licensed Judge. A licensed judge approved to judge Border Collies and/or the Herding Group.

• Handler (past or present) – A professional handler meeting the requirements for membership in a Professional Handler’s organization (though not necessarily a member). The Handler must have handled Border Collies.

The names of those selected to judge will be kept confidential until the day of the event.

Top 20 Judges may not be any of the following:

• Breeder/Co-Breeder of a entered dog

• Owner/Co-Owner of the Sire or Dam of an entered dog

• Owner/Co-Owner of an entered dog

Agility

Licensed AKC Agility Judge

Obedience

Licensed AKC Obedience Judge

Nominations for conformation judges (National Specialty, Regional Specialty, and Sweepstakes), agility judges, obedience judges, and herding judges (including Sweepstakes) as applicable, will be solicited from the General Membership via Announce and the BCSA Website. Each BCSA member will be allowed to nominate up to two judges each for Conformation (National and Regional Specialty combined), Sweepstakes (conformation and herding), Agility, and Obedience and up to three judges for Herding. Nominated judges must have a minimum of six nominations in order to be selected or on the ballot. If the slate is not filled by nominees receiving a minimum of six nominations, the current show and venue chairs will nominate additional candidates to complete the slate. Judge candidates for Futurity will be nominated by the Breeders who have nominated litters for Futurity. There shall be only one Judge nomination per breeder/co-breeder* regardless of the number of litters. (*Definition of breeder shall be the person signing and submitting the Bitch Nomination form.) If more than two people are nominated, the Futurity Committee will evaluate each nominated candidate and pick the two candidates who best fulfills the present requirements. These two candidates will then be voted on by the breeders who have nominated litters. If for any reason, the person who is selected to Judge at the Futurity is unable to fulfill the position, then the person with the second most votes will be contacted to Judge at the Futurity.

Proposed Conformation judges must be licensed (except Sweepstakes, Futurity, and Top 20) and receive a minimum of six nominations from the General Membership to be considered for judging a venue at the BCSA National Specialty. After the nomination process is complete, the Judge Selection Committee will provide a list of potential nominees that have satisfied the criteria to the Board of Directors for approval. The Board’s selection of a draft slate shall be based primarily on the number of votes received from the General Membership, but also on qualifications of the judges, ability to work well with others, availability, and cost. The BOD may veto a proposed candidate if they believe the Club will not be well served by that candidate; however, the slate shall be established primarily based on the number of votes received by the General Membership. If the BOD vetoes a nominee, the nominee with the next highest number of votes (if six or more) will be added to the draft slate.

The nominated Conformation judges who compose the draft slate will be asked by the JSC if they are willing and able to judge and to provide their biography, judging fees, and other anticipated expenses. Nominees who request extraordinarily high fees or unusual expenses or requests may be vetoed by the BOD, and replaced with the nominee with the next highest number of votes.

In the event that less than four judges for Conformation receive a minimum of six nominations and are willing to run for election, the Current Show Chair and Conformation Venue Chairs will choose additional nominees to complete the slate. In the event that less than three judges for Sweepstakes receive a minimum of six nominations and are willing to run for election, the Current Show Chair and Conformation Venue Chairs will choose additional nominees to complete the slate. The BOD shall approve the alternate candidates suggested by the Show and Venue Chairs.

Once a draft slate has been established, each nominee will be asked to submit a biography summarizing their qualifications for publication on the BCSA website and in Borderlines.

For Obedience, Agility and Herding judges, the nominees that receive the highest number of votes will be presented to the BOD for approval. If the judges receiving the most votes are unavailable or unable to judge, the JSC will continue to move down the list until the required number of judges are selected.

The Board’s approval of a nominee shall be based primarily on the number of votes received from the General Membership, but also on qualifications of the judges, ability to work well with others, availability, and cost. The BOD may veto a proposed candidate if they believe the Club will not be well served by that candidate; however, the slate shall be established primarily based on the number of votes received by the General Membership. If the BOD vetoes a nominee, the nominee with the next highest number of votes (if six or more) will be selected.

The four finalists selected for Conformation (National and Regional Specialty combined), and the three finalists selected for Sweepstakes will be posted on BCSA Announce and the BCSA Website, along with their Biographies. Concurrently, the names of the judge nominees in each venue with the most nomination votes from the General Membership shall be posted on BCSA Announce and the BCSA Website, along with the number of votes they received. The General Membership will then vote for two candidates for Conformation (National and BCSA-sponsored), and one candidate for Conformation Sweepstakes. The candidate(s) with the most votes in each venue will be selected to judge at the National Specialty Show. The Conformation candidate with the second most votes will be selected to judge at the BCSA-sponsored conformation show. The vote will occur online, and will be held by the Treasurer until the close of voting, tallied by the BCSA Treasurer and Chair of the Judge Selection Committee, and reported to the Board of Directors. In the event of a tie vote, the Judge Selection Committee will arrange for a straw vote, the details to be approved beforehand by the President.

Schedule facilitates the election of judges about 13 months prior to the Specialty, assuming the Specialty is held in early September

• Announce call for nominations – January 15

• Nominations – February 1- March 1

• Compile Slate (process nominations, vet and acquire bios from judges) – March 15-April 15

• Announce Slate – April 30

• Election – May 1-June 1

• Announce Slate – July 1

It is assumed that the National Specialty will occur in the Fall of each year. Should the Specialty take place at a different time of the year, the selection schedule shall be adjusted according to the timeline established above.

Candidates may not judge more often than once every five years for Conformation, Sweeps, Agility, Obedience, and Futurity. Candidates may not judge more often than once every four years for Herding, Rally, and Tracking.

These judges are ineligible for 2020.

Selected judges will not be allowed to exhibit at the Specialty in the venue they are judging, even if they are not judging on that day, with the exception of Futurity & Sweepstakes judges who may exhibit on days they are not judging. Conformation Judges who accept assignments to judge at the National Specialty shall not judge Border Collies at any show in the United States for three months prior to the National Specialty. AKC regulations for judges apply for judges in all other venues.

In general, judges who are unable to conduct their assignment shall be replaced by the candidate with the next highest number of votes in the election. If no other candidates nominated during the election are available, the Show Chair and Venue Chairs will select a qualified candidate and submit this candidate to the BCSA Board of Directors for approval. If a judge notifies BCSA that they will not be able to judge at the Specialty within two months of the assignment date, the Show and Venue Chairs, with the Approval of the Board of Directors may replace that judge with any qualified judge.

All judges are subject to the rules and code of conduct established by the AKC for licensed judges. Should a nominated or elected judge have a formal complaint filed against them regarding an issue that occurs prior to their judging assignment, and that claim is upheld by the AKC or the BCSA, the judge may be disqualified and replaced by the Show Chair(s) and the BCSA National Specialty Coordinators.