2025 Member Vote On BCSA By-Law Revisions
Border Collie Society of America - Constitution and By-Laws
The Border Collie Society of America’s (BCSA) Board of Directors appointed a committee to review the club’s by-laws in the spring of 2024. Membership of the committee consisted of: Dawn Marie Baletka (Chairperson), Thomas Koch (Board Liaison), Linda Ramos, and Lisa Lee.
The BCSA foundational documents consist of the Constitution and By-Laws, both of which have been approved and ratified by the club’s membership and the American Kennel Club (AKC). These documents outline the structure of the governance of the club including how it is structured, how major decisions are made, and how board members are elected.
The BCSA Board of Directors approved the submission of By-Laws to AKC for preliminary review and approval in June 2025. AKC high-lighted a few areas that needed specific required language. The draft of the By-Laws was edited to include AKC requirements. The next step in the process is for the voting membership (associate members, associate affiliate clubs and Junior Member are not eligible) to participate in a straight APPROVE or DISAPPROVE vote on the By-Laws. This secret ballot vote will be taken electronically. Your email address is required to verify that only voting members participate. Voting will begin on Wednesday, September 3, 2025 and will end at 11:59 pm Pacific on Sunday, September 14, 2025.
The membership of BCSA is being asked to vote on proposed changes to the Constitution and By-Laws. The current Constitution and By-Laws may be found on the BCSA website.
Most of the proposed “changes” to the by-laws are grammatical or clarifying in nature rather than a true change of purpose and meaning. Other changes are highlighted below.
Article 1 Section 2 of the CONSTITUTION (Objectives of the Club) has the following changes
and/or additions:
o The numeric numbering system for the objectives of the Club, which implies a weighted
importance (#1 is more important than #2 or #3 etc.) was replaced with the customary bullets
that does not imply the Club supports one objective more than another;
o Addition of EXACT AKC REQUIRED WORDING “to encourage the organization of
independent local specialty clubs in those localities where there are sufficient fanciers of the
breed to meet the requirements of The American Kennel Club” ; and
o Addition of EXACT AKC REQUIRED WORDING “to conduct sanctioned matches, and
licensed events for which the club is eligible, under the Rules and Regulations of The
American Kennel Club”
Article I (Membership) of the By-Laws has the following changes/additions:
o Section 1 Added: “Voting members names must be listed on the Household Membership
application.”
o Section 2 Changed date that DUES must be paid on or before from December 31 to January 1
of each year to conform to AKC recommendations.
o Section 2 Added: “Payment (Dues and Late Fee) must be received by January 31st. If
payment is not received by January 31st, the Membership will be considered lapsed, and the
member must reapply for club membership. If a special vote is conducted by members
between January 1 and January 31 and a member has not paid dues for that year, their vote
will not be counted.”
o Section 3 added: “A 2/3 secret vote of the Board of Directors is needed to secure
membership” to conform to AKC requirements.
o Section 4 added: “if a member decides to resign and owes money to the club, at a sum greater
than annual dues, BCSA has the right to go through the process of collection, and contact
AKC regarding the Personal Conduct Policy, AKC’s Unauthorized Use of Funds Policy, or
any policy relevant to the situation.”
Article II (Meetings) of the By-Laws has the following changes/additions:
o Section 1 added: “The Board with a majority vote, may deem it necessary or prudent for an
electronic (video conference) meeting to take place.”; and
o Section 4 added in its entirety. “Business Between Board Meetings. In an effort to make
Board meetings run more efficiently the President can decide to conduct business between
board meetings. Business Between Meeting is intended for: (1) routine decisions; (2)
decisions that are deemed to not require further discussion; and (3) topics and decisions that
are time sensitive. Topics can be tabled to the next board meeting if there is a need for further
discussion on the topic. Any Board member may request a topic to be removed and placed on
the following Board Agenda.”
Article III (Directors and Officers) of the By-Laws has the following changes/additions:
o Section 2 (last bullet was added) concerns the position of the Delegate to the AKC position.
AKC now requires if the Delegate is an elected BOARD MEMBER that term limits apply.
However, if the Delegate is NOT a voting Board Member than no term limits are required.
After discussion among the Board, and after receiving input from the current BCSA Delegate,
it was mutually agreed upon that the BCSA Delegate would remain an ELECTED POSITION
but would not hold a voting position on the board. “The Delegate to The American Kennel
Club, is not a voting member of the Board of Directors, but shall be conferred with ex-officio
status. The Delegate to The American Kennel Club, shall represent the Club and its interests
at the meetings of and in matters relating to The American Kennel Club.”
Article IV (The Club Year, Annual Meeting, Nominations, Voting, and Elections) of the By-Laws
has the following changes/additions:
o More detail added to conform to AKC recommendations. “The Club’s fiscal and official year
shall begin on the first day of January and end on the last day of December. Annual Meetings.
The annual meeting of the club, as stated in Article II, Section I, shall be held during the
months of September, October or November in conjunction with the club’s specialty show if
possible , at a place, date, and hour as may be designated by the Board of Directors. The
election of Officers and Directors shall either be conducted or results announced at the
Annual Meeting (or special Meeting of the Club) as detailed in Article II Sections 2 and 3.”
o Section 4, Number 8 adds Force Majeure, “Force Majeure – In events that may cause delay or
failure in adhering to the calendar dates in performing the obligations cited in Article IV.,
Section 4. Nominations and Ballots with regard to circumstances that are beyond the
reasonable control such as acts of God, war, terrorist act, severe weather, health pandemics or
other health crisis, or other emergency conditions, or prohibitions by any governmental
authority, the Board of Directors has the authority to modify the dates cited in Article IV, as
long as the modified dates adhere to the original stated timeframes.
Article VI (Discipline) of the By-Laws has the following changes/additions:
o Section 1 changed to exact AKC required wording “American Kennel Club Suspension. Any
member who is suspended from any privileges of The American Kennel Club automatically
shall be suspended from the privileges of this Club for alike period.”
o Section 2 (Charges) changed to “All payments will be submitted electronically. No cash or
checks will be accepted.”
o Section 2 (Charges) changed the time period for responses from seven to fourteen days.
Article VIII (Amendments) of the By-Laws has the following changes and/or additions:
o Section 3 Changed to the EXACT AKC WORDING: “No amendment to the Constitution and
By-laws that is adopted by the Club shall become effective until it has been approved by the
Board of Directors of The American Kennel Club.”
Article IX of the By-Laws has the following changes and/or additions:
o Section 2 Adjusted the order of business of Board of Directors meetings.
Should the membership vote to accept the proposed Constitution and By-Laws (two thirds of the ballots voting in the affirmative), the Constitution and By-Laws will then be forwarded to AKC with the results of the vote. The
Constitution and By-Laws will not take effect until they have been approved by the Board of Directors of AKC.