Structure of Area 26 of Alcoholics Anonymous

1. PREAMBLE

A. The Area 26 Committee of Alcoholics Anonymous shall always be a service body and shall protect and respect the autonomy and the privilege of dissent of any or all A.A. groups in the Area 26 Service area.

B. Service shall be the Area 26 Committee's primary purpose and the Committee shall encourage all groups to participate in the business of the Committee and to support the Committee in its efforts to cooperate with the A.A. General Service Office and A.A. World Service.

C. The Area Assembly meeting is specifically charged with the duty of the election, in odd years, of one Area 26 delegate to the General Service Conference and to give the delegate financial support to assist him or her in the course of duties of the office. The Assembly is further charged with the election, in odd years, of an Area 26 alternate delegate.

D. Unless otherwise specified, all Committee and Assembly affairs will be conducted using the procedures as outlined in the most current A.A. Service Manual.

E. For clarification of Area 26 Committee financial responsibilities, the current Financial Guidelines should be adhered to.

2. GENERAL SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE G.S.R.

A. A General Service Representative is any member of an A.A. group elected by that group to act primarily as a connecting link between their group and the General Service Office, interpreting each to the other.

B. A.A. groups choosing their G.S.R. should take much care in their selection. It is essential that members of experience and stability are selected, and none ought to accept this post unless able to give sufficient time to his or her duties.

C. Each group in the Area should elect a G.S.R. and an alternate G.S.R. for a term of two years. G.S.R.'s and alternates are elected in the same year as the election of the Area delegate. The election should be held in the month of September, with their term of service to begin January 1 of the following year.

D. In accordance with our seventh Tradition, any expenses for travel and lodging for the G.S.R., in connection with service activities, should be paid for by the group represented.

3. DISTRICT COMMITTEE MEMBER D.C.M.

A. Each district shall have a District Committee. The District Committee should consist of, one Group Representative (G.S.R) from each group, one District Committee Member (D.C.M.), one alternate District Committee Member. The D.C.M. or alternate should be the chairperson at the District Committee meetings.

B. The District Committee Member is elected by the G.S.R.'s in the district, and election may be prior to, or at, the Area Assembly meeting in October. The term of the District Committee Member is two years, concurrent with that of the Area delegate.

C. It is suggested that a district be made up of no more than 15 groups with an active G.S.R. It is suggested that District Committee Members should have 4 or more continuous years of sobriety.

D. Each District Committee Member should meet with the G.S.R.'s of the district at least 4 times each year.

E. D.C.M.'s and G.S.R.'s may succeed themselves, but keep in mind the importance of rotation to the individual and to the fellowship.

F. Travel and lodging expenses for the D.C.M. to Area Committee meetings and the Area Assembly should be paid by the district represented.

G. It is suggested that each district have standing committees corresponding to committees at the Area level, if practical for the district.

4. ELECTION PROCEDURES: DELEGATE , ALTERNATE DELEGATE, SECRETARY AND TREASURER

A. Elections shall be held at the Area Assembly. This election meeting is usually scheduled in the fall, preferably in October, of each odd year. All terms shall be for two years beginning January 1 of the following year.

B. In holding to the principle of rotation, officers and standing committee chairpersons will serve no more than two consecutive two year terms.

C. Voting shall be by ballot, and the low name-dropped after each ballot until only one name remains.

D. ELIGIBLE TO VOTE
I. All voting members of the Area Committee (Section 5).

II. Newly elected District Committee Members.

III. Each group is entitled to one vote cast by the presently serving
G.S.R., or other recognized group representative.
(Note: Absentee or proxy voting shall not be valid.)

E. GENERAL SERVICE DELEGATE ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS

I. All duly elected, presently serving District Committee Members and the presently serving alternate delegate, secretary and treasurer who have served as a DCM shall be candidates. Nominations from the floor shall not be recognized. (In extreme circumstances, the Committee may caucus privately if the situation warrants a nomination from the floor. In such an event, all qualified G.S.R.'s present at the Assembly will be eligible for nomination.)

II. Qualifications: 6 years continuous sobriety recommended. Minimum 75% attendance at Area meetings recommended.

III. Candidate must be present unless an extreme emergency situation exists. In this event, the absent candidate must make known to the Committee, at least one hour before the Assembly begins, his/her intent to run and his/her candidacy must be approved by the Committee in private caucus.

IV. However, any Committee member, by challenge, may request private caucus of the Committee with the nominee for the purpose of approving the nominee's qualifications or requesting him/her to withdraw his/her name.

V. Delegate may serve only one two-year term, and shall never again run for this office.

F. ALTERNATE DELEGATE

I. Runner up in the election for delegate shall serve as alternate delegate. Alternate delegate may also serve concurrently as a District Committee Member.

II. Should the delegate be unable to complete his/her term of service, the alternate delegate shall assume the delegate duties. This will not preclude his/her eligibility to be elected to serve his/her own two-year term as delegate unless he/she had assumed the delegate's duties for both years.

G. SECRETARY AND TREASURER ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS

I. All current Area Committee members and past D.C.M.'s shall be candidates. They shall be elected by a simple majority vote.

II. The runner up in the election of Secretary and Treasure are Alternates—and these Alternates shall remain Alternates with no remuneration or vote, unless they are actively serving for or permanently replacing the presently serving officer – should either of the above not be able to complete their two year term.

III. Candidate must be present unless an extreme emergency situation exists. In this event, the absent candidate must make known to the Committee, at least one hour before the Assembly begins, his/her intent to run and his/her candidacy must be approved by the Committee in private caucus.

IV. However, any Committee member, by challenge, may request private caucus of the Committee with the nominee for the purpose of approving the nominee's qualifications or requesting him/her to withdraw his/her name.

5. AREA COMMITTEE

A. The following shall be full voting members of the Area Committee:

I. The Area Delegate

II. The Alternate Delegate

III. Chairperson

IV. Co Chairperson

V. Secretary

VI. Treasurer

VII. District Committee Members

VIII. Standing Committee Chairpersons

B. The outgoing delegate shall become chairperson of the Area Committee and the Area Assembly. The Outgoing Chairperson shall become the Co Chairperson.

C. All Standing Committee Chairpersons, Public Information (PI), Cooperation with the Professional Community (CPC), Archives, Correctional Facilities, Grapevine, Kentuckiana News, Special Needs, Treatment Facilities and Registrar, will be appointed by the incoming Chairperson. These appointees will be presented for ratification by the Area Committee at the first Area Committee meeting of the new term.

D. The Area Committee shall normally meet in January, April, July and October. However, the October meeting in odd years is the Election Assembly, governed by Paragraph 4 "Election Procedures". The even year October meeting is also an Area Assembly, at which G.S.R.’s vote, as well as voting members of the Area Committee. In addition, one meeting may be held during the Kentucky State Convention. Alternate D.C.M.’ s shall vote only in the absence of the D.C.M.

E. The scheduling of the Area 26 business meetings on Saturday and Sunday is left to the presently serving Chairperson and Area Committee, in conjunction with the Hosting District. The schedule will include D.C.M., Standing Committee, Intergroup, and Host Committee reports.

F. Area 26 Treasurer will reimburse the hosting district for each Area Committee/ Assembly meeting as follows: 100% of Saturday’s meeting expense. This includes facility expense up to the close of Saturday’s Business Session. Sunday meeting expenses will be reimbursed 100%. Expenses covered include rental of the meeting facilities and coffee expense.

G. Suggested guidelines for hosting Area Committee meetings:

I. The Area Committee meeting is generally held at 9:00 AM on a Sunday morning, which has been pre-selected at a previous Area Committee meeting. The number of people in attendance varies greatly and depends on the particular location, subjects for discussion and possible elections to be held. However, there will usually be between 200 and 300 people in attendance.

II. If at all possible, the actual meeting place within the city should be at a location easily accessible to visiting attendees. Please, keep in mind the Special Needs of some of our members. Remember, people are coming from all over the Area, and will not be familiar with your city. The site should be selected as soon as possible and maps/directions sent to the Area Committee chairman so information can be forwarded to the members.

III. At the meeting, there should be enough chairs to accommodate all attendees. At least one fairly large table is needed at the head of the room for the chairperson, treasurer and secretary to use. If the room is large and a large attendance is expected, a microphone would be helpful.

IV. As with all other A.A. meetings, coffee and ashtrays are required.

V. In order to attract as many A.A. members and G.S.R.'s as possible to the Area Committee meeting, it is recommended that workshops be scheduled for the Saturday afternoon preceding the Area Committee meeting. If at all possible, an eating meeting of the local district should be held on Saturday night. It is stressed that these Saturday functions are nice to have, but are not a requirement for hosting the Area Committee business meeting.

VI. If workshops are possible, they should be held at or near the site of the Area Committee business meeting. In general, an A.A. workshop is just a large discussion meeting. The host committee should select the topics, which in this case should have something to do with A.A. service work, and have a moderator or speaker to get each workshop going in the desired direction. The local workshop will be included in the weekend schedule.

VII. If the local district is having an eating meeting in conjunction with the Area Committee meeting, its location should be provided to the Area Committee Chairperson along with the other information. The same is true if a regular A.A. meeting is being held without a prior meal, but then it would be helpful if good restaurants in the area were recommended.

VIII. Coordination should be made with the local Al-Anon groups who may desire to hold Al-Anon activities on Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning. Information on these activities, the workshops and area activities may be included with the A.A. announcements.

6. AREA ASSEMBLY

The Assembly shall meet each year, preferably in October. The specific duties of the Election Assembly are outlined on page 1, and voting members are spelled out in Paragraph 4(D). Voting members of the even year October Area Assembly are:

A. All voting members of the Area Committee (Paragraph 5).

B. Each group is entitled to one vote cast by the presently serving G.S.R., or other recognized group representative. (Note: Absentee or proxy voting shall not be valid.)

7. AREA COMMITTEE OFFICERS/DUTIES

A. CHAIRPERSON: The chairperson shall conduct all Area Committee and Area Assembly meetings; prepare and adhere to an agenda; appoint chairpersons of non permanent committees with the approval of the Area Committee; set floor rules including time limit for brief discussion of each agenda item, with the approval of the Area Committee; and in general perform the duties of the administrative office of the Area Committee. The chairperson shall also serve as ex-officio member of all committees, both permanent and temporary. In the absence of the chairperson, the co chairperson shall assume these duties.

B. SECRETARY: Keep and maintain minutes of the Area Committee and Area Assembly meetings; publish and mail to all Area Committee members the minutes of the previous meeting at least 30 days prior to the next Area Committee meeting; publish and mail to all Area Committee members the agenda of the next meeting. To avoid duplicate mailing expenses, the agenda could be mailed with the minutes of the previous meeting. Have custody of Area records and maintain the current mailing address and phone numbers of all Area Committee members. The secretary shall be reimbursed by the treasurer for expenditures necessary for the conduct of the office.

C. TREASURER: Receive contributions from the groups and other approved sources. Maintain records of monies received; maintain bank account, by depositing all receipts and making disbursements as determined by the Area Committee. The bank account signature card shall contain the signatures of the current chairperson, secretary and treasurer. All checks written at the $500.00 level and above shall require the signatures of any two of the three officers. Checks below the $500.00 level shall require the signature of the treasurer only. The treasurer shall report to the Area Committee at each meeting the current financial status of the Area Committee, with details of the income and expenditures. All financial reports are subject to the approval of the Area Committee. For clarification of Area 26 Committee financial responsibilities, the current financial Guidelines should be adhered to.

D. DELEGATE: See “The A.A. Service Manual” (Chapter 5) for Delegates Duties.

E. The Area Committee may remove any Area Committee officer by simple majority vote.

8. PERMANENT STANDING COMMITTEE

A. Correctional Facilities

B. Treatment Facilities

C. Public Information

D. Cooperation with the Professional Community

E. Grapevine

F. Kentuckiana Newsletter

G. Archives

H. Special Needs

I. Registrar

J. Website

It is suggested that each permanent committee consist of a chairperson with at least 4 years of continuous sobriety, and a workable number of committee members. Each committee shall meet at the call of its chairperson.

Reimbursement of expenditures for the conduct of business for each committee shall be made according to current financial guidelines.

9. KENTUCKY STATE CONVENTION COMMITTEE

A. The Kentucky State Convention Committee shall consist of the host committee chairmen from each city capable of hosting the state convention, i.e., Lexington, Louisville, Owensboro, Northern Kentucky, Paducah and Bowling Green. The State convention location shall rotate between these cities, adding new cities as appropriate. When a new city is added, it will be added after a full rotation, following the city that is hosting, or hosted, the convention the year during which the new city requests to be added to the rotation.

B. The Kentucky State Convention Committee will have complete responsibility for the convention. It is suggested that the committee follow the A.A. Guidelines on Conferences and Conventions.

10. AMENDMENT PROCEDURES

A. Any proposed amendment/amendments to this Structure shall be submitted in writing to the Agenda Committee for consideration at the next Area Committee Meeting. An affirmative simple majority vote of the Area Committee members present recommends that the amendment be submitted to the groups, via the G.S.R's, for ratification. Each GSR will report his/her group conscience to the DCM. The simple majority of the votes submitted to the DCM shall determine a Yes or No vote for that district. The DCM will submit his/her district vote in writing to the next Area Committee Meeting. Two thirds of the districts, present and voting, must vote yes, to constitute adoption of the amendment.

AMENDMENTS: 10/88; 04/89; 10/90; 07/91; 04/93; 10/94; 4/96; 10/96; 7/98; 1/99; 10/08