ARTICLE III - CHAPTERS

A. Each Chapter shall be sanctioned and issued a Charter by the State Board at the beginning of each New Year. The Chapter shall be responsible for:

1. Having a minimum of five (5) current, active members.
2. Holding a minimum of one (1) regular monthly meeting.
3. Election of Officers, to be held in November of each year.
4. Forwarding to the State Office, the required monthly reports by the third week of the following month.
5. Record keeping of all finances, in ink in a permanent bound ledger.
6. Forwarding all monies due the State as stated in Art. IV (Dues), Sec E.
7. Maintaining a checking account, titled “ABATE of NY, Inc. ___________ Chapter”.
8. Maintain a Chapter Post Office Box.
9. Sending a minimum of one representative to each regularly scheduled State Meeting and appropriate Regional Meeting.
10. Any Chapter not in compliance with the above stated requirements shall be considered “Not in Good Standing”.

B. A Chapter “In Good Standing” has met all of the requirements in Art. III (Chapters), Sec. A.

C. A Chapter that has been deemed “Not in Good Standing”, shall:

1. Have no voting privileges at any State or Regional Meeting.
2. Have no liability insurance coverage.

D. Any action taken against a chapter for failure to comply with the above stated requirements must first be reviewed by the State Board and all possible efforts made to remedy the problem.

1. All members of said chapter will be notified of their Chapter Officers failure to comply.
2. The State Board may freeze the Chapters assets.
3. The State Board may place the Chapter in “Not in Good Standing” status.
4. The State Board may bring the Chapter up for termination as stated in Art. V - Chapter Termination.

E. All records in Art. III (Chapters), Sec. A, Subs. 4, 5 and 7, are the property of ABATE of NY, Inc. and must be accessible for review at any time by the State Board. Failure to do so can result in legal actions at the Chapters expense.

F. New Chapters:

1. Potential Chapters for ABATE of NY Inc. may be formed by the Region Coordinators and their District Coordinators. Upon the Coordinator’s recommendations to the State Board, the new Chapter representatives must present themselves at the next regularly scheduled State Board or State Chapter Meeting for approval and sanctioning.
2. Must have five (5) or more individuals that are interested.
3. All of Art. III (Chapters), Sec. A.
4. Chapter Affiliation Dues shall be waived for the first year.
5. May request, through their District Coordinator, Two Hundred Fifty Dollars ($250.00) in “Start-Up Funds” from the State Board. Advanced funds are to be repaid to the State Board within six (6) months.

G. Chapters do not have the option of adopting Chapter By-Laws.
H. Pursuant to applicable law, chapters may not own real estate.