HENDERSON COUNTY REPUBLICAN PARTY
PLAN OF ORGANIZATION
March 12, 2022
PREAMBLE:
The Plan of Organization of the Henderson County Republican Party (County Plan) is adopted pursuant to the State Plan of Organization (State Plan) as set forth in those Articles of the State Plan pertaining to County Organization. This County Plan supplements the State Plan, and nothing herein shall be construed in any way inconsistent with the State Plan.
ARTICLE I – EXECUTIVE BOARD
A. In every odd-numbered year, the Henderson County Convention shall elect a Chair, a Vice-Chair, 2nd Vice Chair (optional), a Secretary, and a Treasurer who will serve as voting members of the Executive Board of the Henderson County Republican Party.
B. Members of the Executive Board will serve for a term of 2 years or until their successors are elected.
C. The Executive Board is authorized to transact the business of the Henderson County Republican Party between meetings of the Executive Committee.
ARTICLE II – DUTIES OF OFFICERS
A. Subject to the limitations contained in this Article, both the Chair and the Treasurer are authorized to sign all checks in payment for expenditures made by and on behalf of the Henderson County Republican Party, including, but not limited to, the operation of a Republican Party Headquarters, and such other expenditures as are approved by the Executive Committee or the Executive Board in accordance with the provisions of this Article.
B. Either the Chair or the Treasurer may execute checks or incur obligations for expenditures as stated above without other approval in cases where the expenditures do not exceed $100.00.
C. The Chair and the Treasurer jointly may execute checks or incur obligations for expenditures in excess of $100.00, but not exceeding $500.00.
D. For expenditures or obligations in excess of $500.00, approval of the Executive Committee must be had prior to the Chair and the Treasurer executing checks or incurring obligations for such amount.
ARTICLE III – EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
A. MEMBERSHIP
The Executive Committee of the Henderson County Republican Party shall consist of:
1. The Henderson County Republican Party Executive Board
2. All precinct chairs.
3. Those other persons named in Article III B herein below.
4. The Immediate Past HCGOP Chair for a maximum of one year after leaving office.
5. Members at large
6. Elected officials in the following offices who are Republican and live in Henderson County are voting members of the HCGOP Executive Committee. These members do not affect quorum:
a. NC State House of Representatives
b. NC State Senate
c. NC Council of State
d. NC Congressional District 14 House of Representative
e. Henderson County Clerk of Court
f. District Attorney
g. County Commissioners
h. Sheriff
i. Registrar of Deeds
j. US Senate
7. Chairs of the following committees, appointed by and serving at the pleasure of the County Chair, and approved by vote of the Executive Committee:
a. Assistant Secretary
b. Assistant Treasurer
c. Volunteer Coordinator
B. OTHER MEMBERS
1. The Executive Committee shall also include as members the president or chair of any active, NCBOE sanctioned Henderson County Republican Clubs, the State and Congressional District Party Chairmen and the State and Congressional District Presidents of the State Republican Federation, if any of those persons reside in Henderson County.
2. Up to two members at large of the HCGOP executive committee may be nominated by the Chair and approved by simple majority vote by the Executive Committee. The term of the members at large may be initiated at any time but ends with the odd year election of officers.
Members at large may serve as many terms as approved.
C. VOTING
(1) All members of the Executive Committee may vote in its meetings.
(2) Precinct Vice Chairs may vote if their Precinct Chair is absent.
(3) A person who is on the Executive Committee as an officer and a Precinct Chair will vote as an officer allowing a Precinct Vice Chair to vote.
D BOARD OF ELECTION MEMBERS
Republican County Board of Election Members are non-voting advisors to both the Executive Board and the Executive Committee.
E OTHER COMMITTEES
The following committees may be established or named to provide important organizational support.
HCGOP Oversight Committee(s)
Plan of Organization Committee - An advisory committee to assist the County Chair and Executive Committee in determining and interpreting HCGOP policies, interpretation and compliance with NCGOP policies, and proper parliamentary procedure at Executive Committee meetings.
Shared Oversight Committees: Oversight of the following committees may be shared with sanctioned
Henderson County Republican Clubs:
1. Voter Registration Committee – Conduct ongoing countywide efforts to register voters in the Republican Party.
2. Headquarters Administration Committee—Responsible for running and staffing the Party Headquarters.
3. Phone Bank Committee—responsibility for mobilizing Republican volunteers, event attendance, and likely Republican voters.
4. Other Committees to address needs as they arise.
Ad Hoc Committees: Any functional committee needed for short term projects such as the Apple Festival Committee, or Lincoln Reagan Dinner Committee etc. All committee chairs shall provide reports at Executive Committee meetings as necessary.
ARTICLE IV – TERMS OF OFFICE
The terms of county and precinct officers shall begin immediately upon the adjournment of the meeting or the convention at which they were elected.
ARTICLE V – MEETINGS
A. PRECINCT MEETINGS
1. Precinct meetings shall be held annually for purposes of electing delegates and alternate delegates to the County Convention, and, in odd-numbered years, precinct meetings shall also elect precinct officers. A quorum for such meetings shall consist of one registered Republican. In the absence of such a quorum, such precinct shall be considered unorganized. A roster signed by all persons attending such meeting shall be forwarded to the Secretary with the precinct credential form.
2. Persons who are otherwise eligible to be a District and/or State Delegate but are unable to attend the Annual Precinct Meeting due to circumstances beyond your control such as illness, travel, work schedule, etc. must contact in writing or by email the County Chair with explanation prior to the County Convention in order to be placed on the District and/ or State delegate list to be considered for election at County Convention.
B. EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEETING
1. 25% of the committee’s membership shall constitute a quorum at County Executive Committee meetings, excluding members cited in this plan as those who “shall not affect quorum”.
2. 50% of the committee’s membership shall constitute a quorum at County Executive Board meetings.
ARTICLE VI – COUNTY CONVENTIONS
A. The County Chair shall set the date for the County Convention, and shall select, with the approval of the Executive Board, a Credentials Committee, a Nomination Committee in odd-numbered years, an Audit Committee and such other committees, as shall be necessary to the functioning of the County Convention. The Chair shall set a date for the meeting of the Credentials Committee.
The responsibilities of the Nomination Committee are
1. Oversee the election of officers in odd years
2. Meet with Board candidates to explain position responsibilities and verify eligibility. The Nomination Committee does not nominate candidates.
3. The Nomination Committee shall provide names of all known candidates to all Precinct Chairs and post the names of the nominees at County Party Headquarters, or other publicly accessible site such as website if there is no County Party Headquarters at least two weeks
in advance of the County Convention.
B. The following elected Republican officials residing in Henderson County shall be accorded delegate status for the Henderson County Convention, NC district and state conventions, and as precinct delegates in the precinct in which they reside for a County Convention.
a. NC House
b. NC Senate
c. US House of Representatives
d. US Senate
C. Delegates and alternates for the County Convention are selected at the Precinct Meeting by majority vote, not to exceed state party allowance by precinct. Such Delegates and Alternates seated at the County Convention are accorded delegate status at the District and State Conventions.
ARTICLE VII – AMENDMENTS AND REVISIONS
A. The County Convention shall adopt or amend this plan not inconsistent with the State Plan.
B. This plan shall be amended by the Executive Committee within ninety days after a State Convention, if necessary, to bring it into conformance with any amendments or any new State Plan adopted at the State Convention.
C. If found to be inconsistent with the state plan the Executive Committee may amend this plan to bring into conformance, upon a 2/3 vote after providing notice of the meeting advising Executive Committee members regarding the substances of the proposed amendment and provided a quorum is present. An amendment approved in this manner will be in effect immediately but will still require approval at the next County Convention.
D. The Executive Committee may approve proposed changes to the Local Plan of Organization to present to the Convention, however all changes to the County Plan of Organization must be approved at the next County Convention in accordance with the NCGOP Plan of Organization before becoming accepted.
ARTICLE VIII – PARLIAMENTARY AUTHORITY
The latest revised Robert’s Rules of Order shall be the parliamentary authority in all matters, except when inconsistent with the State Plan or County Plan.
ARTICLE IX – NON-DISCRIMINATION REQUIREMENTS FOR OFFICE
Party officers must be legal citizens, registered Republicans and reside in Henderson County. Nothing contained herein shall prohibit nominations for party officers based on race, gender, or national origin.
ARTICLE X – PARTY DISLOYALTY
For purposes of this County Plan, “Party Disloyalty” occurs when any HCGOP official engages in these behaviors either while serving as a party official or within the 12 months prior to becoming a party official:
1. actively supporting another Party, another Party’s candidate running in opposition to a nominee of the Republican Party, or an unaffiliated candidate running in opposition to a nominee of the Republican Party, whether at the national, state or local level.
2. actively campaigning for such other Party or candidate,
3. providing goods or services to such Party or candidate for less than their market value,
4. donating labor or materials to such Party or candidate for the benefit of one or more offices established for the benefit of such Party candidate or to promote the goods of such Party or candidate,
5. regularly attending meetings of such Party or meetings on behalf of another Party’s candidate or unaffiliated candidate, except for the purpose of encouraging members to vote for Republican candidates or the Republican platform, or as a Republican candidate campaigning for office; and
6. encouraging others to engage in any of the activities listed in X (1) through (5) above.
ARTICLE XI - PRIMARY NEUTRALITY POLICY FOR EXECUTIVE BOARD MEMBERS
Executive Board Primary Rules:
A. Officers of the Executive Board shall refrain from utilizing the powers and dignity of their office or position in any Republican Primary for public office at any level.
B. Board members will take reasonable efforts to make sure that every Republican candidate has full access to the party's services including but not limited to published candidate lists, Board of Elections lists, and website postings.
ARTICLE XII – FINANCIAL CONSIDERATIONS
Reimbursements:
A. The Party has no obligation to reimburse Party officials for personal expenses regarding travel, meals, etc. Any such reimbursement must be initiated and approved by the Finance Committee and subsequently approved by the Executive Committee prior to incurring the expense for each instance before any reimbursement can be made. Both the Executive Committee and the Finance Committee must approve before this type of reimbursement is allowed.
B. Purchases made on behalf of the Party such as food, office supplies, stamps etc. must be preapproved by the HCGOP Chair if reimbursement is expected and receipts must be provided for reimbursement.
C. Receipts are needed in the event of a State Board of Elections audit and must be presented for any and all reimbursements.