Barony of Smoking Rocks

Articles of Charter

New section in red is pending approval by EK Seneschal

            I.         General Organization

            The Barony of Smoking Rocks (hereafter called the Barony) is a part of the East Kingdom (EK) of The Society for Creative Anachronism, Inc. (SCA) and will conform with all the SCA’s Laws, precedence rulings, etc. as specified by the Board of Directors of the SCA and with the East Kingdom Book of Laws. If any article of this charter should conflict with SCA or EK Law, SCA and EK Law will supercede that article.

II.                   Officers

A. Officers are as defined in the SCA Corpora and in the EK Book of Laws. The Barony must maintain a full slate of officers as defined in those documents.

B. The Members of the Barony may create offices in addition to those mandated by the SCA and Kingdom at need so long as such creation is not contrary to SCA Corpora and EK Book of Laws.

C. Officers are encouraged to take deputies. Said deputies should serve in that capacity at least six months before being allowed to hold office except during times of emergency in order to give them adequate training time.

D. Officers must be members of the SCA and reside within the Barony.

E. Officers are chosen by the vote of the Barony members at a business meeting and approved by the seneschal and by their kingdom and/or regional superior.

F. Officers may be removed from office by the vote of the Barony members at a business meeting and approved by the seneschal and by their kingdom superior and/or regional superior as specified by Kingdom Law, unless it is the seneschal being removed in which case the vote of the Barony’s members must be approved by the kingdom and/or regional seneschal as specified by Kingdom Law.

G. Officers are expected to attend business meeting on a regular basis.

H. Officers should file copies of their reports to their kingdom and/or regional superiors with the seneschal of the Barony.

III.                  The Titular Head of the Barony

A. The responsibilities, prerogatives and limitations of the Title and Office of Baron and/or Baroness of Smoking Rocks (Henceforth Baron/ess) are as defined in Corpora and Kingdom Law. The Office may be held by one person or by a couple jointly as outlined below.

B. The Baron/ess is elected by the Barony membership and is ratified by the Crown. The election to take place according to the EK Book of Laws in the following manner:

                                                                          i.      When an election of a new Baron/ess is to be held it will be the Seneschal’s duty to publicly request nominations for candidates. Nominations will be submitted in writing at or prior to a special meeting to be held at least sixty days after the call for nominations. Acceptance by the nominees must be made in writing by or during that meeting as well.

 

                                                                        ii.      Candidates may be individuals or couples.  A candidate subsequently elected as an individual will hold the title of Baron or Baroness is his or her own right. A couple will hold the title jointly. If one member of a couple resigns, both must resign. That would not preclude the remaining title holder from running again immediately. A candidate elected as an individual may not share his or her tenure in office. He or she may, however, stand for an additional election with a chosen partner.

 

                                                                      iii.      The administration and counting of said ballots will be as specified by EK custom and law. Similarly all details pertaining to the polling, design of ballots, results of the election, etc, are as specified in the EK Book of Laws.

                                   iv.   In the event that a candidate is not decisively selected on the first round of ballots (as per kingdom law), nominations for Baron/ess will be reopened for at least thirty days. Nominees from the first round may run again, if nominated. This process will be repeated until a candidate can be chosen or it appears a cooling off period is deemed necessary by the kingdom seneschal.

v.   Alternatively, if there are so many candidates that no one candidate can get even a simple majority of the votes, a run-off election may be held between the top two candidates, if approved of by the kingdom seneschal.

vi.  The kingdom seneschal may suggest other options should the above processes not produce a valid candidate for Baron/ess. The sitting Baron/ess and/or baronial seneschal will work with the kingdom seneschal to devise a fair means to resolve problems with the nomination procedure and other baronial officers and members may be chosen by the Baron/ess and/or baronial seneschal to participate in such problem resolution should it be deemed beneficial.

C. The Barony will hold elections for Baron/ess in the manner described in EK Law.  A Baron/ess may
 honorably resign at any time and may be removed as per the EK Book of Laws.
 
 D.  A Baron/ess' term is for three years.  A baron/ess may sit up to two consecutive terms after which he/she must sit out for at least one term before running for election again.

 

IV.               Business Meetings

A. The purpose of a business meeting is to conduct the official business of the Barony.

B. At least four baronial officers must be present for a meeting to be official.

C. Matters which must be decided at a business meeting include, but are not limited to, the election of officers, decisions on official actions such as hosting an event, and decisions on the spending of Barony moneys.

D. Business meetings are held not less than twelve times per year, weather and other emergencies permitting, at a time and place previously publicized with adequate notice.

E. Business meetings are chaired by the seneschal, if present, or by a person appointed by him.

F. Full discussion of all agenda items is encouraged.

 

V.                 Other Customs

The existence of these articles in written form does not invalidate any other Barony customs members of the Barony may wish to observe.

 

VI.               Emendation

A. The articles of this document may be emended by the vote of the membership at a business meeting, provided that at least seventy-five percent of the voting members present approve.

B. Votes on minor emendations may be taken at any business meeting, but if the Chairperson or at least thirty-three percent of the members present deem the matter to be important enough then it can only be decided after all members have been given sufficient time to consider the proposed emendation and to have the opportunity to cast their votes.

C. Under no circumstances may an important emendation be made with less than one month’s notice.

D. All emendations will be submitted in writing to the East Kingdom Seneschal.