THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF PROFESSIONAL CANINE HANDLERS

BYLAWS

(updated 01/01/2025)

ARTICLE 1: NAME

Henceforth this Association shall be known as National Association of Professional Canine Handlers (DBA: NAPCH) a non-profit corporation.

ARTICLE 2: OBJECTIVES

The purpose of NAPCH shall be to educate, train, support, and improve the abilities and image of all professional working dogs and handlers.

A: To create and maintain a set of performance standards that are legally, tactically, and physically accepted nationwide for both handler and dog. These standards shall be detailed in NAPCH standard operating procedures (SOP) manual.

B: The NAPCH Executive Committee shall set certification requirements as listed in the standard operating procedure manual 

ARTICLE 3: Location

NAPCH shall maintain a principal office with a mailing address, to be determined by the sitting president.

ARTICLE 4: Membership.

A: Initial Members

The initial membership of the Association shall consist of those persons who signed the articles of incorporation as incorporators.

B: Regular Members

Any individual who is a full time paid canine handler, including but not limited to Law Enforcement, corrections, military, security, executive protection, fire service, or canine administrator may be approved as a member. NAPCH Members, Trainers, and Master Trainers who retire in good standing may maintain membership. Only regular members shall be entitled to vote, certify and to hold office.

Approval of application, is proof members agree to abide by these by laws, standard operating procedures, and all rules adopted by the executive committee. Application process shall be created and detailed in NAPCH standard operating procedures Manual. 

 C: Associate Members

Individuals who do not meet the requirements for regular membership. Individuals who have demonstrated at least 3 years of continuous service devoted to the Associations objectives (Article 2) may be considered for Associate member status. An applicant for associate membership must be sponsored by a regular member in good standing. Application process shall be created and detailed in NAPCH standard operating procedures.  The application shall be evaluated and decided upon by the Executive committee, whose decision to approve or reject the applicant shall be final. An associate member shall not be entitled to vote or to hold office. Associate members may attend and participate in Association workshops upon approval by the President of the Association. Associate members may certify in non-aggressive areas such as, non-aggressive find area search, tracking, obedience, and article search upon approval by the President.

D: Membership Status Changes

Members whose workplace changes adversely affect their Regular Membership status will be given one year to meet membership requirements.  Within which time it will be the members responsibility to provide evidence of compliance with Article 4(B). A Failure to do so within the 12 months shall result in the cancellation of Regular Membership.

E: Termination of Membership Status

Members may lose membership status for conduct unbecoming a member, (see Article 12-Grievance Procedure), violation of these bylaws, violation of SOPs, or the nonpayment of dues.

ARTICLE 5: EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

It is the duty of the NAPCH executive committee to, at all times, represent and promote the organization and its members in a positive manor. The NAPCH executive committee shall perform all duties of a governing committee including, but not limited to, set training and certification standards, maintain records of finance, membership, meetings, events, organize events, and grow the NAPCH organization.

The Executive Committee of NAPCH shall consist of the following positions, each of which shall be elected by the regular membership for a term of four (4) years:

A. President. The President shall be the chief executive officer of NAPCH. The President shall preside at all Executive Committee meetings. The president shall set a minimum of two regular executive committee meetings per-calendar year. The President shall see all orders and resolutions of the Executive Committee are carried into effect. The President shall have the general powers of supervision and management usually vested in the chief executive officer of an association, including but not limited to the appointment of formation of committees.

B. Vice President – United States. The Vice President – United States, shall be responsible for the coordination of all matters affecting those members who reside within the United States and shall, in the absence or disability of the President, perform the duties and exercise the powers of the President, equally with any other Vice President, and shall perform any other duties that the Executive Committee or the President may from time to time prescribe.

C. Vice President – Canada. The Vice President – Canada, shall be responsible for the coordination of all matters affecting those members who reside within Canada and shall, in the absence or disability of the President, perform the duties and exercise the powers of the President equally with any other Vice President, and shall perform any other duties that the Executive Committee or the President may from time to time prescribe.

D. Secretary. The Secretary shall (1) attend all meetings of the Executive Committee and record all votes and minutes of all proceedings in written and audio format of his/her choosing, and make available these minutes upon request by any NAPCH member, to be kept for that purpose; (2) give or cause to be given notice of all meetings of the general membership and the Executive Committee; and (3) perform the other duties usually performed by the secretary of an association. Record and maintain a standard operating procedure manual (SOP) in a written format of his/her choosing.

E. Treasurer. The Treasurer shall (1) have the custody of the NAPCH funds and securities; (2) keep full and accurate accounts of receipts and disbursements in books of NAPCH; and (3) deposit all moneys and other valuable effects in the name and to the credit of NAPCH in such depositories designated by the Executive Committee. The treasurer shall render to the president and directors, whenever they may require it, an account of his or her transactions as treasurer and of the financial condition of NAPCH finances. The treasurer shall present a printed report of all deposits and expenditures for review by the executive committee at each regular committee meeting. The Treasurer shall make available all financial records at any time upon request of any executive committee member.

F. Membership Chairperson. The Membership Chairperson shall head the Membership Committee, and shall be responsible for keeping records of membership applications, membership application approvals or rejections, dues payments and late fees, changes in membership status, and other membership records and shall report to the Executive Committee at every regular Executive Committee meeting.

G. Accreditation Chairperson. The Accreditation Chairperson shall head the Accreditation Committee, and shall be responsible for keeping records regarding all matters of accreditation of members, and shall report to the Executive Committee at every Executive Committee.

H. Trustees There shall be four Trustees. Trustees shall be elected and shall interface between the Association and various third parties. Trustees shall devote their time to (1) learning of ways to improve the image of the Association within the canine handler community generally, (2) promoting the work of the Association to the general public, (3) encouraging the support of other organizations and institutions both public and private for the efforts of the Association, (4) promoting cooperation between the Association and other organizations with similar goals, and (5) making recommendations to the Executive Committee, based upon their experiences with those outside of the Association.

ARTICLE 5: ELECTIONS

A. All candidates for office shall be nominated at the General Membership meeting at the National Training Workshop in the year of the elections. During the general membership meeting anyone nominated for an elected office, who accepts that nomination, may immediately stand up and address the general membership, telling them why he/she wants to be elected, what his/her qualifications for that office are and what he/she proposes to accomplish if elected to that office. The general membership may ask questions of the nominee at that time. Nominees may submit a single page summary of their qualifications, their reason for seeking office and their proposed agenda if elected. Mail in nominations will be accepted as long as the nomination is accompanied by (1) written consent of the nominee, and (2) the signature of the regular member making the nomination.

B. Elections will be conducted electronically by a company not owned / operated by a NAPCH member. Members shall receive their ballots via the Email they provide to NAPCH. Results of an election shall be reported via email to all executive committee members.

C. Newly elected officers shall take office at the next regularly scheduled Executive Committee meeting, commonly referred to as the spring meeting.

D. The election of officers shall take place Every two years

E. No member who is elected to serve as an Executive Committee member of NAPCH shall hold any other elected office within any other national or international canine association.

ARTICLE 6: OATH OF OFFICE

Officers will take office by taking the following oath: “I (insert first and last name) do hereby promise to fulfill my term as (insert office title) in a manner which is in keeping with the goals and bylaws of this Association, and to remain honest in the execution of my duties.”

The President shall swear in each new officer(s) will follow with: “I do hereby declare (insert first and last name) to be the duly elected (insert office title) of the National Association of Professional Canine Handlers for the year ending December 31, 20**, or until he/she is removed, resigns, or is otherwise replaced.

ARTICLE 7: MEETINGS

A quorum, 2/3rds (8 members), shall be required to conduct a meeting of the Executive Committee. The President shall call at least two regular meetings of the Executive Committee during the calendar year. Date, time and location for the meetings shall be upon by a majority of the Executive Committee.

There shall be at least one annual meeting of the general membership and at least one annual Association training workshop. Dates, times, and locations for these meetings shall be established by a majority of the Executive Committee, and members shall be given at least 30 days advance notice of such meetings. Notice of general membership meeting shall be given by email to all regular members. The annual Membership meeting and annual training workshop may be canceled with a 2/3 Majority vote of the Executive Committee due to unforeseen circumstances, I.e. Covid19 pandemic. The reason for the cancellation shall be disseminated by the Executive Committee within 30 days of the scheduled meeting/workshop.  

Meetings shall be conducted according to Robert’s Rules of Order.

ARTICLE 8: BYLAWS

The President may appoint a By Laws Committee, composed of not less than two regular members to study and make recommendations on amendments to the By Laws. If recommendations for amendments are made, the Executive Committee shall consider those recommendations and notify the regular members of any amendments under consideration, no less than 30 days prior to the annual meeting of the general membership. At the general membership meeting, a voice vote will be taken among the regular members, to approve or reject any proposed amendment.

ARTICLE 9: DUES

All members will be required to pay annual dues of $25.00 ($35.00 starting 01/01/2024) which starts on the Membership date. The Membership Chairperson shall e-mail dues notices to all members six months after expiration. If the Membership Chairman does not receive a response from the overdue Member in 60 days a final written notice will be sent to the Members listed residence.  If there is no response from the Member 30 days after the written mailing the Membership Chairman will list the Member as terminated.  Members shall mail their dues payment, or use the website's Pay-Pal feature, directly to the Membership Chairperson. After recording the amount received, and date received, the Membership Chairperson shall forward all monies received to the Treasurer. The Membership Chairperson will issue a membership card to each new member whose dues are paid.

A $10.00 late fee will be assessed to any member whose dues are received after 90 days of expiration. A $50.00 service charge will be assessed for any check which is dishonored. The certifications and membership status of any member will be suspended until the dishonored payment has been replaced.

The Membership Chairperson may provide other members, or Committees with a current membership, mailing list upon the approval of the President.

ARTICLE 10: SERGEANT AT ARMS

The President may, at his discretion, appoint a member to serve as a Sergeant at Arms during any meeting of the Association. The Sergeant at arms will maintain order according to Robert’s rules.

ARTICLE 11: CONDUCT OF MEETINGS

A. The President, or his designee, shall serve as Chair of the meeting. Any member desiring to be heard shall rise and address the Chair. No member shall speak until properly recognized by the Chair. No resolutions can come before the meeting unless properly moved, recorded, and declared upon for discussion by the Chair.

B. Any regular member shall be entitled to call for a vote on a motion duly made and seconded. Members voting on the motion shall identify themselves by name at the time of their vote to assist in the recording of the votes. Members may abstain from voting.

C. A member may move to have an approved motion reconsidered. Such a motion must be made immediately after the motion is approved. A motion to reconsider will only carry if approved by a majority of the members present.

D. When a point of order is raised by any member, a person having the floor shall take his/her seat until the point of order is decided by the Chair, after which the speaker may resume his/her remarks if proper in light of the ruling by the Chair.

E. No subject which is tabled shall be brought up again at the meeting unless it was so understood when tabled. A member may challenge the ruling of the Chair by raising the question “Shall the decision of the Chair be sustained?” A voice vote of the members shall decide the issue.

ARTICLE 12: GRIEVANCES

Any Regular Member, in good standing, may file a grievance against any other Member or Officer of NAPCH. Any member accused through a grievance shall be presumed innocent.

The grievance must be filed with the President on the NAPCH Grievance Form and must be accompanied by a $25.00 grievance fee.

The President MAY appoint a Grievance Committee to hear the grievance. A copy of the grievance with the name of the grievant redacted shall be furnished to the Member who is the subject of the Grievance by the President or approved Grievance Chair.

An Executive Committee member who is the subject of a grievance must abstain from participating in the determination of that grievance.

The Member who is the subject of the grievance may submit to the President, or Grievance Chair, a written response within seven (7) days of receiving the grievance. The written response may request to appear before the President, Executive Board, or Grievance Committee, to respond to questions.

Neither the grievance nor written response may be distributed to the other Association Members or third parties (subject to disciplinary action for doing so).

The President, Executive Board, or Grievance Committee may interview witnesses and consider other evidence as part of the investigation.

Within thirty days of receiving the grievance, the Executive Committee shall render a final decision finding the Grievance “established” or “not established”.

A copy of the final determination shall be promptly furnished to the Member filing the Grievance and the Member who is the subject of the Grievance.

The ruling of the Executive Committee shall be final and there shall be no appeal of the finding or of the disciplinary action assigned.

In the event a grievance is “established”, the processing fee will be refunded to the member filing the grievance. If the grievance is “not established” the fee will be retained.

Disciplinary action may include the temporary suspension of privileges, censure, expulsion or any other appropriate action deemed by the Executive Committee.

 If the Executive Committee finds that a member, in preferring charges against another member, did so for spurious reasons out of improper motives and if the charges are wholly false, and without proper foundation, then the Executive Committee may, if it desires, take appropriate disciplinary action against the complainant.

No disciplinary action shall be taken against a member, be he/she the complainant or accused, unless the member shall have been afforded the opportunity of a hearing before the Grievance Committee with the right of appeal to the Executive Committee.

Every member shall be presumed innocent of misconduct and disciplinary action shall be taken against a member only if he/she is found guilty of misconduct by evidence that is clear, precise and indubitable.

Article 13:   CODE OF ETHICS

Section A:   The application for membership shall provide that the applicant, if approved, agrees to abide by these By Laws and All rules adopted by the Executive Committee.  He/she agrees to abide by the Code of Ethics.

Section B:   No member will act in a manner prejudicial to NAPCH or to the best interests of NAPCH. All NAPCH members will conduct themselves with integrity, Honesty, and respect. No member will knowingly falsify any record or document in connection with the certification of a dog. In any exhibition or workshop no member will conduct himself/herself otherwise then in accordance with the highest traditions and standards of fair play and good sportsmanship.