By-Laws and Rulebook

---

UTAH STATE WESTERN RIDING CLUBS ASSOCIATION BY-LAWS

(Incorporated: March, 1948; Last Amended: June 2022)

Article 1 – NAME OF ORGANIZATION: It is understood and agreed that the association shall be known and designated for all purposes as the Utah State Western Riding Club Association, Inc. (USWRCA) and that said association shall exist for the period of 100 years from the date of this incorporation unless sooner dissolved according to the law (2012).

Article 2 – PURPOSE OF THE ASSOCIATION: The purpose of the association shall be to promote the interest and love of all people for the horse, and in particular the western riding horse, and to teach all of the association members and the public different ways to enjoy the riding horse. The purpose of this association as is set forth above is to promote civic interest in the western type saddle horse and to conduct and manage shows, parades, exhibitions and all types of amusement connected with the western type saddle horse for the pleasure of the members and the general public.

Article 3 – NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATION

SECTION 1 (ASSOCIATION STATEMENT): (2012) The association shall be a non-profit organization and any funds available will be used for public benefit and no profits shall be distributed to any member or members of this club, with the exception of the estate secretary and the state treasure (Feb 2014).

SECTION 2 (501 (C) 3): (2012) No part of the net earnings of the organization shall inure to the benefit of, or the distributable to the members, trustees, offices, or other private persons, except that the organization shall be authorized and empowered to pay reasonable compensation for services rendered and to make payments and distributions in furtherance of the purposes set forth in the purpose clause hereof. No substantial part of the activities of the organization shall be the carrying on of propaganda, or otherwise attempting to influence legislation, and the organization shall not participate in, or intervene in (including the publishing or distribution of statements) any political campaign on behalf of any candidate for public offices. Notwithstanding any other provision of this document, the organization shall not carry on any other activities not permitted to be carried on by an organization exempt from federal income tax under section 501 (C) (3) of the Internal Revenue Code, or corresponding section of any future federal tax code, or corresponding section of any future federal tax code.

SECTION 3 (501 (C) 3): (2012) Said organization is organized exclusively for charitable, religious, educational and scientific purposes; including for such purposes, the making of distributions to organizations that qualify for as exempt organizations under section 501 (C) (3) of the Internal Revenue code, or corresponding section of any future federal tax code.

SECTION 4 (DISSOLUTION): (2012) Upon the dissolution of the organization, assets shall be distributed for one or more exempt purposes within the meaning of section 501 (C) (3) of the Internal Revenue code, or corresponding section of any future federal tax code, or shall be distributed to the federal government, or to a state or local government, for a public purpose. Any such assets not disposed of shall be disposed of by the Court of Common Pleas of the county in which the principal office of the organizations, as said Court shall determine, which are organized exclusively by such purposes.

ARTICLE 4 – PLACE OF BUSINESS: The principle office and place of business shall be Salt Lake City, Utah. Meetings of the board of directors for the transaction of association business may be held at any other place in the state of Utah, as designated by the presiding president and/or current directors.

ARTICLE 5 – CLUB RECORDS: The records of this association shall be kept at the principle office of the club (retained for seven years) and shall be available at all reasonable times for inspection by any member or officer in good standing.

ARTICLE 6 – BOARD OF DIRECTORS

SECTION 1 (DISTRICTS & Directors): The state of Utah will be divided into districts. The association shall be under the general direction and control of a board of directors consisting of two representatives appointed from each district. In decision making matters each district representative (also termed a board of director) is entitled to one vote if they are present. The term of directors shall be for two years. All directors must be on a current club roster for those two years (1998). The number of districts and the boundary of each district shall be determined from time to time by the board of directors.

SECTION 2 (ATTENDANCE AT MEETINGS): In order for this association to carry on and achieve its purposes, it shall be deemed a necessary prerequisite that all directors attend the director’s meetings. In the event that a director is absent for an aggregate of three meetings in the course of a year, the board of directors shall have the power and authority to divest said person of his or her directorship, and the board of directors may appoint a successor.

SECTION 3 (DIRECTORS MEETINGS): The state offices shall meet on the second Tuesday of each month. At each such meeting the place and time of the next monthly meeting shall be determined and announced. (2017) There shall be no meetings held in October (2011) and December (1991) of each year.

ARTICLE 7 – STATE OFFICES

SECTION 1 (STATE OFFICERS): The association shall elect the following officers each year at the annual meeting held in January:

1. State President

2. 1stVice President

3. 2ndVice President

 (Feb. 2017)

5. State Judge

6. State Steward

The State President, Vice Presidents and Stewards must be current members of the board of directors (Feb 2012). The State President shall be elected on a rotating basis from a different region each year. It shall rotate from the South Region, (Feb. 2017), to the North Region. The 1st Vice President must be elected from the same region as the current president of that year and will serve as their region president as well (Feb 2012). The 2nd Vice President must be elected from the region that will have the state president for the next year and will serve as that region’s president (Feb 2012).  (Feb 2017). The State Judge must be a current USWRCA judge’s card holder and member of the association. The State Judge will attend all Board of Director meetings until released. A State Treasurer will be elected for a four year term. The State Treasurer must be a current member of the association and attend all board meetings during his/her term of service (Feb 2012). A State Secretary shall be appointed by the State President. A State Historian may also be appointed by the State President. 

SECTION 2 (STATE OFFICER DUTIES): The duties of the State President shall be to preside at all regular or special meetings of the association. The State President shall become ex-official member of all committees and shall be permitted but not required to attend or be counted a member of a quorum. The Vice- Presidents shall assist the State President in all matters pertaining to the organization and shall have responsibility of his/her respective region. In the absence of the State President, the First Vice President shall preside. In the case of resignation or death of the State President, the First Vice President shall become President for the remainder of the term. The State Judge shall oversee, train, and officially certify all judges. The State Judge will hold an annual meeting to accomplish these purposes. The State Judge should also hold a Judges’ Clinic as able. The State Steward is to train district and region stewards to oversee events. The State Judge and State Steward will attend all board of director meetings until released. The State Treasurer shall handle all funds for the state organization in compliance with Article 10 of the by-laws (Feb, 2012). A financial accounting will be made available by the Treasurer at all board of director meetings (Feb, 2012). It shall be the duty of the State Secretary to keep record of all meetings of the association and to maintain a current register or roster of all members of the state organization. The register shall include the name, address, telephone number, and official title of every member of the organization. It shall be the duty of the secretary to send out notices of all meetings, or other correspondence, when necessary except as otherwise provided. It shall be the duty of the Historian to keep a history of the USWRCA.

SECTION 3 (BACKFILLING THE PRESIDENT): (Nov, 1998): When a director is elected to the office of State President, the district the officer is from may appoint a new director to serve for the next year in the place of the new State President. After the year is over, the new director will step down, and the past president resumes his/her place. The new director may take office at the February meeting.

SECTION 4 (TREASURER BONDED):  (Feb 2017). The board of directors may appoint or employ such other persons or officers as it deems appropriate to promote the best interests of the association. 

SECTION 5 (SECRETARY'S AND TREASURER’S FEE): The secretary's fee shall be established by the board of directors each year and paid after the audit of the books. The secretary’s fee to be paid for the year 2012 is zero dollars ($0.00) (Feb, 2012). $300 to be paid to both the State Secretary and State Treasurer a year for the year of 2014 after the completed year (Feb 2014).

ARTICLE 8 – OTHER OFFICES

SECTION 1 (DISTRICT OFFICERS): Each district shall elect a District President. Each District President shall appoint a District Secretary to record all minutes, activities and events and to be responsible for the receipts and disbursements of all money or things of value of the district which he/she represents.

SECTION 2 (CLUB OFFICERS): Each constituent club shall elect a Club President and also a Club Secretary who shall cooperate with and work under the direction of the District President in all matters relating to the formulation and performance of the district program.

SECTION 3 (HEAD STEWARD): A Head Steward (must be director of that current year) be will be appointed for all USWRCA competitions. They will be available at each event for decision making and rule book interpretation (Feb, 2012).

ARTICLE 9 - ANNUAL MEETING: The state organization shall sponsor an annual business meeting in conjunction with the regular board of directors meeting in January. (The first meeting was held on January 22, 1949.) The place will be determined by the state officers. The annual business meeting of the association shall be held at the hour of 7:00 P.M. It shall be the duty of the directors of each district to notify the President and Secretary of the said constituent clubs to give reasonable notice to their members of the said annual meeting.

ARTICLE 10 - DISBURSMENT OF FUNDS: All funds of the state organization shall be deposited in a bank of the Treasurer’s choice with the approval of the board of directors. All checks drawn on the account shall be signed by any of the two: President or Vice President and Treasurer. All expenses shall be paid by check. All expenditures of the state funds shall be approved by the board of directors.

ARTICLE 11 - RULES

SECTION 1 (RULES AND REGULATIONS): The board of directors may promulgate rules and regulations which shall not be contrary to these articles of incorporation and which said rules and regulations shall be binding upon this club and the constituents thereof. The board of directors shall have the power to formulate or approve all rules for district, region, and state competitive activities or events. It shall be mandatory that all constituent clubs recognize and publicize their affiliation with USWRCA in their advertising or publicity promotion. Rule to book arenas for two years at a time (Feb. 2020)

SECTION 2 (RULEBOOK AND RULE CHANGES): (May, 2001) The board of directors shall publish a rule book for all members every  five (Feb. 2020) years. It shall contain the rules and regulations for those years. Any changes that are made shall be made only if they are a safety issue for the participants. Any other major changes must be made on rule book years. If an event is added to the rule book, an event must be dropped.

SECTION 3 (JUDGED & STOCK EVENTS): These activities may be governed according to the by-laws of the existing prominent association such as AQHA, PRCA, NCHA, or NRHA. Copy from their rule books and incorporate them into the USWRCA rule book by the board of directors.

SECTION 4 (EVENTS PARADES, & DRILLS): The water race, hide race, keyhole, pole bending, trailer race, potato race, parade, and drill shall be governed by the board of directors of the USWRCA. Any checks issued to a club or member is misplaced and needs a new one issued there will be a $25 fee to reissue. (April 2020)

SECTION 5 (PROTESTS): Any and all protests shall be directed in writing to the board of directors of the USWRCA no later than the next event, and must be accompanied by a $75.00 deposit which must be presented by a club president or district director (Feb, 2006). A protest may not be filed pertaining to a judge’s decision when placing contestants. No video records or pictures to be used. (June 2020) A majority vote shall determine the action to be taken regarding the protest. Protestants shall be notified in writing or verbally of the decision of the board. If a protest is lost, the $75.00 deposit is not refunded (Feb, 2006). If a protest is won, it shall be refunded. All decisions on protests are final and may not be appealed (Jun, 2006).

ARTICLE 12 - CONSTITUENT RIDING CLUBS: Constituent riding clubs may become associated with the above organization by filing with the secretary thereof a resolution duly passed by the said constituent organization accepting the articles of incorporation, by-laws, and other obligations incident to the membership of the Utah State Western Riding Club Association. Each constituent shall be subject in the premises to all obligations properly imposed upon constituent members as set forth in the by-laws. Such constituent clubs shall only be eligible for membership upon the approval of the board of directors. The board of directors shall take into consideration the articles of incorporation, constituent, and by-laws of said constituent riding club, looking to uniformity of practice and procedure as far as convenient. In order for a constituent riding club to become associated with this club, it must make application therefore in writing and said application shall with the membership fee, which said fee shall be fixed by the board of directors. Until otherwise determined said fee shall be $50.00 (Feb, 2004). The board of directors shall promptly accept or reject the said application. Any organized western riding club or the state of Utah may make application to become a member of this state organization. Such application must be recommended and approved by the district supervisor of the district in which the club is located. All such applications shall list the complete roster of the members and officers of the applicant club, their names, addresses, and telephone numbers. Only persons whose names are on the state roster by the second Tuesday in July of the present year shall be eligible to participate in events (Jun, 2012).

ARTICLE 13 - FEES

SECTION 1 (DUES): The annual dues of each club to belong to the state organization shall be a sum of $50.00 (Feb, 2004). The annual dues for each member shall be State fee of $25.00 (Feb. 2020) and Region fee of $15 – starting 2023 (June 2022). All rosters, club dues, and member dues shall become due and payable to the state secretary by, on or before the second Tuesday in June (Aug, 2011), and are delinquent after said date. 

SECTION 2 (LATE DUES): If a club does not pay annual dues and turn in a roster by the second Tuesday in June, the club will not be able to participate in USWRCA events for that year (Jun, 2012). Members of a club may be added to or traded on the rosters until the  31stof (2017) July (Jun, 2012). To have an addition and/or trade completed; however, a $10.00 fee will be assessed for each addition or trade that occurs during this time frame (Jun, 2012). Deletions from the roster will not be accepted and no dues will be returned once paid to the state organization (Jun, 2012). 

SECTION 3 (NON PAYMENT OF FEES): (May, 2001) It is the district's responsibility to collect fees and dues from their clubs and club members before paying these dues to the state. If the district fails to do this, but pays state dues from the district funds and then cannot collect the money from the club, the money shall not be refunded by the state.

ARTICLE 14 - OFFICIAL COLORS/SEAL: The state organization shall adopt as their official colors blue and gold. An appropriate seal will be provided for the use of the state officers which shall be circular in form, shall be approximately the size of a fifty (50) cent piece and shall have the name of the organization around the border and an outline map of the state of Utah and a picture of the western saddle horse in the center. The official seal shall be affixed to all official papers executed on behalf of the organization by the state officers. Official shirt of the officers shall be a western style shirt the body of which shall be cobalt blue with gold piping. The tie shall be western type color of which shall be gold. An appropriate arm band insignia depicting the club seal shall be affixed to the left sleeve of the shirt.

ARTICLE 15 - JUDGES: To be a certified USWRCA judge, one must be a member of the state organization and hold a judge's card. For a judge to retain a judge's card he/she must be on the roster and attend a scheduled judge's clinic or meeting at least once every other year (May, 2012). To receive a judge's card an apprentice judge must be a roster member, must attend the annual judge's clinic, judge two District or Region or State (May 2022) shows in the same year with two different qualified judges, and be recommended by them. Names and addresses of each judge shall be certified by the state secretary after the annual judges’ meeting. Compensation for judges will be determined by the board of directors. Currently for District Shows, judges shall be paid fifty dollars plus mileage one way at the rate of $0.62 per mile to be paid by the district. Region shows shall be paid at the rate of seventy-five dollars plus mileage one way at the rate of $0.62 per mile (March 2023). The state or district organizations shall not be responsible for motel rooms retained by the judges (May, 2001). Outside judges can be presented to the State board at the May meeting to be voted on to be used at the region and state shows (May 2022).

ARTICLE 16 – COMPETITIONS

SECTION 1 (PARTICIPANTS): All participants in district, region, or state meets and events must be certified by the constituent club’s president and also by the district's secretary. Each District President shall notify the State Secretary as to all intended meets to be carried out in his or her respective district. Such notice shall be sent to the State Secretary by the 30th day of April each year.

SECTION 2 (LEGAL HORSES): All horses competing in any and all state meets must be owned by the club members prior to June of said year.

ARTICLE 17 (CLUB EXPULSION): Expulsion of any club from the state organization may be made at any time for the following reason or for any other legitimate reasons as may be determined by a majority vote of the board of directors at a regular meeting: 

1. Nonpayment of dues

2. Intoxication of or smoking by any club member while competing in District, Region or State events.

3. Ungentlemanly, unladylike, or unsportsmanlike like acts of any club member.

4. Vicious or cruel treatment of any horse by any club member at any time.

5. Willful failure of any club to comply with any reasonable request of the state organization.

Prior to expulsion of any club, such club will be entitled to a proper hearing at least ten days prior to the date of the meeting of the board. The expelled club shall forfeit all of its rights, title, or interest in and to the property and assets of this association unless otherwise ordered by the board of directors.

ARTICLE 18 (MEMBER EXPULSION): (Jun, 2006) Any unsportsmanlike conduct by a club member toward any member, judge, steward, timer, or secretary shall be grounds for expulsion of said member from the USWRCA. Membership may also be terminated for criminal activity or other contempt to the association. Expulsion from the association shall be for one year from the date of the infraction. Prior to expulsion the member will be entitled to a proper hearing at least ten days prior to the date of the meeting of the board. The expelled member shall forfeit all of his/her rights, title, or interest in and to the property and assets of this association unless otherwise ordered by the board of directors.

ARTICLE 19 (AUDIT CUSTODIAN): The board of directors shall at their discretion appoint three people to audit all money and properties of the association. The audit shall be at least 10 days prior to the annual meeting. A detailed audit report shall be given at the annual meeting by the chairman of this committee. The State Treasurer shall be custodian of the association money and properties and shall be accountable thereof (Feb, 2012). Audits shall be performed using appropriate accounting principles including official bank statements and receipts (Feb, 2012). 

ARTICLE 20 (AMEND THE BY-LAWS): The board of directors shall have authority to adopt by-laws for the club and amend such by-laws from time to time in accordance with their best judgment. The Secretary shall keep one book in which will include the articles of incorporation, by-laws, and the rules of order. Whenever an amendment is made to any of the by-laws in addition to being recorded in the minutes of the board of director meetings, the day and month of the change shall be immediately entered in parentheses at the end of the amended or new sentence (e.g. month, year) when recorded (June, 2012). 

ACCEPTED AS AMENDED BY THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS (June, 2022)