1997 US Code
Title 36 - PATRIOTIC SOCIETIES AND OBSERVANCES
CHAPTER 1 - AMERICAN NATIONAL RED CROSS
Sec. 5 - Board of Governors; number; election; tenure; filling vacancies; annual meetings; voting by proxy

The governing body of the corporation in which all powers of government, direction, and management of the corporation shall be lodged, shall consist of a Board of Governors numbering fifty persons, to be appointed or elected in the manner following, namely:

(a) Eight Governors shall be appointed by the President of the United States. Of the Governors so appointed, one shall be designated by the President of the United States to act as the principal officer of the corporation with such title and such functions as may from time to time be prescribed in the bylaws; and the remainder shall be officials of departments and agencies of the Federal Government, whose positions and interests are such as to qualify them to contribute toward the accomplishment of Red Cross programs and objectives. Of these at least one and not more than three shall be selected from the armed forces.

(b) Thirty Governors shall be elected by the chapters. The Governors so elected shall be elected at the national convention under procedures for nomination and election which shall be such as to insure equitable representation of all the chapters, having regard to geographical considerations, to the size of the chapters and to the size of the populations served by the chapters.

(c) Twelve Governors shall be elected by the Board of Governors as members-at-large. The Governors so elected shall be individuals who are representative of the national interests which it is the function of the Red Cross to serve, and with which it is desirable that the corporation shall have close association.

The term of office of all Governors shall be three years, except that the term of office of any Governor appointed by the President of the United States (other than the principal officer of the corporation) shall expire if and when such Governor shall retire, prior to the date on which his term as Governor would otherwise expire, from the official position held at the time of his appointment as Governor.

Of the first Board of Governors to be selected hereunder, those Governors to be elected pursuant to subsection (b) of this section shall be elected at the first national convention following May 8, 1947, those Governors to be elected pursuant to subsection (c) of this section shall be elected as soon as practicable following such first national convention, and those Governors to be appointed pursuant to subsection (a) of this section shall be appointed so as to take office at the same time. The Governors so elected pursuant to subsections (b) and (c) of this section shall be divided by lot into three classes, the terms of which shall expire at the end of one, two, and three years, respectively, so that thereafter one-third of the members of the Board of Governors elected pursuant to subsections (b) and (c) of this section will be chosen at the time of each national convention, and shall take office at such time or as soon as practicable thereafter.

The President of the United States shall fill as soon as may be any vacancy that may occur by death, resignation, or otherwise in the office of the principal officer of the corporation or in the membership of the Board of Governors appointed by him. Any vacancy that may occur in the Governors elected by the chapters pursuant to subsection (b) of this section or in the Governors-at-large elected by the Board of Governors pursuant to subsection (c) of this section, shall be temporarily filled by appointment made by the Board of Governors, such appointees to serve until the next national convention.

The Board of Governors shall have power (i) to appoint from its own members an executive committee of not less than eleven persons, who, when the Board of Governors is not in session, shall have and exercise all the powers of the Board of Governors, and (ii) to appoint and remove, or provide for the appointment and removal of, all officers and employees of the corporation, except the principal officer designated by the President of the United States.

The annual meeting of the corporation shall be the national convention of delegates of the chapters, which shall be held annually on such date and at such place as may be specified by the Board of Governors. In all matters requiring a vote at the national convention, each chapter shall be entitled to not less than one vote. The number of votes which each chapter shall be entitled to cast shall be determined according to allocation by the Board of Governors, which shall be established on an equitable basis giving consideration both to the size of the membership of the chapters and to the size of the populations in the territories served by the chapters. Such allocations shall be reviewed at least every five years.

Voting by proxy shall not be allowed at any meeting of the Board of Governors, or at the national convention, or at any meeting of the chapters: Provided, however, That in the event of any national emergency which in the opinion of the Board of Governors makes attendance at the national convention impossible, the Board of Governors may permit the election of Governors by proxy at the national convention.

(Jan. 5, 1905, ch. 23, §5, 33 Stat. 601; Dec. 10, 1912, ch. 1, §1, 37 Stat. 647; Mar. 3, 1921, ch. 131, §1, 41 Stat. 1354; May 8, 1947, ch. 50, §6, 61 Stat. 82.)

1947—Act May 8, 1947, amended section generally, enlarging the governing board and making the method of selection of its members more democratic.

1921—Act Mar. 3, 1921, provided that the executive committee of the central committee should consist of nine instead of seven persons, five of whom should be a quorum.

1912—Act Dec. 10, 1912, changed date of annual meeting from first Tuesday after first Monday in December to Wednesday preceding second Thursday in December.

This section is referred to in sections 1a, 2, 8 of this title.