GRS Bylaws
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Section 1. This organization shall be known as the Ghost Research Society and has been in existence under that name since November of 1982.
Section 2. The jurisdiction of this organization is worldwide with a special emphasis on the Midwest.
Section 3. The principal office of this organization shall be located in the County of Cook, State of Illinois. The organization may have other branches either within or without the State of Illinois as the President may require from time to time.
Section 1. The objectives of this organization shall be:
A. To scientifically and without prejudice explore the realm
of the supernatural with a special emphasis on the topics of
ghosts, hauntings, poltergeists and life after death.
B. To attempt to prove the existence of ghosts through on-
site investigations at alleged haunted locations with the aid of
special equipment and/or psychics.
C. To report such findings in the organization's official
paranormal publication, The Journal
D. To examine all forms of evidence for the existence of
ghosts including; psychic photographs, audio sounds and any
physical proof gathered.
E. To receive, manage, invest, expend or otherwise use the
funds and property of this organization to carry out the duties and
to achieve the objectives set forth in these By-Laws and for such
additional purposes and objects not inconsistent therewith as will
further the interests of this organization and its members,
directly or indirectly.
Section 1. Subject only to the specific conditions stated hereinafter, any person of good moral character who has an interest in the paranormal shall be eligible for membership at the discretion of the President.
Section 2. Anyone wishing to become more involved with the
organization may become an Active Member by subscribing as a Sustaining Member
if he or she meets the following requirements:
A. All Active Members must be at least twenty-one (21) years of
age and have a valid ID or driver's license prior to joining.
B. He/she must fill out an Application For Active Research
and provide a recent color photograph.
C. He/she must attend a brief ten (10) minute one-on-one
interview with the President before a Bi-Monthly meeting.
D. He/she must attend the majority of all Bi-monthly meetings.
E. He/she must also attend all mini-meetings held at the GRS
Headquarters in Oak Lawn usually in June and August prior to
scheduled Field Excursions. These mini-meetings will be approximately
2 hours in duration.
F. He/she must have their own form of transportation to and from meetings
and field outings.
Section 3. No person shall be eligible for membership if:
A. He/she refuses to obligate himself to promptly pay the
required membership fees and also renew promptly when notified.
B. There is reason to believe that he/she may not adhere to
and abide by the By-Laws and our rules and regulations.
C. He/she advocates race, religious or class hatred.
D. His/her attendance to Bi-monthly or mini-meetings, Field
Excursions, Special or Haunted House investigations falls below par
in any given six (6) month period.
E. He/she has excessive tattooing, body piercing or just doesn't meet
with the standards of proper grooming.
Section 4. Your Active Membership can be permanently revoked if:
A. Attendance to GRS sponsored events falls below average.
B. Divulging privileged or confidential information gathered
at Haunted House Investigations with anyone outside the GRS circle.
C. Attempting to undermine the credibility of the
organization in any way.
D. Simple dishonesty or other bad traits which reflect unfavorably against the GRS.
E. Use of recreational drugs of any kind.
F. Your status changes from that when you first became a member. In other
words, you are unable to abide by Section 2, Articles D, E, F or Section 5, Articles
A, and F.
G. If at anytime you are found enrolled within another group that causes
a direct conflict of interest.
H. Any member withholding video, audio, still pictures, documents, or any
information pertaining directly to a sponsored GRS-related investigation.
Section 5. Other membership points:
A. The President has the exclusive right to deny Active or
Regular Membership to anyone who does not meet the high standards set forth by the GRS.
B. All GRS-related photo id's are the exclusive property of the GRS and must be
surrendered to the President upon request when dropped from the organization, member
resigns or failure to renew said membership promptly.
C. All Active Members are given a trial period of one year
and evaluated at the end of that time. It is then up to the President
whether or not the said member will be invited to renew as an Active Member.
Renewal points taken into consideration are: attendance to Bi-monthly meetings,
Field Excursions, Special and Haunted House Investigations, ability to learn
and grow with the GRS, neatness of appearance, willingness to contribute to
the society as a whole and other general membership practices.
E. The President is not obligated in anyway to retain any individual
that doesn't meet with the above mentioned criteria and others deemed
necessary by the President.
F. The GRS is not obliged to accept members who already have their
own paranormal research organization established at the time of their joining or
anytime thereafter. An example would be: entering into another paranormal group after
being accepted into the GRS as we feel loyalty is a top priority and there can be an
issue of confidentiality, trust and not being able to devote the necessary time
required to be a competent member. We feel that "double-dipping", or belonging to
two similar organizations at the same time is unfair to both groups as it's difficult
to judge where loyalty lies between the groups.
This is a conflict of interest and there will be no exceptions.
G. If any member leaves the group for any reason prior to the conclusion of his
or her membership or, in the case of a Lifetime Member, prior to death, no dues are
refundable.
Section 1. Officers of this organization shall consist of a President, Corresponding Secretary, Research Assistant, and Sergeant-At-Arms. Other officers may include State Coordinators, Area Research Directors, Field Investigators, Special Consultants, Foreign Correspondents, Psychic Consultants, Electronics Expert or any other position deemed necessary by the President.
Section 2. Eligibility to hold appointed office shall be governed
solely by the President and the provisions of the By-Laws.
A. All officers are appointed and not elected by the
President. Their status and office may be revoked by the President
at any time.
B. Appointed officers have a slightly higher ranking than an
Active Member and are offered some special privileges.
C. Any Active Member may apply for any vacant position
anytime after their one (1) year anniversary date. You must
maintain a better than average attendance to all meetings and Field
Excursions.
D. Officers may be removed from their position at any time by
the President for any reason.
Section 3. It shall be the Duty of the President:
A. To preside at all meetings of this organization and to
preserve order therein. He shall appoint all committees and shall
also have the right to serve on all committees by virtue of his
office.
B. To publish and edit The Journal, the
official paranormal publication of the organization.
C. To appoint officers to the organization, create branches
in other states or countries and to have sole power to dissolve any
branches, officers or the organization as a whole at any time.
D. To organize Field Excursions, Special or Haunted House
Investigations for the membership and be in charge of such.
Section 4. It shall be the Duty of the Secretary:
A. To take meeting minutes at all meetings. This would also
include typing out the same and ensuring that all members receive a copy.
B. To assist the President at meetings with the distribution
of materials, i.e. newsletters, application forms, flyers and to
assist new applicants with questions.
C. To write up investigative reports when such information is provided
to the secretary.
Section 5. It shall be the Duty of the Research Assistant:
A. To report directly to the President.
B. To research and investigate new leads as directed by the
President and to report such findings to the President without
exception using a Report Form.
C. To assist other Active Members on scheduled Field
Excursions and Special or Haunted House Investigations.
D. To preside at any meetings in the absence of the President.
E. To have elevated seniority over any other Active Members or
Field Investigators.
Section 6. It shall be the Duty of the State Coordinator:
A. To assist the President in recruiting new members, conducting area
research, submitting newspaper clippings, psychic photographs and
other forms of evidence and information.
B. To be in charge of groups and branches in their respective
state and report findings to the President.
C. Organize and run all scheduled Field Excursions and
meetings in their respective state.
Section 7. It shall be the Duty of the Area Research Director:
A. To report directly to the State Coordinator of their
respective state which is turn reports directly to the President.
B. To assemble data in all forms and pass that information
up-line to the State Coordinator.
C. Assist in gathering research material for planned Field
Excursions authorized by the President.
Section 8. It shall be the Duty of the Field Investigator:
A. To report directly to either the Area Research Director,
State Coordinator or Research Director in that order.
B. Assist both the State Coordinator, Area Research Director
or Research Director in examining or gathering data or information.
C. May be given new leads to investigate by the President or
other officers.
Section 10. Other officers:
A. Foreign Correspondents are individuals in foreign
countries that are not necessarily members of the GRS. They are
simply called upon by this organization for their expertise on the
subject of the paranormal and the occult. They could be columnists
for the Ghost Trackers Newsletter or just experts in their
respective fields, e.g. Tom Perrott from London, England.
B. Special Consultants are individuals within the United
States that are not necessarily members of the GRS. They are
called upon by the GRS for the expert opinions in the subject of
the supernatural and/or the paranormal, e.g. Richard Senate.
C. Psychic Consultants are individuals whom may be psychic, clairvoyant
or intuitive that the GRS will call upon for their psychic input during any form
of investigation. They are considered officers as well and will have slightly
elevated status for their position.
D. Electronic Experts are those individuals whom are absolutely necessary
for each and every investigation by virtue of their knowledge and workings of the
high-tech equipment that is used during investigations and outings. Their inclusion is
automatic to all investigations and Field Excursions and will train others in the
use of said equipment whether during Bi-Monthly Meetings or on the job training.
E. Sergeant-At-Arms are those individuals whom are used for security
purposes either because of their knowledge in law enforcement, ability to carry
fire-arms or are skilled in the training of hand-to-hand combat. They are
specifically endowed with the responsibility of security at both Bi-Monthly Meetings,
Field Excursions and Special or Haunted House Investigations. They are also
responsible for safeguarding any items, equipment or personnel associated with
the GRS during such above-mentioned outings.
F. Other positions will be created if the need arises and is deemed
necessary by the President.
G. This organization does not allow for a Board of Directors
nor will it ever.
Section 1. After appointment and when installed,
all Officers of this organization may be required to take the following obligation for
office:
"
Truly and faithfully, I. ________________________________ sincerely promise,
upon my honor, that I will truly and faithfully, to the best of my
ability, perform the duties of my office, as prescribed in the By-
Laws of this organization."
Section 2. All Officers in the performance of their duties shall adhere to the terms of these By-Laws.
Section 1. Field Excursions, Special & Haunted House
Investigations.
A. All Active Members are required to attend the majority of all meetings
especially those prior to regularly scheduled Field Excursions or
eligibility to the same is void.
B. Field Excursions are usually held at least twice a year
usually in June and August with mandatory meetings for interested
parties in May and July. No exceptions!
C. Those members who cannot make a regularly scheduled Field
Excursion will have that missed outing counted as one of the two
events within any given year and cannot be made up.
D. Special and Haunted House Investigations will be offered
only to those Active Members whose attendance to Field Excursions
and meetings is better than average and has showed promise at past
Field Excursions and whom has attended at least one Field Excursion
in the past.
E. Special and Haunted House Investigations are not automatic
to all Active Members and are not counted toward the two (2) Field
Excursions regularly scheduled in June and August but are, in fact,
additional outings.
F. All Active Members who attend Field Excursions, Special or
Haunted House Investigations or Out-of-State Research Trips assume
full responsibility and agree to relieve the GRS and the President
of any liability as far as personal injury, legal action or
anything deemed as an Act Of God.
G. Out-of-state Active Members aren't automatically
guaranteed Field Excursions unless a State Coordinator, Area
Research Director or Field Investigator already exists in their
respective state.
H. All outings are for Active GRS Members only! Please do
not bring spouses/significant others, friends, or relatives.
I. All information obtained during GRS-sponsored outings
should remain within the GRS circle and not shared with anyone not
already a member. The GRS holds mutual copyrights of all
material presented, investigated or obtained during or afterwards. This
would include: photographs, video or audio tapes, and research reports. The member
still retains his/her own individual copyrights but allows the GRS the permission
to display, exhibit or present said material.
J. All Active Members are expected to arrive on-time with the
proper equipment discussed at the previously scheduled Bi-monthly
meeting.
K. If a member cannot make a scheduled Field Excursion,
Special or Haunted House Investigation, it shall be his/her responsibility
to phone in advance to the President. In the cases of an emergency, some
notification as soon as possible would be appreciated. Calling or notifying any
other personnel besides the President will not be considered fulfilling this
obligation.
L. All Active Members will not be invited to all outings at various
times because of the large amount of Active Members currently in the GRS.
A fair rotational program will allow all Active Members to eventually attend
some Special or Haunted House Investigation.
Section 1. Yearly dues shall be calculated by the type of
membership an individual desires and yearly subscriptions are
broken down by three (3) issues of The Journal for Active members or two (2) back
issues of Ghost Trackers Newsletter for Inactive members and not necessarily one
(1) calendar year.
Active members are considered those who can attend Bi-monthly meetings are
in the Midwest area. All others are considered Inactive.
Copies of The Journal are not mailed out. Members must pick these up at all
Bi-Monthly meetings. Only out-of-state or Inactive members will be mailed
Ghost Trackers Newsletters and other membership items.
A. Associate Membership
1. $25.00 per year which includes all the benefits of the Sustaining
Membership but is specifically for those individuals who cannot make all the regularly
scheduled meetings, field excursions or investigations. The benefit of this membership
is that it allows you to remain a member without having to worry about losing your
membership due to low attendance to GRS-sponsored events, however those who join at
this level, or are later demoted to this level, can be bumped out of investigations
due a higher level of membership.
B. Sustaining Membership
1. $35.00 per year which includes three (3) issues of The Journal,
GRS button, T-shirt, Photo ID card, discounts on new and used books, 10% discount
on "Excursions Into The Unknown, Inc." tours and GRS-sponsored events, on-line help
and research requests and notification of upcoming psychic event plus the
opportunity of assisting in ghost research, Field Excursions and on
the job training (OJT).
C. Patron Membership
1. $50.00 per year which includes the above plus,
a 20% discount to all GRS-sponsored events, and no
copy fees for out-of-stock newsletters.
2. Patrons have exclusive rights to all Field
Excursions, Special and Haunted House Investigations by virtue of
their elevated position but again a fair rotational program is used if the society
has a large amount of Patron Members at any given time.
D. Lifetime Membership
1. $250.00 one-time fee. Lifetime is defined as the
either the lifetime of the individual or the lifetime of the
organization and newsletter as a whole. Lifetime memberships are
not transferable upon death or refunded upon resignation. Discounts are the same
as the Patron Membership.
D. Active Membership
1. Rates are the same as above with the following exceptions. All
Active Members will receive three (3) issues of The Journal, which will not be
mailed but must be picked up at regularly scheduled Bi-Monthly meetings at the
GRS Headquarters in Oak Lawn, Illinois. If a member misses a meeting, you will
have to pick up your copy of The Journal at the next regularly scheduled meeting.
Renewal notices will be provided at the meetings and all Active Members are urged
to renew promptly so that no investigations or outings are missed.
Section 2. Renewal of Membership:
A. Notice will be given with the last issue of your current
subscription. No second notice or reminders will be sent. Members
are expected to renew promptly.
B. Active Members (Sustaining and Patron) need to
renew their subscription according to the rate they joined at if
they wish to remain Active.
C. Active Members who let their subscription lapse for six
(6) or more months must be re-interviewed and present their renewal
dues in person to the President at the next regularly scheduled Bi-
monthly meeting. No exceptions!
Section 3. Change of Address or Email addresses:
A. All members must provide current address and email addresses
to this organization when they move or change servers.
Section 1. Meetings shall be held Bi-monthly beginning in January at 12:00pm at the GRS Headquarters in Oak Lawn. Upon joining, members will be given the address and directions to the meeting site.
Section 2. Attendance is mandatory for all Active members. Length of meetings is usually two (2) hours.
Section 3. Schedule of meetings:
A. Opening comments or last meetings minutes.
B. Slides or audio presentations.
C. Guest speakers, if any.
D. Reading of interesting letters or newspaper articles.
E. Open floor discussion or question/answer time.
F. Discussion of recent GRS investigations.
G. Closing comments.
H. Adjournment.
I. Video presentations for those wishing to stay and enjoy.
Section 4. Mini-meetings of this organization for Active Members may be called by the President upon reasonable notice to the membership. These meetings will be held at the GRS headquarters in Oak Lawn. Notice and location will be given to all Active GRS members.
Section 5. Notifications of meetings will usually be sent through bulk email and an RSVP is expected of all members whether you can or cannot attend. You must respond in one way or another and, of course, you can always change your mind and send an updated email. This policy was instituted so that the President can have the necessary forms and copies already made to hand out to those who respond. If you simply show up and don't respond, in the past, the meeting had to be put on hold in order to make additional copies. That policy is now defunct and those who don't respond will have to wait until the meeting is concluded to receive their copies or during a designated break.
Section 1. This organization shall have three main types of
research trips; Field Excursions, Special Investigations and
Haunted House Investigations.
A. Field Excursions are usually held twice a year usually in
June and August and are open to all Active Members whom are in good
standing. That same member must have already filled out an Application For
Active Research, submitted a recent photograph of himself and must have already
been interviewed for Active Membership.
1. Field Excursions usually consist of a public
accessible area mostly outdoors where paranormal activity has been
reported. These outings usually last between two to three hours.
B. Special Investigations are usually held irregularly at
various times throughout the year and are open to all Active
Members who are in good standing and have fulfilled the above
requirements listed in the Field Excursion paragraph plus has
attended at least one (1) prior Field Excursion in the past.
He/she must have better than average attendance to all meetings as
well.
1. Special Investigations are not automatic to all
Active Members only those who meet the various requirements plus
show promise in the investigation field.
2. Special Investigations are usually overnight
stake-outs sometimes indoors but can be outdoors as well. These
outings can be from several hours to overnight in length.
C. Haunted House Investigations are usually held irregularly
as the President receives calls or requests to investigate an
alleged haunted house or sites. These investigations deal with the
general public and are not for everyone. Requirements are listed
above.
1. Haunted House Investigations can be quite lengthy and
often require follow-up visits from time to time. All information
gathered at these investigations is completely confidential.
2. Attendance may be limited to a few select people even
though others may be qualified to attend. This is due to the
client's wishes and cannot be circumvented.
3. Order of attendance would be:
a. President
b. Electronics Expert
c. Research Assistant
d. Sergeant-At-Arms
e. Psychic Consultants
f. Field Investigators
g. Secretary
h. Patron Members
i. All other Active Members according to previous
attendance to other Field Excursions, Special Investigations,
Meetings and seniority.
4. Again a fair rotational program is in place for Haunted House
Investigations but the Active Member must remember that certain equipment
is necessary for such investigations and those having such needed equipment
may have some special privileges.
Section 1. All logos on this organization's business cards as well as those on Excursions Into The Unknown's business cards are copyrighted and remain the property of the GRS. This would also include cover designs on the Ghost Trackers Newsletter and all special interest directories. These designs and logos cannot be reproduced without expressed written consent from the President and the Ghost Research Society.
Section 2. The designs on this organization's membership cards and photo identification cards are also copyrighted and cannot be duplicated under penalty of law.
Section 3. The title Ghost Research Society remains the exclusive
property of Dale Kaczmarek, President and cannot be used by any
other organization or business under penalty of law. However, officers can
utilize the GRS logo on their personal business cards as long as they remain
Active Members of the GRS.
Last Revised: May 2007
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and Matt Hucke.