ARTICLE I - NAME

Section 1:

This organization shall be known as the Mendocino County Sheriff's Search And Rescue Unit (also known as S.A.R.).  A non-profit corporation.  It is instituted as a consolidation of the search and rescue teams know as:

A.  Mendocino County Sheriff's Air Squadron,
B.  Mendocino County Sheriff's Four-Wheel Patrol/ORV,
C.  Mendocino County Sheriff's Mounted Posse,
D.  Mendocino County Sheriff's Underwater Search and Recovery,
E.  Mendocino County Sheriff's Special Forces,
F.  Mendocino County Coastal SAR Operations, and
G.  Mendocino Youth Search & Rescue.

In order to be a voting unit, that unit must have six (6) members who are active in S.A.R. for a period of one (1) year.
In order to create a new unit you must have six (6) members, who have been active in SAR for the preceding 12 months.

Article II - Objectives and Purposes

Section 1:

The Mendocino County Sheriff's Search and Rescue Unit will be comprised of volunteer citizenry.   The S.A.R. Unit will provide and assist the Sheriff of Mendocino County with manpower, equipment, and expertise in the search and rescue of lost, missing, injured, of persons needing assistance as a result of natural or unnatural disasters within the county or outside the county in the event of a state, national disaster or mutual aid callout situation.

The Mendocino County Sheriff's Search and Rescue Unit will, in addition to the above and upon the direction of the Sheriff, act as manpower reserve to assist the Sheriff in any other duty that may result in relieving a deputy for peace officer duty.  The Mendocino County Sheriff's Search and Rescue Unit shall have, relating to volunteer search and rescue units listed in Article I, Section 1, management responsibility of all:

A.  Training,
B.  Funding,
C.  Rules,
D.  Regulations, and
E.  Equipment.

Section 2:

The Sheriff, or his duly appointed representative, shall be the authorizing authority regarding utilization of the Mendocino County Sheriff's Search and Rescue Unit.

Article III - Membership

Section 1:

In accordance with Article I, any person who is United States citizen and has not been convicted of a felony, shall be considered eligible to submit an application for membership into the Mendocino County Sheriff's Search and Rescue Unit.  Any person between the ages of 14-18 shall be considered for placement in MYSAR.

Section 2:

Persons desiring membership shall submit the official membership application form to any member of the Mendocino County Sheriff's Search and Rescue Unit, who in turn will insure that the application is submitted to the Commander.
Membership shall be based on, but not limited to, the individual's desire to train and give forth his or her time, talent, and equipment for the benefit of search and rescue.

Any applicant who is rejected may appeal to the Board of Directors.   Upon approval, all members must obtain an Office of Emergency Services card/or a Volunteer Sheriff's Office Identification card from the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office.

Section 3:

Each unit, in order to retain their good standing status, shall update their roster of Active Members, by January 30 of each year.

Section 4:

Each member of the membership shall have one unit designation based on their talent, skill, and equipment for which they own or have access.  Participation in any other unit shall be the responsibility of said unit.  Unit designations shall be any one of the following:

A.  Mendocino County Sheriff's Air Squadron,
B.  Mendocino County Sheriff's Four Wheel Patrol,
C.  Mendocino County Sheriff's Underwater Search and Recovery,
D.  Mendocino County Sheriffs Special Forces,
E.  Mendocino County Sheriffs Mounted Posse,
F.  Mendocino County Sheriff's K-9, or
G.  Mendocino Youth Search & Rescue

Section 5:

Membership in good standing is a requirement of each member in order to retain active status.   In order to be in good standing, the individual must:

A.  Be in compliance with rules and regulations of their individual units, however SAR Bylaws will take precedence over any prior or existing specific unit bylaws.   This prevents multiple instructions and confusion when attempting to follow the objectives of the SAR Unit,

B.  Attend a minimum of four (4) Board or General membership meetings each year, one per quarter,

C.  Maintain a currency in first aid and C.P.R.,

D.  Participate in one (1) mock search or one (1) training session, or one (1) actual search or rescue each calendar year; and one SAR community service activity, and

E.  Annual dues (if levied by the Board of Directors) must be paid on or before the due date.

Members who are no longer in good standing will be dropped from the roster and may be required to submit a new application in accordance with Section 1.  The case of any member who cannot comply with any of the above requirements will have member status reviewed by the Commander and submitted to the Board of Directors, if necessary.  A letter shall be sent to the member dropped from the roster stating the reason for drop, with instructions on how to re-apply for SAR if desired.

Section 6:

No person, member or officer of the Mendocino County Sheriff's Search and Rescue Unit, will identify or represent himself or herself as a deputy sheriff or peace officer unless he or she is presently employed by the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office, California Highway Patrol, a police department, or other law enforcement agency as a deputy sheriff or peace officer.

Section 7:

Dues for the Mendocino County Sheriff's Search and Rescue Unit.

A.  Dues shall be set by Board of Directors,

B.  Notice of proposed levy of dues and/or initiation fee must be announced at a regularly scheduled membership meeting at least one (1) month prior to the meeting of the actual vote, and

C.  A new member shall have his/her annual dues carried over to the subsequent calendar year if he/she is approved for S.A.R. membership after October 1 of the current year.

Article IV - Meetings

Section 1:

This organization shall meet monthly.   The meeting place, date and time shall be set by the Board of Directors (refer to Article III).

Article V - Election of Officers

Section 1:

Each Board of Directors member shall serve faithfully and carry out the responsibilities assigned to him/her. Each member's term on the Board shall be as long as his/her individual unit votes him/her into office.   A Board member must be a member in good standing in S.A.R. for a period of one (1) year. A Board member shall be a MEMBER IN GOOD STANDING - abide by these bylaws, report accurately to their units all business and activities that occur during Board meetings.

Section 2:

The Board of Directors of S.A.R. shall consist of two (2) members elected or appointed from each of the auxiliary units (Article I, Section 1) plus a Liaison Officer designated by the Sheriff.   The simple majority of members present shall elect the following Executive Officers:

A.  Commander,
B.  Vice Commander,
C.  Secretary, and
D.  Treasurer.

Such election shall take place at the first regularly scheduled general meeting of the calendar year.

Section 3:

Below are the titles of the Executive Officers and their functions:

A.  Commander. The Commander shall preside over the Board meetings as well as all general meetings or events.  He/She shall appoint committees and committee chairpersons for special and particular purposes, administer for the various duties requested of him/her by the members of the governing body, and serve as a pro-tem Commander of the Special Forces.

B.  Vice Commander. In the absence or disability of the Commander, such duties of this office shall fall upon the Vice commander, who shall preside over a meeting during the absence of the Commander.

C.  Secretary.   The Secretary shall record all minutes and perform the secretarial duties of the Mendocino County Sheriff's Search and Rescue Unit.  He/She shall keep an up-to-date roster of all members and shall keep the minutes of the general meetings and the Board of Governors' meetings.

He/She shall answer all correspondence and perform any other duties assigned to him/her by the Commander. The Secretary will issue to the membership a current roster once a year. The captains of the search units shall have the responsibility of maintaining and updating the rosters of their individual groups and presenting the information annually to the Governing Board.

D.  Treasurer. The Treasurer shall receive all monies for membership initiation fees and dues, and any other receipts due the Mendocino County Sheriff's Search and Rescue Unit.  He/She shall keep an up-to-date accounting of all money activities.  He/She shall maintain a balanced bookkeeping system in accordance with good accounting practices.

All monies shall be deposited in the Mendocino County Sheriff's Search and Rescue Unit account. He/She is authorized to pay any S.A.R. bills up to Two Hundred Fifty ($250.00) dollars with the approval of the commander (or acting Commander) only. All checks in excess of Two Hundred Fifty ($250.00) dollars shall have the approval of the Board of Directors. All checks drawn on the S.A.R. account shall be signed by any two (2) of the designated officers (Commander, Vice Commander, Secretary, and Treasurer).

All expenditures and income shall be reported at each regular meeting and at the Board of Directors meetings.   A financial report shall be presented at each regular meeting and at the Board of Directors meetings.   A financial report shall be presented to the membership at the January meeting each year, and it will be accompanied by an audit report conducted by an audit team appointed by the Commander.

Section 4:

The Executive Officers shall consist of those officers described in Article v, Section 2, and shall meet at the call of the Commander or at the call of three (3) Board members, the Sheriff, or his duly appointed representative.  No business shall be conducted by the Board unless a quorum of two-thirds of the full Board is present.

The Commander is the presiding officer. The Board shall receive all applications for membership, inquire into them, and make their recommendations to the Sheriff's Liaison.  It is the general governing body of the organization and shall have the authority to reprimand, suspend, or terminate any member in violation of these bylaws.   It shall see to the duties that are generally performed by each unit.   Termination of any member will take two-thirds vote from the full Board.

All actions taken, or decisions made, at any meeting of the Board of Directors shall be reported to the membership at the next regular meeting.

Article VI - Ownership of Property

Section 1:

Title and ownership of all property and assets of the Mendocino County Sheriff's Search and Rescue Unit shall be vested in the name of Mendocino County Sheriff's Search and Rescue Unit.

Section 2:

All badges, I.D. cards, and other items that may associate a person as a member of the Mendocino County Sheriff's Search and Rescue Unit shall be surrendered to any member whenever any member, for any reason, ceases to be a member of the Mendocino County Sheriff's Search and Rescue Unit.

Article VII - Demonstration or Support

Section 1:

No demonstration or support shall ever be made by the Mendocino County Sheriff's Search and Rescue Unit on behalf of any objective or purpose deemed to be political, religious, or to advance any private or commercial interest, unless it clearly appears that such demonstration or support shall tend to promote the purposes of the Mendocino County Sheriff's Search and Rescue Unit.

Article VIII - Amendments to the Constitutional Bylaws

Section 1:

Proposed Amendments to the Constitutional Bylaws may be made at any meeting of the Board of Directors of the Mendocino County Sheriff's Search and Rescue Unit by an affirmative vote of two-thirds of the Board present.  Written notice of the intention to submit for vote of a proposed amendment to the Constitutional Bylaws shall be mailed at least thirty (30 days prior to the next meeting or shall be brought before the Board meeting at least two (2) meeting prior to the meeting voting on the proposed amendment.

Article IX - Specific Groups Minimum Requirements

Section 1:

Each unit's basic list of requirements will be made part of these Search and Rescue Bylaws as appendix A through G.   Compliance with the unit's requirements will be considered as a basis for callouts.

ARTICLE X - Chain of Command

Section 1:

Each member is expected to use the chain of command that exists for each unit.   Every unit within the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office Search and Rescue team is represented by two elected officers that sit on the Board of Directors.  If information needs to be passed, good or bad, up the chain of command, then the member is required to direct the concern or information to their board member(s).  If the SAR member after relating the information to their board member does not receive the desired results, then he/she can direct the information to the Vice Commander.  Again, if the member remains unfulfilled in the action taken, he/she can direct their concern/information to the Commander.

The Commander at that time will review the information/concern and issue a written notice to the member regarding what was done with the information, or what action was taken.

If the member remains unfulfilled at that time, he/she will request a meeting with the Sheriff through the commander.   The Commander will set up a meeting with the member and the Sheriff as soon as the Sheriff's schedule permits.   The Commander will not attend this meeting unless directed to do so by the member or the Sheriff.

The Sheriff will have the final determination as to the disposition of the information/concern.