Constitution and Bylaws

Constitution of the Hardin County Agricultural Society

Revised November 4,2023

Article I – Title

The name of the society shall be “The Hardin County Agricultural Society.”

Article II – Purpose

The purpose of this society shall be for the encouragement and improvement of agriculture, domestic science, public schools, and other education interests of the county.

Article III – Membership

Section 1.  Any person 18 years of age or older, and a resident of Hardin County may become a member of this society paying the membership fee.

Section 2. Membership certificates may only be obtained by purchasing one in the Hardin County Ag. society fair office.

Section 3. No membership certificate shall be issued to corporations, organizations, partnerships or firms. All membership certificates shall be issued in the name of an individual who has paid the required membership fee and only those persons whose names appear upon the membership certificates shall have a right to vote at the annual meeting of the society, or hold office.

Section 4. Only those holding membership as of October 15 shall be permitted to vote at the annual election.

Article IV – Directors

Section 1. The Board of Directors shall consist of twenty one members, one from each township in Hardin County and six directors at large, no more than three directors’  being from the same township (except for the circumstances designated in Article V, Section 5), whose terms of office shall be for three years, and one-third of whom shall be elected annually.

Section 2. The county agents and county school superintendent shall be ex-officio members of the Board of Directors.

Section 3. Each duly elected County Commissioner shall by virtue of his office become an honorary member of the Board of Directors.   County Commissioners upon retiring from office may be elected as honorary members for a period of one year by the Board of Directors at any regular meeting.  Each vocational agriculture teacher regularly employed at a Board of Education in each School District in Hardin County shall by virtue of being employed by such Board of Education, become an honorary member of the Board of Directors. Honorary members are eligible to serve on committees. They cannot exercise the rights unless a quorum of the directors regularly elected are present.

Article V – Election

Section 1. The annual election for directors shall be by ballot at the time and place determined by the Board of Directors and announced three weeks prior to the holding thereof, in a newspaper or the Hardin County Ag. Society website, or by letter mailed to each member.

Section 2. Members of the Society shall be permitted to vote for only those candidates who are residents of the same township as the member of the society voting, except that all members of the Society shall have the right to vote for a candidate running as a director-at-large. The casting of votes for directors by proxies is not permitted.

Section 3. Members of the Society shall declare their candidacy for the office of director by filing with the Secretary of the Society a petition, signed by ten or more members of the Society who are residents of the township they would represent if elected (with the exception of a Township having less than 20 Society members, at which time the minimum number of signatures required is 50% of the total number of Society members who are residents of the township they would represent if elected), seven days before the annual election of directors is held. Candidates shall attend at least one (1) Board of Director meeting prior to the annual election of directors, and in the same calendar year as their candidacy, to formally declare and describe their interest(s) in seeking a director position.  Candidates shall be in good standing with the Society as having complied with all their explicit obligations, while not being subject to any form of sanction, suspension or disciplinary censure; the determination of which shall be made at the discretion of the Board of Directors prior to the annual election.  The official ballot shall contain only the names of those candidates who have fulfilled all of the above requirements.  Any candidate deemed ineligible for inclusion on the official ballot will be informed of their ineligibility no later than 24 hours before the annual election.

Section 4. The annual election of the Society shall be held by three judges and two clerks appointed by the President.

Section 5. Any vacancy caused by death, resignation, refusal to qualify, removal from township or city, or other causes may be filled by the Board from the general membership until the next annual election, when a director shall be elected for the unexpired term.  A vacancy filled by the Board in this scenario may include a member from a township where there are already three active directors, provided Section 9 of Article V cannot be met.

Section 6 If a Township Director moves out of their township that they are representing or moves out of Hardin County during the year, they do not need to resign until after the end of the Hardin County Fair of that year.

Section 7 If a director is elected for another position on the fair board, that director needs to resign at the re-organizational meeting by turning in a letter of resignation, so they can be sworn into their new position.

Section 8. The term of the Board of Directors will commence on December 1.

Section 9. Directors shall be a resident of the township in which they are a candidate or a Director except for the circumstances designated in section 5.

Article VI – Meetings

The annual meeting of the Society shall be held at the time of the election of directors and at such time and place as determined by the Board of Directors.

Article VII – Organization

Section 1. The Board of Directors shall at the call of the President, any time after the annual election but not later than November 30, meet and elect a president and a vice-president.  The election of these officers shall be by ballot.

Section 2. The president and vice-president shall be elected to serve not to exceed three years, as the Board of Directors may determine and until their successors are elected and qualified.

Section 3. All officers shall be members of the society. The president and vice-president shall be directors. The secretary and treasurer cannot be a director.

Section 4. Before election of officers the newly elected directors shall qualify by taking the following oath (or affirmation) before a notary public judge or mayor:

“I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support the Constitution of the United States, the Constitution of the State of Ohio, Laws of Ohio and Regulations of the Department of Agriculture of Ohio pertaining to Agricultural Societies and to the best of my ability perform the Duties of Director of the Hardin County Agricultural Society, so help me God.”

Article VIII – Constitution

Amendments and alterations of this Constitution may be made only at the annual meeting of the Society and a majority vote of the members present shall be necessary to make amendments and alterations.

Article IX

The rules governing the operation of county agricultural societies by the Ohio Department of Agriculture are hereby adopted.

Bylaws of the Hardin County Agricultural Society

Article I – Quorum

For the transaction of business, a majority of the members of the Board shall constitute a quorum.

Article II – Meetings

Regular meetings of the Board of Directors shall be held at regular intervals as decided by the Board of Directors. A meeting may be called on the order of the President of the Society. In the event President of the Society refuses to call a meeting, the Secretary shall be required to do so when requested in writing by a majority of the members of the Board of Directors.

Article III – Duties of Officers

Section 1. The President of the Society shall preside at all meetings of the Society and of the Board, and shall discharge such other duties as pertain to this office, and in the president’s absence the vice-president shall discharge the duties of the office.

Section 2. The Secretary-Treasurer shall keep the roll of members and conduct the correspondence of the society and shall make a careful record of all meetings and business done by the Board of Directors. The Secretary-Treasurer shall receive all monies due or coming to the Society and shall keep a record showing from what source it came and shall deposit all money received and take a receipt for the same.  The Secretary-Treasurer shall keep an itemized account of all money paid out by the Society and for what purpose and make an annual report to the board and membership.

Section 3. If any officer or director is absent for three consecutive regular meetings, the Board of Directors may upon majority vote, have the office declared vacant and be filled by the Board.

Section 4 The Executive Committee shall comprise of the President and Vice President, with 4 other elected board members.  The 4 other elected board members serve for 2 years at a time, with a rotation of 2 new board members being elected each year.  Directors coming off of the committee will not be eligible to be on the committee for one year.

Article IV – Annual Exhibit

Section 1. The annual exhibit of the Society shall be held at a time and place to be determined by the Board of Directors and approved by the Ohio Department of Agriculture.

Section 2. Judges for judging different classes of articles offered in completion and awarding premiums on these articles shall be appointed and approved by a Director.

Section 3. Committees shall be appointed annually by the Executive Committee to work out the classes, awards and other details for the annual exhibit.

Section 4. A board member shall be appointed to serve on each committee.

Article IX

The rules governing the operation of county agricultural societies by the Ohio Department of Agriculture are hereby adopted.