September 2026 Constitution and By-Laws Changes

The following changes to the SWAFS Constitution and By-Laws are being proposed. Membership will have 30 days to comment on any of the proposed changes, and voting is currently scheduled to take place during the conference in October. Please contact the Constitution/By-Laws committee chair David Gouldthorpe at D13317G@LVMPD.COM to submit any comments or concerns.

1. Added page numbers to footer
2. Centered all Article titles
3. Page 1 – Article 1 f) Add “a”: The members of the Southwestern Association of Forensic Scientists, Inc., resolve that no member of our organization shall participate in any discussion or vote on any matter in which he or she or any member of his or her immediate family has a potential conflict of interest due to having material economic involvement regarding the matter being discussed.
4. Page 2 – Article 3, Paragraph 3: Change “Board of Director” to “Board of Directors”
5. Page 2 – Article 3, Paragraph 4: Change “meeting” to meetings” and capitalize “association”
6. Page 3 – Article 1, Section 1C: Change the highlighted: “Those persons who are practicing forensic scientists or crime scene investigations, but do not meet the two (2) year employment requirement of Regular member may apply to become an Associate member.” to “Those persons who are practicing forensic scientists or crime scene investigators, but do not meet the two (2) year employment requirement of Regular Member may apply to become an Associate Member.”
7. Page 3 – Article 1, Section 1D: Change “censored” to “censured”
8. Page 4 – Article 1, Section 1F: Change in last sentence: “…Partners…” to “…Partner members…”
9. Page 5 – Article 1, Section 3B: Clarified when a member fails to pay membership dues and changed the time from 2 years to 15 months for when a new membership application must be completed.
10. Page 5 – Article 2, Section 1C: Changed “Chairperson of the Board of the Directors” to “Chairperson of the Board of Directors”
11. Page 5 – Article 2, Section 2: Capitalized “Chairperson” and “Board”.
12. Page 6 – Article 2, Section 2, CTO: Changed the highlighted “that” to “who”: “The current President can replace the CTO at any time with an individual thatwho possesses similar technical skills and/or experience.”
13. Page 7 – Article 2, Section 4: Moved how an office can be removed to Section 5.
14. Page 8 – Article 2, Section 5: New section created to include how a SWAFS officer can be removed and added a No confidence vote part.
15. Page 8 – Article 3, Section 3: Changed “called” to “requested”
16. Page 9 – Article 3, Section 6: Added “Only one (1) James Alan Zotter Memorial Award will be awarded each year.”
17. Page 10 – Article 4, Section 3: Revised first line to read, highlights are changes: “The Professional Conduct Committee shall consist of a Chair and five (5) members all appointed by the Board of Directors, as duly constituted under the By-Laws. Current members of the Board of Directors shall not be eligible to serve on the Professional Conduct Committee.”
18. Page 12 – Article 4, Section 7: Reworded “The Board of Directors must be apprised of the situation at all times.” to “The Board of Directors must be kept always apprised of the situation.”
19. Page 12 – Article 4, Section 8: Changed “As long as committee members…” to “If committee members…”
20. Page 12 – Article 4, Section 9, 4th bullet point: Removed highlighted “the” in “Assisting the Board of Directors and the membership…”
21. Page 13 – Article 4, Section 10: Combined the Historical Committee and Peer Review Committee into the Educational Resource Committee
22. Page 13 – Article 4, Section 11: Removed Peer Committee and combined with the Historical Committee to form the Educational Resource Committee (Section 10)
23. Page 13 – Article 4, Section 11: This is now the “SWAFS representation at external committees”
24. Page 13 – Article 4, Section 12: Moved “Other Committees” to Section 13.
25. Page 13 – Article 4, Section 12: Is now the newly formed “Membership Engagement Committee”
26. Page 14 – Article 4, Section 13: This is now “Other Committees”
27. Page 14 – Article 6, Section 3 first line: Changed “…is able to…” to “…can…”
28. Page 15 – Article 6, Section 5: Capitalized “Chair”
29. Page 15 – Article 6, Section 6: Removed
30. Page 16 – Article 9, Section 2: Added “At least one (1) additional member of the Board of Directors, this could be the president-elect, shall have access to all bank accounts and digital payment platforms (e.g. PayPal); this individual shall be approved by the Board of Directors.”
31. Page 16 – Article 9, Section 3: Added “The Treasurer shall keep the arrears list current and readily available to the Board of Directors.” and also added the following highlighted part: “In the event the Treasurer is unable to attend a business meeting, the Treasurer will forward a copy of the Treasurer’s report and the current arrears list to the Secretary…”
32. Page 18 – Article 11, Section 2: Changed “In order to…” to “To…”
33. Page 18 – Article 12, Section1: Changed “the membership” to “membership”
34. Page 18 – Article 12, Section 3: Changed “Dues shall be due and payable on January 1st of each year.” to “Dues shall be payable before March 1st of each year.”
35. Page 18 – Article 12, Section 3: Changed “in-good-standing” from 3 years to 15 months
36. Page 20 – Article 14, II B: Rephrased “A member convicted of a felony may have membership in SWAFS revoked.” to “A member convicted of a felony may have their SWAFS membership revoked.”
37. Page 20 – Article 14, II F: Changed “forensic scientist” to “member”
38. Page 21 – Article 14, III C: Changed “to” to “with”
39. Page 21 – Article 14, V A: Changed “forensic scientist” to “member”
40. Page 21 – Article 14, VI: Changed title to “Ethics relating to SWAFS Committee Chairs and elected Board of Directors’ members”
41. Page 21 – Article 14, VI A: Changed “chairpersons” to “Committee Chairs” and changed “bylaws” to “By-Laws”
42. Page 21 – Article 14, VI C: Changed “chairpersons” to “Committee Chairs”. Revised second sentence to: “Once the President has assumed office, they are responsible for designating the Committee Chairs.”
43. Page 22 – Article 14, VI D: Changed “chairpersons” to “Committee Chairs” and changed “situations” to “situation”
44. Page 22 – Article 14, VII: Changed “In order to” to “To”; Changed “the individual” to “each”
45. Page 22 – Article 14, VII A: Added highlighted parts to the following: “The Chairperson of the BOD will submit an approved grievance by the BOD, within 30 days of approval, to the Professional Conduct Committee Chair. The Professional Conduct Committee shall investigate any ethical matters submitted in writing to the BOD. The Professional Conduct Committee Chair/designee shall present a written report to the BOD upon completion of the investigation. The BOD may request the Professional Conduct Committee Chair/designee to provide the BOD updates on the investigation.”
46. Page 23 – Article 14, VII B.3: Added highlighted part to the following and changed “censorship” to “censure”: “The BOD must set a time limit for the censure, in writing, and recommend a course of action that the censured member must undergo to have the censure removed.”
47. Page 23 – Article 14, VII B.4: Added highlighted part to the following: The BOD may also recommend a course of action, in writing, that the member must undergo to have the probation lifted.”
48. Page 23 – Article 14, VII B.4: Changed “…logger than…” to “…longer than…”
49. Page 23 – Article 14, VII C: Changed “…(violation of the Association and Code of Professional Conduct). to “…(violation of the SWAFS Constitution and By-Laws and/or Code of Professional Conduct).”
50. Page 24 – Document A: Added highlighted parts to the signature line:  (1) BOD member (Print) (2) BOD Signature