CHAPTER IV. HOUSE OF DELEGATES

Section 1. Composition. The voting membership of the House of Delegates shall consist of 1) delegates elected by component societies, 2) the president, 3) the president-elect, 4) the vice-president, 5) the secretary-treasurer, 6) the speaker and vice-speaker, 7) trustees, 8) one delegate elected by the Resident and Fellow Section, 9) one delegate elected by the Medical Student Section, 10) one delegate elected by the Organized Medical Staff Section, and 11) one delegate elected by the International Medical Graduate Section.

Those having the privilege of the floor without vote are past trustees, past presidents, past speakers, general officers of the American Medical Association, members of the Illinois delegation to the AMA who are not otherwise voting members of the ISMS House of Delegates, and one representative from each recognized medical specialty society, as approved by the ISMS Board of Trustees.

Section 2. Delegates. Each component society shall be entitled to send one of its members to the House of Delegates each year for each seventy-five members, not to include student members, and one for a major fraction thereof, but each component society shall be entitled to at least one delegate. The number of delegates to which any component society is entitled shall be determined by the number of members of the component society on membership rolls of the Illinois State Medical Society as of December 31 of the preceding year. The term of office of a delegate shall begin January first following his election and shall be for two years, or until his successor has been elected. Component societies with only one delegate may elect for one year.

Section 3. Affiliate Group Delegates. There shall be a Resident and Fellow Section and a Medical Student Section, which shall be open, respectively, to all in-training and medical student members of ISMS. There shall be an Organized Medical Staff Section, which shall be comprised of ISMS members elected to represent individual hospital medical staffs. There shall be an International Medical Graduate Section, which shall be open to all members of ISMS who are graduates of international medical schools. The business of each organization shall be conducted by a governing council in accordance with bylaws approved by the ISMS House of Delegates. The governing council of each organization shall include one delegate with vote in the ISMS House of Delegates and one alternate delegate.

Section 4. Time and Place of Meetings.

1. Annual Meeting. The House of Delegates shall meet in an annual session and may meet in an interim session upon call of the Board of Trustees. The time and place of the annual meeting shall be as the House determines.

2. Interim Meeting. The Board of Trustees may schedule an interim session of the House of Delegates between annual meetings of the House if it determines that there is sufficient, relevant business. An interim meeting of the House should not exceed three days and its business shall be restricted in accordance with the provisions of Section 11 of this chapter. An interim meeting should be held in a district other than that of the preceding annual meeting.

Section 5. Quorum. Fifty delegates representing no less than twenty component societies shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business.

Section 6. Special Meetings. Special meetings of the House of Delegates may be called by a majority of the Board of Trustees or upon petition of twenty component societies. When a special meeting is called, the secretary shall mail a notice to the last known address of each member of the House of Delegates at least ten days before the special meeting is to be held. The notice shall specify the time and place of the meeting and the purpose for which the meeting is called. The meeting shall not con­sider any business except that for which it was called.

Section 7. Registration. Before being seated at any annual or special session, each delegate or his alternate shall deposit with the Reference Committee on Credentials a certificate signed by the President or the Secretary of his component society, stating that the delegate or alternate has been regularly elected to the House of Delegates. A delegate or his alternate may be seated without credentials, provided he is properly identified and is certified to the secretary of the Illinois State Medical Society. Whenever a delegate or his alternate are unable to attend a particular meeting, the component society may select and certi­fy a substitute delegate who shall have the same powers and duties as did the delegate. A delegate whose credentials have been accepted by the Reference Committee on Credentials and whose name has been placed on the roll of the House, shall remain a delegate until the final adjournment of that session. If a delegate, once seated, is unable to be present for reasons acceptable to the Committee on Credentials, an alternate may be certified by the committee. After the alternate has been seated, he cannot be replaced for that session.

Section 8. District Division. The House of Delegates shall divide the state into districts, specifying which counties each district shall include. The policy of the Illinois State Medical Society is that it will represent its members and county medical societies in a fair and reasonably equal fashion.

Section 9. Order of Procedure. The order of business of the House of Delegates shall be determined by the Speaker, subject to approval by the Reference Committee on Rules and Order of Business. Sturgis Standard Code of Parliamentary Procedure, Cur­rent Edition, shall be the guide for all procedure when not in conflict with the Constitution and Bylaws.

Section 10. Privilege of the Floor. The House of Delegates by two‑thirds vote of those present (credentialed), may extend an invitation to address the House to any person who in its judgment might assist in its deliberations.

Section 11. Introduction of Resolutions and Other Business. All resolutions must be introduced by a voting member of the House. A full copy of all resolutions will be mailed to the delegates. Resolutions to be mailed to the delegates prior to the annual or interim meeting must be received at ISMS headquarters 45 days prior to the annual or interim meeting. Resolutions received after the above date must be approved by the Committee on Rules and Order of Business or by a two‑thirds vote of the House of Delegates present (credentialed) before they will be considered as business of the House.

The only business to be considered by the House of Delegates during an interim meeting will be:

1. Resolutions and information reports introduced by the Board of Trustees as urgent business.

2. Resolutions on matters of national importance and considered urgent, introduced by a voting member of the House of Delegates on behalf of the AMA delegation under the same conditions as below.

3. Resolutions introduced by individual delegates, by the Resident and Fellow Section, or by the Medical Student Section, which are considered urgent and accepted by the Committee on Rules and Order of Business.

Decisions of the Committee on Rules and Order of Business regarding the introduction of resolutions at the interim meeting may be overruled by a majority of the House of Delegates. Resolutions which are not considered urgent will be carried over to the next annual meeting.

Reports of committees, councils and officers should be informational and should not contain requests for House action. Recommendations of committees, councils, and officers should be submitted to the House in resolution form. Reports, resolutions, and requests for action after the opening of the first session of the House of Delegates shall require for consideration a two-thirds affirmative vote of those present (credentialed).

Section 12. Judicial Panel. The House of Delegates shall create a Judicial Panel and shall elect five (5) members of the Illinois State Medical Society to serve on the Panel, in a manner set forth in Chapter XI of these Bylaws. The Judicial Panel shall review all questions of ethics and shall interpret the laws and rules of the Society. It shall consider all questions of an ethical nature and it shall conduct hearings on appeals taken from decisions of component societies on ethical relations matters and other disputes involving the rights and privileges of physicians.