ARTICLE I. NAME
The name of this corporation shall be the NEVADA ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY COUNCIL, hereinafter referred to as the “Council.”
ARTICLE II. AUTHORITY
A. The Council is organized and shall be operated as an
advisory Council to the Office of Disability Services or any successor agency
that is responsible for implementation of the Assistive Technology Act of 2004,
as amended (hereinafter referred to as the “Act”).
B. The general purpose of the Council is to fulfill its
duties under the Act.
C. The mission of the Council is to provide consumer-responsive, consumer-driven advice for the
planning, implementation and evaluation of assistive technology programs.
D. The specific purposes of the Council is:
1. to promote assistive technology and its many uses for
people with disabilities in order to maximize the leadership, empowerment,
independence, and productivity of individuals with disabilities;
2. to promote the development and expansion of assistive
technology programs and concepts on a statewide basis;
3. to provide guidance to State agencies and local
planning and nonprofit entities that are providing assistive technology
services; and
4. to improve working relationships among councils,
disability groups, State, federal and non-federal programs.
ARTICLE IV. LOCATION
The principal
office of the Council at which the records of the Council will be kept, will be
at the Office of Disability Services or at another location as may be fixed
from time to time by the Council.
ARTICLE V. MEMBERSHIP
The Council
shall not be a membership organization.
ARTICLE VI. COUNCIL MAKEUP
A. The Director of the Department of Health and Human
Services shall appoint the members to the Council after soliciting
recommendations from representatives of organizations representing a broad
range of individuals with disabilities and organizations interested in
individuals with disabilities. The
Council shall have a minimum of seven (7) members and a maximum of twenty-one
(21) members.
B. The Council shall be geographically representative
of the State and reflect the diversity of the State with respect to race,
ethnicity, types of disabilities across the age span, and users of types of services
that an individual with a disability may receive.
C. The members of the advisory council shall receive no compensation for
their service on the advisory council, but shall be reimbursed for reasonable
and necessary expenses actually incurred in the performance of official duties
for the advisory council.
D. The
Council shall include:
1. individuals
with disabilities that use assistive technology or the family members or
guardians of such individuals. This
category must represent a majority of the Council. Members who are appointed
under the following categories cannot count toward this majority;
2. a representative of the designated State agency, as
defined in section 7 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 705) and the
State agency for individuals who are blind (within the meaning of section 101
of that Act (29 U.S.C. 721)), if such agency is separate;
3. a representative of a State center for independent
living described in part C of title VII of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29
U.S.C. 796f et seq.);
4. a representative of the State workforce investment
board established under section 111 of the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (29
U.S.C. 2821);
5. a representative of the State educational agency, as defined in section
9101 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801);
and
6. representatives of other State agencies, public agencies, or private
organizations, as determined by the State.
E. All members shall be members and shall have equal voting rights on all
matters to come before the Council.
F. Each member of the Council shall serve for a term of
three (3) years except that a member appointed to fill a vacancy occurring
prior to expiration of the term for which the predecessor was appointed shall
be appointed for the remainder of such term.
G. No member of the Council may serve more than two (2)
consecutive full terms.
H. A vacancy occurring in the Council shall be filled in
the same manner as the original appointment.
The vacancy shall not affect the power of the remaining members to
execute the duties of the Council.
If a Council member misses three (3) Council
and/or standing committee meetings within a calendar year, the Council may
remove that member by an affirmative vote of the majority of the members
present at a meeting of the Council. The
Council member will be given an opportunity to be present and to be heard at
the meeting at which his or her removal is considered
ARTICLE VII. OFFICERS
A. The officers of the Council shall be Chairperson and
Vice-Chairperson with duties as described below.
1. The Chairperson shall:
a. Assist in the development of meeting agendas, and
preside at all meetings of the Council and, in the absence of the
Vice-Chairperson, assign a designee from the Council to preside in his or her
absence;
b. establish standing and ad hoc committees and task
forces to assist the Council or committees in carrying out their respective
responsibilities and designate the chair of all committees and task forces; and
c. be the official spokesperson for the Council.
2. The Vice-Chairperson shall:
a. in the absence of the Chairperson, perform the
Chairperson’s duties; and
b. assume the position of acting Chairperson if the
position of the Chairperson is vacated, until such time as a new Chairperson is
elected.
B. The officers shall be elected as follows:
1. The officers of the Council shall be
elected by a majority of the Members and must be selected from among the Members.
The Chairperson and Vice-Chairperson shall be elected for two (2) year
terms, or until the election of a successor, beginning as of the date
elected.
2. Officers may be re-nominated and
re-elected to the same posts for no more than two (2) consecutive terms.
3. To assure an open election process,
floor nominations will be accepted.
C. The Council may remove any officer with or without
cause whenever in its judgment the best interest of the Council will be served
thereby.
ARTICLE VIII. PROCEDURES
A. All meetings of the Council shall be conducted
according to the Nevada Open Meeting Law, Nevada Revised Statutes as it
pertains to public bodies in the State.
B. In order to conduct any official business, a quorum
must be present. A quorum shall consist
of fifty-one percent (51%) of the current Members.
C. All voting of the Council shall be conducted as
follows:
1. Each
Member shall have one vote.
2. All decisions shall be made by a majority vote of the
Members present at a meeting at which there is a quorum.
3. All votes will be by voice unless there is a request by
a member for a roll call vote.
4. Proxy voting will not be permitted.
D. The meetings of the Council shall take place as
follows:
1. The Council shall meet at least once annually, or at
such other time as may be determined by the Aging and Disability Services
Division, for the purpose of electing officers and transacting other business.
2. The Council shall meet on a regular basis, with an
objective of four (4) meetings per year, on such dates as shall be determined
by the Council. The annual meeting of
the Council may be counted as a regular meeting.
3. The meeting time and location of each meeting shall be
specified with input from the Council.
Council members may attend meetings by means of telephone conference or
similar method by which all persons participating in the meeting can hear each
other. Participation in a meeting
pursuant to this paragraph shall constitute presence in person at such meeting.
E. The agendas for Council meetings shall be prepared as
follows:
1. Agendas for meetings shall be developed by the Aging
and Disability Services Division with the assistance of the Chairperson. Council members, other agencies, groups,
organizations, or individuals desiring to place items on the agenda of a
meeting must present those items and statements of their purpose to the
Chairperson not less than ten (10) working days before a forthcoming meeting,
and the Chairperson shall include timely requested items on the agenda for such
meeting.
2. The opportunity for public comment may be provided on
each agenda.
3. A member of the Council is prohibited from making a
decision, or participating in any manner in the decision regarding a matter in
which he/she has a prohibited interest (i.e., conflict of interest.)A Council member will have a prohibited
interest when, in the course of his or her duties, he or she has the
opportunity to perform some act or make some decision in his or her official
capacity that might substantially affect the economic interest of either
himself or herself or the individual agency or organization he or she
represents exclusive of other agencies or organizations of similar purpose.
G. In questions of parliamentary procedure, Roberts’ Rules
of Order shall be followed.
H. Minutes shall be kept of all Council meetings. Minutes shall be maintained in the Office of
Disability Services. Such minutes shall
be made available to the public upon request.
I. Any member of the
Council or a committee may resign at any time by giving notice of his or
her resignation to the Chairperson or Aging and Disability Services Division. Such resignation shall take effect at the
time specified therein or, if no time is specified, at the time of the receipt
thereof, and, unless otherwise specified in the notice, the acceptance of such
resignation shall not be necessary to make it effective.
ARTICLE IX. AMENDMENTS
These bylaws may be amended at any regularly scheduled meeting of the Council by a two-thirds (2/3) vote of the current Members, provided that the amendment has been submitted in accessible formats to each member of the Council at the meeting immediately prior to the meeting at which such amendment shall be voted on and provided that the amendment is not in conflict with any applicable state and federal laws and regulations.