How to Change the ASFA Running Rules
ASFA's procedure for changing the Running Rules is a Special Rule of Order ("Revising the Running Rules," Rulebook Appendix, Sections 1–10). It requires due diligence by the REC (Rules Evaluation Committee) to minimize unintended consequences and avoid conflicts with existing rules or constitutional requirements. The process may seem daunting, but it is doable. And although there is no fast track, changes are made to the Running Rules every year.
Change in ASFA often starts with people who run their dogs and identify something that, in their opinion, could be improved. The procedure recognizes two ways a proposal can originate:
- Club-Region-REC Track (Sections 1–3(a))
- BoD-to-REC Track (Section 3(c))
Both tracks converge at the REC, and every proposal ends with an up-or-down vote at the Annual Convention of Delegates (ACoD). Only the ACoD may change the Running Rules — the Board of Directors has no authority to alter them (Constitution, Art. V §1).
Club-Region-REC Track
Member PathThis is the path open to every member club. The person or club initiating the proposal works with their ASFA club to put it together, and the club submits a detailed copy of the change to its Regional Director via its club liaison (Section 1). Proposals sent to the RD any other way are not properly submitted.
The RD calls a regional rules conference — which may be conducted by mail — to consider the proposal (Section 2). The proposal passes only if a majority of the region's clubs are represented at the conference. If it passes, the RD has 30 days to submit it to the REC, post it for publication, and send a copy to every club liaison in the region (Section 3(a)). Every proposal must carry its "reason" and "effect" explanatory material (Section 3(b)).
After REC evaluation, the final version is published and circulated to registered convention delegates at least 30 days before the ACoD (Sections 6–7). If the ACoD approves it, the change takes effect August 1 following ratification (Section 9).
BoD-to-REC Track
The ASFA Board of Directors may propose a rule change by submitting a detailed copy of the change to the REC via the chair of that committee (Section 3(c)). This skips the regional conference, but not the rest of the process: the proposal still goes through REC evaluation, publication, the 30-day circulation to delegates, and the ACoD vote. Ideas can reach the Board from any source — including exhibitors who are not members of an ASFA club — but the formal submission to the REC is made by the Board through the REC chair.
The REC may also generate proposals in response to issues raised by Regional Directors or the Board (Section 5).
What About Proposals From the ACoD Floor?
There is no "floor track." Section 8 of the procedure is explicit: only rule change proposals that have followed this procedure will be discussed at the Annual Convention of Delegates. The only modifications permitted on the floor are minor word changes that, in the opinion of a majority of REC members present, do not substantively change the intent of the proposal.
A delegate cannot bring a new rule change to the ACoD floor for a first up-or-down vote. As a Special Rule of Order, the procedure can be suspended during a convention by a two-thirds vote — but that is an extraordinary parliamentary exception, not a route to plan on.
What a delegate can do is raise the issue under New Business (Constitution, Art. XII §1(l)) and move that the convention refer it to the Board. If the motion carries, the Board may submit the issue to the REC (Section 3(c)), specifying whether the REC should develop a rule change proposal or review the issue and make recommendations (Policy A-RUL04). That referral motion is not a vote on the rule change itself — the resulting proposal still runs the full REC, publication, and 30-day notice cycle and comes before the next ACoD for the actual vote.
If you have an idea and the regional conference has already passed for the year, the practical options are to route it through your club and club liaison for the next regional cycle, or to ask the Board to consider submitting it under Section 3(c). Either way, the wording gets REC review before delegates ever vote on it — which is the point of the procedure.
Process Flow Diagram
Both tracks converge at the Rules Evaluation Committee. Every proposal is then published and circulated to delegates before the ACoD's final vote.
Member / Club
Has an idea for a rule change — Sec. 1
ASFA Board of Directors
Board-originated proposal — Sec. 3(c)
Club Liaison → Regional Director
Club submits via its liaison to the RD
Goes directly to REC ↓
Submitted via the REC chair
Regional Rules Conference
Majority of region's clubs represented; may be by mail — Sec. 2–3(a)
Region Approves
RD submits to REC + publishes + notifies region's liaisons within 30 days. If legitimacy of the submission is questioned, the REC chair decides (A-BOD18)
Rules Evaluation Committee
Discussion · Wordsmithing · Conflict check · Recommendation for the ACoD — may not reject a properly submitted proposal (Sec. 5)
3 regular members + 2 alternates, appointed by the Board (Sec. 4, A-RUL05)
Published & Circulated to Delegates
Final version posted; sent to registered delegates ≥30 days before the convention — Sec. 6–7
Annual Convention of Delegates
Up-or-down vote; only minor, non-substantive word changes permitted on the floor — Sec. 8
Fails
Proposal is dropped or may be reworked and resubmitted through the same procedure
Passes
Takes effect August 1 following ratification — Sec. 9
No floor track: new proposals cannot originate at the ACoD. Only proposals that followed this procedure may be discussed there (Sec. 8).
Official References
For the complete ASFA rule change provisions, refer to the following official documents:
ASFA Running Rules
Appendix — General Information on ASFA Policies and Procedures
Revising the Running Rules (Special Rule of Order), Sections 1–10
ASFA Constitution and By-Laws
Article IV (Conventions, Meetings, Delegates and Voting) · Article V, Section 1 (the Board has no authority to alter the Running Rules)
asfa.org/rule/index.htm