A Direct Line Blog

By Donya Parrish, MCU VP- Risk Management

Q: We would like to add a few additional members to our supervisory committee to assist with our branch communities. How do we do that?

A: One thing that modern technology has offered is the opportunity to engage committee members who might not live in the same town. Adding members to assist with branches and growth can be done, but how it is done depends on your charter.

Federal charters: Article IX, Section 1 of the 2020 model bylaws (check your own version, if different) allows the board to appoint the supervisory committee from the membership and designates it “may not be fewer than 3 or more than 5.” If the credit union currently has 3, the board need only approve the appointment of additional members. If you are already at 5 members, it might be time to look at whether some of the committee’s function need to be handled by an internal or external auditor.

State charters: Similarly, the Montana Credit Union Act offers direction in 32-3-403 (2) M.C.A. for the board of directors to appoint a supervisory committee of “at least three members during the organizational meeting,” with subsequent appointments within 30 days of the annual meeting. There is no restriction of 5 members in the Montana Act, so the board has the ability to make additional appointments if needed.

Along with sharing the ongoing workload in your branch communities, another reason to add supervisory committee members might be a current member’s plan to retire or step down. Adding members ahead of a known change can help ease the transition and transfer of knowledge.