D. New members shall pay a one time, non refundable fee of $35.00

E. He/she must attend ALL monthly meetings to be held at a pre-arranged location.

F. He/she must have their own form of transportation to and from meetings and investigations, unless otherwise approved by the Director of the Georgia Ghost Society.

G. Must be physically and mentally capable to deal with working in dark, unusual and often frightening environment.

Section 3. No person shall be eligible for membership if:

A. Anyone with a known history of criminal activity or illegal behavior.

B. There is reason to believe that he/she may not adhere to and abide by the By-Laws and our rules and regulations.

C. He/she advocates race, religious or class hatred.

D. His/her attendance to meetings or investigations falls below par in any given six (6) month period.

Section 4. Your Active Membership can be permanently revoked if:

A. Attendance to Georgia Ghost Society sponsored events falls below average.

B. Divulging privileged or confidential information obtained during investigations with anyone outside the Georgia Ghost Society.

C. Attempting to undermine the credibility of the organization and it’s research in anyway.

D. Dishonesty, theft, slander, gossip or any other bad traits which would reflect unfavorably against the Georgia Ghost Society.

Section 5. Other membership points:

A. The Director has the exclusive right to deny or revoke membership to anyone who does not meet with the high standards set forth by the Georgia Ghost Society.

B. All photo id's, are the exclusive property of the Georgia Ghost Society and must be surrendered to the Director upon request when dropped from the organization, offers resignation or failure to renew said membership promptly.

C. All Active Members are given a trial period of 6 months and evaluated at the end of that time. It is then up to the Director whether or not the said member will be invited to renew as an Active Member. The criteria for membership renewal that is taken into consideration are: attendance to meetings, investigations, ability to learn and grow with the Georgia Ghost Society, neatness of appearance, willingness to contribute to the society as a whole and other general membership practices.

E. The Director is not obligated in anyway to retain any individual that doesn't meet the above mentioned criteria or any other deemed necessary by the Director.

F. The Georgia Ghost Society is not obligated to accept members who already have their own paranormal research organization established at the time of their application for joining. This is to be considered a conflict of interest and there will be no exceptions. However, it is acceptable for any new member belongs to other national organizations.

Section 6. Charter Membership

A.  Charter members include the original members who have been a part of its creation and organization; Robert M. Hunnicutt, Drew Hester,  Leigh Calhoun, Kelly Calhoun and Julie Dye.  These members shall have the right and privilege of lifetime membership.

back to the top

 Article 4

Officers 

Section 1. Officers of this organization shall consist of a Director, Co-Director,  Secretary, Treasurer, Interviewer, Research and Technical Coordinator. Other officers may include Case Managers, Equipment Coordinators and Field Investigators.

Section 2. Eligibility to hold appointed office shall be governed solely by the Director and the provisions of the By-Laws.

A. All officers are appointed and not elected by the Director. Their status and office may be revoked by the Director of the Georgia Ghost Society at any time.

B. Appointed officers have a slightly higher ranking than Active Members and are offered some special privileges and may also have higher responsibilities.

C. Any Active Member may apply for any vacant position anytime after their one (1) year anniversary date. You must maintain a better than average attendance to all meetings and investigations.

D. Officers may be removed from their position at anytime by the Director for any reason covered by rules and bylaws. 

Section 3. It shall be the Duty of the Director and Co - Director:

A. To preside at all meetings of this organization and to preserve order therein. He shall appoint all committees and shall also have the right to serve on all committees by virtue of his office.

B. To publish and edit the official publication or newsletter of the organization, unless this responsibility is given to another member.  However, the Director has the right to review and approve such publication prior to being made available to members and/or the public.

C. To appoint officers to the organization, create branches in other states or countries and to have sole power to dissolve any branches, officers or the organization as a whole at anytime.

D. To organize On-site investigations at private residences and/or public locations for the membership and be in charge of such.

Section 4. It shall be the Duty of the Assistant Director:

A. To preside at all meetings in the absence of the Director. He/she shall perform such other duties and render such assistance as may be directed by the Director or Co - Director, but has no authority to:

1. Institute new standards, policies or protocols.

2. Censor and / or dismiss any active member.

3. Take disciplinary action of any active member.

4. Make arbitrary decisions concerning organization.

Section 5. It shall be the Duty of the Secretary:

A. To take meeting minutes at all meetings. This would also include later typing out the same and seeing that the Director receives a copy.

B. To assist the Director at meetings with the distribution of materials, i.e. newsletters, application forms, flyers and to assist new applicants with questions.

C. To maintain a record of all members, Active or otherwise, in good standing with their last known address. Said record shall not be opened to inspection of any member except as and to the extent required by statue.

Section 6. It shall be the Duty of the Research Director:

A. To report directly to the Director.

B. To research and investigate new leads as directed by the Director and to report such findings to the Director without exception using a Report Form.

C. To assist other Active Members on scheduled and/or emergency On-site Investigations.

D. To preside at any meetings in the absence of both the Director and Assistant Director.

E. To have top seniority over any other Active Members or Field Investigators.

F. Minimum age requirement is 21.

Section 7. It shall be the Duty of the Field Investigator:

A. To report directly to either the Research Director, Assistant Director and Director;  in that order.

B. Assist in examining or gathering data or information.

C. May be given new leads to investigate by the Director or other officers.

D. Minimum age requirement is 21.

Section 8. Other officers:

A. Special Consultants are individuals within the United States that are not necessarily members of the Georgia Ghost Society. They are called upon by the Georgia Ghost Society GS for the expert opinions in the subject of the paranormal, supernatural and/or the preternatural, e.g. John Zaffis, Troy Taylor, etc.

B. This organization does not allow for a Board Of Directors nor will it ever. 

  back to the top

Article 5

Officers - Generally 

Section 1. All officers of this organization when installed after appointment may be required to take the following obligation for office: "

I. ________________________________ do most sincerely promise, upon my honor, that I will truly and faithfully, to the best of my ability, perform the duties of my office, as prescribed in the By- Laws of this organization, the Georgia Ghost Society."

Section 2. All officers in the performance of their duties shall adhere to the terms of these By-Laws.

  back to the top

Article 6

Membership Outings

 Section 1. Field, On-site & Special Investigations.

A. All Active Members are required to attend all meetings especially those prior to regularly scheduled Field, On-site and Special investigations or eligibility to the same is void.

B. Field Investigations are those scheduled for locations that are open to the general public and which may be of historic in nature or publicly known to be haunted.

C. Those members who cannot make a regularly scheduled Field Investigation will have that missed outing counted as one of the two events within any given year and cannot be made up.

D. Field or On-site Investigations will be offered only to those Active Members who have been trained and oriented to all procedures and trained on specific equipment.  No sanctioned investigation will take place without the Director’s approval and knowledge. Failure to adhere to this policy may result in termination of membership.

E. On-Site Investigations are not automatic to all Active Members due to specific needs of each particular investigation.  Each will be based on size and severity of the situation.

F. All Active Members who attend Field and/or On-Site Investigations or Out-of-State Research Trips assume full responsibility and agree to relieve the Georgia Ghost Society and the Director of any liability as far as personal injury, legal action or anything deemed as an Act Of God.

G. All meetings, investigations and outings are for Active Georgia Ghost Society Members and Special Consultants only! Please do not bring spouses, children, friends, or relatives unless prior arrangements have been made with the Director.

H. All information obtained during Georgia Ghost Society sponsored outings should remain within the Georgia Ghost Society circle and not shared with anyone not already a member. The Georgia Ghost Society holds exclusive copyright and ownership of any material collected, presented, investigated or obtained during or afterwards. This would include: solicitations, photographs, video or audio recordings of analog or digital nature and research reports and logs.

I. All Active Members are expected to arrive on-time with the proper equipment discussed at the previously scheduled monthly or pre-investigation meeting.

J. If a member cannot make a scheduled Field or On-Site Investigation, it shall be his/her responsibility to phone in advance to the Director or Assistant Director. In the cases of an emergency, some notification as soon as possible would be appreciated.

K. All Active Members will not be invited to all investigations at various times if the membership roster becomes too large or if the scheduled investigation logistics do not call for them. A fair rotational program will allow all Active Members to attend Field and/or On-Site Investigations.

L. During official investigations, media outings, interviews and meetings, all members will conduct themselves in a professional, courteous manner.  Members will refrain from discussions of political, religious, philosophical or personal nature. The Director and/or Co-Director will be the official spokesperson for the group and all inquiries and/or comments should be directed to them. 

back to the top

Article 7

Membership Dues and/or Fees

 Section 1.  Regular membership dues are $10.00 and all new members shall pay a one time, non-refundable fee of $35.00.

  back to the top

Article 8

Meetings 

Section 1. Meetings shall be held monthly, on the 2^nd Saturday of each month, beginning in January at 2:00pm at the Georgia Ghost Society Headquarters in Macon, Georgia or other agreed upon convenient location suitable for the meeting. Upon joining, members will be given the address and directions to the meeting site.  Meeting location may be revised as necessary to accommodate the needs of the entire team at the Director’s discretion. 

Section 2. Attendance is mandatory for all Active members. Length of meetings is usually two (2) hours but may be longer if required.

A. Small children shall not attend regular scheduled meetings without prior contact and conversation with either the Director and/or Assistant Director.

Section 3. Schedule of meetings:

A. Opening comments or last meetings minutes.

B. Slides or audio presentations.

C. Guest speakers, if any.

D. Reading of interesting letters or newspaper articles.

E. Open floor discussion or question/answer time.

F. Video presentations.

G. Closing comments.

H. Official business.

I.  Adjournment.

Section 4.  Unscheduled or Emergency meetings of this organization for Active Members may be called by the Director upon reasonable notice to the membership. These meetings will be held at the Georgia Ghost Society headquarters in Macon unless otherwise noted. Notice and location will be given to all Active Georgia Ghost Society members.

Section 5. Notifications of meetings will usually be sent through group email and an RSVP is expected of all members whether you can or cannot attend. You must respond in one way or another and, of course, you can always change your mind and send an updated email. This policy was instituted so that the Director can have the necessary materials ready to hand out to those who respond. If you simply show up and don't respond, in the past, the meeting had to be put on hold in order to make additional copies. That policy is now defunct and those who don't respond will have to wait until the meeting is concluded to receive their copies or during a designated break. 

  back to the top

Article 9

Fiscal Year 

The fiscal year of this organization shall be from January 1 to December 31 of each year.

   back to the top

Article 10

Field Excursions 

Section 1. This organization shall have three main types of research trips; Field Investigations, On-Site Investigations and Special Investigations.  No investigations or events will be conducted or permitted without the prior knowledge of and authorized by the Director or Co-Director.

A. Field Investigations can be held during anytime of the year but are scheduled as much in advance as possible and are open to all Active Members whom are in good standing and have attended the previous meeting. That same member must have already filled out an Application For Active Research, submitted a recent photograph of him or herself and must have already been interviewed for Active Membership.

1. Field Investigations usually consist of a public accessible area indoors or outdoors where paranormal activity has been reported. These outings usually last between two to four hours.

B. On-Site Investigations are usually held irregularly at various times throughout the year and are open to all Active Members who are in good standing and have fulfilled the requirements plus has attended at least one (2) prior Field Investigations in the past. He/she must have better than average attendance to all meetings as well.

1. Special Investigations are not automatic to all Active Members only those who meet the various requirements plus show promise in the investigation field.

2. Special Investigations are usually overnight stakeouts sometimes indoors but can be outdoors as well. These outings can be from several hours to overnight in length.

3. Special Investigations are usually held irregularly as the Director receives calls or requests to investigate an home alleged to be experiencing phenomena related to possible supernatural and/or preternatural nature.. These investigations deal with someone’s private residence and are not for everyone. Requirements are listed above.

4. Special Investigations can be quite lengthy and often require follow-up visits from time to time. All information gathered at these investigations is completely confidential.

5. Attendance may be limited to a few select people even though others may be qualified to attend. This is due to the client's wishes and cannot be circumvented.

6. Order of attendance would be: A. Director/Assistant Director   B. Research Director    C. Field Investigators   D. All other Active Members according to previous attendance to other Investigations., Meetings and seniority.

7. Again a fair rotational program is in place for Special Investigations but the Active Member must remember that certain equipment is necessary for such investigations and those having such needed equipment may have some special privileges. 

  back to the top

Article 11

Dress Code 

Section 1. All members will strictly observe the dress code for both meetings and on-site investigations.  Members may wear casual dress that is reasonable and appropriate; men are required to wear khakis, dress jeans or dress pants; sport shirts with collars and appropriate comfortable shoes and jackets. Women should wear similar type clothing items that are co   Section 2. Prohibited clothing shall include camouflage or paramilitary attire of any type, All clothing pieces will be free of any writing, pictures, etc. (Small logo and Brand identification names are acceptable. No cut-offs, shorts of any kind, stone-washed jeans, spot-faded, over-all and baggy style jeans or pants. Pants with additional or misplaced pockets or loops of any kind are not acceptable All garments shall be free of fringe, designs, embroidery, lace, frayed edges/hems and tassels.  Shoes shall be appropriate for the environment of the function, no sandals or flip flops.

back to the top

Article 12

Official Logos 

Section 1. All logos on this organization's business cards are copyrighted and remain the property of the Georgia Ghost Society. These designs and logos cannot be reproduced without expressed written consent from the Director of the Georgia Ghost Society.

Section 2. The designs on this organization's membership cards and photo identification cards are also copyrighted and cannot be duplicated under penalty of law.

Section 3. The title Georgia Ghost Society remains the exclusive property of Robert M. Hunnicutt, Founder and Director and cannot be used by any other organization or business under penalty of law.

Revised: October 2003, December 2004, May 2005 , March 2006  

back to the top

BACK