CHAPTER 76
Demits
To demit is to withdraw
from a lodge. A demit shall sever the relationship between the lodge and the
member absolutely. [76-9; 76-8; 87-18; Official Form 35-A, 36].
1. No lodge in this state shall issue a provisional or conditional demit to a member who wishes to transfer to another lodge in this state. [75-15; 87-18]
2. An absolute demit shall not become invalid by lapse of time. [68-8.2; 75-15].
3. A demit shall be issued to an Honorary member. [81-4; 81-5; Official Form 64).
4. A lodge under dispensation shall have no authority to demit members. [39-11].
5. The action of
the lodge shall constitute the demission. The certificate of demit is only the
evidence thereof and is evidence also that the brother named therein was made a
Master Mason and was in good standing at the time it was granted.
Every Master Mason in good
standing who is a member of a lodge in this Grand Jurisdiction and not barred
by the provisions of THE CODE is entitled to demit therefrom upon proper
application. [76-3.3; 76-11.1; 76-3.6].
1. A Entered Apprentice
or Fellow Craft is not a member and cannot obtain a demit from a lodge in
2. The
certificate of the Grand Secretary issued under Regulation 49-4.6
to an Entered Apprentice or Fellow Craft of a defunct lodge shall be construed
to be a demit. [75-18; 76-3.6].
A member may be granted an
absolute demit when the following requirements are met.
1. He shall make
a request therefor in writing over his own signature and file same with the
Secretary, or he may make an oral request in open lodge for a demit. [Official
Form 35].
2. He shall pay
all his indebtedness to the lodge which may be unpaid at the time his
application is received. If the application is filed with the Secretary after
the last stated communication in December and prior to January first, it shall
be acted upon at the first stated communication in January without further
payment of dues.
3. If the applicant is an officer of the lodge, he must resign his office before making application for any kind of a demit. [57-5.3;
75-15].
4. There must be
no charges of unmasonic conduct filed or pending against the applicant. [91-9.3].
A. A lodge should not grant a demit to one
known to be unworthy but should immediately prefer charges against such
brother.
B. For knowingly issuing a demit to an
unworthy member a lodge shall be liable to arrest of its charter. [59-2.27; 76-6.1].
5. A past officer
shall not be entitled to a demit on the payment of his dues while he is a
debtor to the lodge for moneys received by him as an officer.
6. An mentally incompetent brother shall not be granted a demit. [49-4.4; 75-1; 75-8; 76-2; 76-2.1; 76-3.7]. (This subsection amended, effective 1/1/2009)
7. A demit shall
not be refused by a lodge to a member who is not disqualified under any
subsection of this Regulation and has made the proper request therefor. [43-3.17; 76-12; 76-3.5; 76-3.6].
REG. 76-4
GRANTED BY ORDER OF THE MASTER.
Each request for an
absolute demit whether written or oral must be presented to the lodge at a
stated communication, and if it appears that all requirements have been met,
such request shall be granted, by order of the Master entered of record,
without vote of the lodge, and the Secretary shall issue to the applicant a
certificate thereof under seal of the lodge.
1. The order of the Master, when made and
entered of record, cannot be revoked nor reconsidered. The action of the Master
may be reconsidered before the close of the communication at which a demit is
granted.
2. From the close of the communication the
membership of the applicant ceases.
3. A request for a demit may be withdrawn
only by the applicant and before action is taken thereon as herein provided. [45-3.4.F; 59-12.19.G; 76-3.7; 76-5; Official Forms 35, 36].
REG. 76-5
CERTIFICATE OF DEMIT ISSUED.
A certificate of absolute
demit, when ordered by the lodge shall be issued by the Secretary and signed by
him under the seal of the lodge, and it shall bear the date the lodge acted to
grant it. [76-4].
1. All certificates of demit granted and
issued by lodges in this Grand Jurisdiction shall be sent to the Grand
Secretary’s office for certification and forwarding to the demitted brother.
A. The
Secretary shall furnish the Grand Secretary the last known mailing address of
the applicant.
B. If
a lodge issues an absolute demit to a brother holding plural membership in a
Lodge in North Carolina, such demit shall be held in the office of the Grand
Secretary, however, in the event he requests demits from both lodges in
which he holds dual membership, he may request one demit be returned to him. [52-5.3].
2. The minutes of the lodge at the next
stated communication shall bear record of mailing of the demit to the Grand
Secretary, and the date thereof.
REG. 76-6
CHARGES OF UNMASONIC CONDUCT.
If charges of unmasonic
conduct are pending, they shall take the course provided by law, and if on
trial of the same the accused is acquitted, or convicted, punished with a
reprimand only, then at the first stated communication after acquittal or
reprimand demit shall be issued as provided in Regulation 76-4.
1. The granting
of a demit shall not divest the lodge granting it, or any Master Mason, of
authority to prefer charges against a demitted brother for offenses committed
prior to his demission.
2. The usual
statement in a certificate of demission that the brother is in good standing
shall mean only that he is neither excluded, suspended, expelled, nor then
under charges for unmasonic conduct.
A. It
shall not mean that he is not liable to charges. [76-3.4.A; 87-5; 90-8].
B. The
same shall apply to a certificate of good standing issued under Regulation 75-15.
REG. 76-7
CONTENTS OF CERTIFICATE.
On all certificates of
demit issued by a lodge there shall appear the brother’s Masonic record if such
1. His full name,
2. The place and date of his birth,
3. The dates of his initiation, passing, and
raising,
4. The dates of any exclusion, suspension,
or expulsion,
5. The dates of any restoration to
membership and,
6. If he has been the Master or a warden,
the dates thereof.
A duplicate certificate of
demit shall not be issued. A request for a certificate showing that a demit has
been issued Official Form 62 may be filed with the Secretary of his former
lodge or the Grand Secretary. The Secretary or Grand Secretary shall verify
that the demit has been issued. The Secretary or Grand Secretary shall cause
Official Form 63 to be issued. [75-6.1; 76-9; 76-1; Official Forms 62, 63].
REG. 76-9
RESTORATION TO MEMBERSHIP.
A Mason who has received an
absolute demit from his lodge shall not regain membership therein by paying
dues. He can do so only by an application for affiliation.
REG.
76-10 RIGHTS OF A NONAFFILIATED MASON.
A nonaffiliated Mason shall
have no rights or privileges in and his family shall have no claims on,
Masonry. [74-6; 74-8; 74-7].
REG.
76-11 MEMBERS OF DEFUNCT LODGES.
A demit from a defunct
lodge which is not dated but is regular in all other respects will be presumed
to have been issued before the lodge became defunct and shall be valid.
1. Demits shall
not be issued by the Grand Secretary to members of a lodge whose charter has
been arrested and the lodge cited by the Grand Master pending the action of the
Grand Lodge.
2. Demits shall
not be withheld for the sole reason that the seal and records of a defunct
lodge have not been returned to the Grand Secretary provided, the status
of the brother can be satisfactorily determined by the Grand Secretary without
those records. [49-4.1; 49-4.5; 49-4.7; 75-15].
If a member shall be in
arrears on an alleged assessment or on a voluntary pledge to a fund raised for
a special purpose, such as a building fund, but has paid his dues, he shall be
clear on the books and shall be entitled to a demit. A lodge shall not charge a
withdrawal fee. [43-3.17; 76-3.7]
REG.
76-13 DUES NOT PRO RATED.
Dues being payable annually
in advance, a member who tenders the pro rata amount which has accrued to the
time of his application for a demit shall not be entitled to a demit and the
lodge should withhold granting it until the remainder of the year’s dues is
paid, but the lodge may remit the same.