District Deputy

It is extremely important that you ensure that the grand knight and the delegate from each council in your district attend and participate in the proceedings of the annual state convention. As district deputy, you are also considered an important part of the state council. As such, you are expected to attend the organizational meeting, the mid-year membership meeting and the annual state convention. By taking an active role, you will ensure a stronger future for each council in your district, your jurisdiction and the overall good of the Order.

944 Report

You are responsible for filling out an Annual District Deputy Report (#944), due on September 15th, for each council in your district, including inactive councils. This form provides valuable information to your State Deputy and Supreme about council health. This form is completed online in a survey format. State Deputies will be monitoring which district deputies have completed this form.

Ceremonial Work Within Your District

Each council in your district should strive to conduct their own Exemplifications of Charity, Unity, and Fraternity. While the Exemplification of Charity, Unity and Fraternity has seven roles that can be filled, you can point out to your councils’ leadership teams that the ceremony can be appropriately conducted with as few as three team members, plus the financial secretary. This should be well within the capability of any council, regardless of its size. In addition, council’s ceremonial team has the ability to conduct exemplifications more frequently, allowing them to welcome more new members than a council without a ceremonial team. The Exemplification of Charity, Unity, and Fraternity is under the direct supervision of the council’s grand knight, who is responsible for appointing members to the team. Remind the grand knights in your district that the current chair officers may assume roles on the ceremonial team, but the opportunity to assume a role on the team should be open to all members of the council, even if those members fill back-up roles.

District Deputy Expense Form

The Supreme Council Office covers certain district deputy travel expenses. Your expenses should be submitted on the District Deputy Expense Form (#267). Your travel expenses for transportation, meals, telephone, tolls and parking, in connection with official business in your assigned district, are chargeable to the Supreme Council. These expenses may be submitted as a result of traveling for installations of officers, exemplifications and council visitations. Hotel charges for one night’s lodging, in connection with your attendance at your jurisdiction’s organizational and mid-year membership meetings, are also chargeable to the Supreme Council. Expenses that are not reimbursed by the Supreme Council include postage, guest meals, clerical assistance, printing, stationery, duplicating services and expenses incurred in connection with your attendance at your jurisdiction’s annual state council convention. Your District Deputy Expense Form (#267), accompanied by itemized receipts, should be forwarded to the Supreme Council Office quarterly through your state deputy, whose approval is required before it will be given attention by the supreme secretary.

Official Council Visits

As district deputy, you are the official representative of the supreme knight and your state deputy when you visit a local council. These official visits should be made a minimum of two times per year. For each council in your district, you are required to submit a District Deputy Annual Report on Council Status (#944) to the Supreme Council by September 15. This report helps you, the state deputy, and the Supreme Council determine if the council warrants additional assistance to maintain its viability.

New Council Development

One of the greatest accomplishments for you as district deputy would be the formation of a new council during your tenure. For in-depth details and instructions on forming a new council, including the presentation of charter ceremony, refer to the Council Growth & Retention Guidelines (#10506).

Council Reactivation

The health and welfare of each council that you have been assigned is an important function for you as district deputy. Councils that are experiencing problems or have been suspended warrant attention. As district deputy, an important duty is to reactivate any suspended council in your district. For full details on council reactivation, please refer to Council Growth & Retention Guidelines (#10506) or contact the Fraternal Mission Department at councilreactivation@kofc.org.

Council Retention

As a district deputy, you have the very important responsibility of ensuring that the councils in your district remain viable. This is accomplished through your official and unofficial council visits. During those visits, your observation and leadership skills will prove to be invaluable, especially if you observe the following warning signs that a council is struggling to remain active:

• No one is willing to take office — the same members continuing year after year as officers of the council indicates a lack of leadership.
• Low attendance at meetings — council members appear to have no interest in continuing the council if there is no quorum for meetings on a continual basis.
• Very few or no service programs being conducted — councils have an obligation to assist the parish and community. Councils that have no service programs in place are likely to fail.
• The council has no recruitment program and is not welcoming to new members — in order to have a strong council, adding new members to the council is important. However, if there are no recruitment programs in place to accomplish this, the council will fail
• No support for the parish or the pastor — if the council is not interested in assisting the parish or the pastor with furthering the mission of the Church, this indicates that the council is failing
• The council is using dues payments for other expenses prior to paying its obligations to the supreme and the state councils — this situation indicates that while the council is attempting to continue to conduct programs, it is not taking in enough funds to pay for those programs. It will only be a brief time before the council is suspended for nonpayment of supreme and state council obligations

The action steps you should take if you observe one or more of these warning signs include:

• Reassure the members — this is not the time for you to chastise the remaining members in the council. Rather, let the members know that you are there to assist them in getting the council turned around
• Talk to the pastor — engage the pastor in trying to find out why the council is failing. Keep the meeting positive and listen to what he is saying about why he thinks the council is failing
• Utilize the state officers — ask for assistance from the state officers, especially the state membership and program directors. These resources are there to assist you and will provide you with many strategies to get the council functioning properly

Remember that you are there to facilitate the turnaround of a struggling council and not to issue unilateral edicts and instructions. By collaborating with the pastor and the members of the council on ways to revive the council, you will be leading by example. Keeping a positive attitude when working through this process will yield a successful outcome.

District Meetings

Communication and organization are vital to the success of your district. To achieve success you are required to conduct, at a minimum, a district organizational meeting and a mid-year membership meeting. Invite grand knights, financial secretaries, treasurers, membership and program directors, and field agents from the councils within the district to participate in the meetings. Your district organizational meeting should be held within two weeks of the jurisdiction’s organizational meeting and cover the following areas:

• Membership
  • Goals and quotas for the district and each council
  • Schedule of ceremonials within the district for the proceeding six months
  • Recruitment Plans
    • Supreme Council plans
    • State Council plans
    • District plans
    • Council plans
  • Membership Retention
  • Insurance Promotion
  • Membership Incentive Programs
    • Supreme Council
    • State Council
• Charitable Programs
  • Supreme Council programs
  • State Council programs

The mid-year membership meeting should be scheduled immediately following the jurisdiction’s mid-year meeting and focus on motivating each council to:

• Achieve membership and insurance goals
• Continue providing charitable service programs to their parish and community

The meeting is also used to relay information from the supreme and state councils on any new membership or charitable program initiatives.

Strategy Sessions

Quarterly (or as needed) strategy sessions are useful tools for you to meet with each council in your district on a one-on-one basis to review the council’s plans for membership recruitment, insurance promotion and charitable outreach. The sessions should be scheduled in August or September and then again in January or February. Each strategy session should include the council’s grand knight and membership and program directors. Use the first session to assess the council’s plan on:

• Providing charitable outreach to the parish and community
• Earning the Star Council Award
• Membership recruitment

After this session, each participant should be committed to the plan of action for the council. The second session should to be used to evaluate how the council is progressing on the goals established in the first strategy session. Questions to ask include:

• Is the council better now than it was previously?
• What can we do to help more people?
• How can we do this better?

Officers Online — District Deputy Section

Your access to this website is granted at the start of your term, once the Supreme Council Office receives from your state deputy your contact information on the completed District Deputy Appointment (#189). Officers Online lets you keep track your district’s progress for membership growth, which is useful information toward the earning of the Star District Award, and is useful to track the health of each council in your district. Another resource available through Officers Online is the Officers’ Desk Reference. It provides answers to frequently asked questions about our name and emblem, home corporations, membership issues, tax issues, fraternal issues, council and assembly issues and social communications. Entries are regularly updated and expanded as new questions arise or additional information becomes available.

District Awards

The New Council Award is presented to those district deputies responsible for the development of a new council. The Star District Award is presented to those district deputies whose district excels in the areas of membership growth, insurance growth, programming, and overall excellence. To earn the Star District Award, the following requirements must be completed:

• Founders Award earned by 50% of councils in the District
• Reach 70% of combined council growth quotas
• At least one council in the district earns the Star Council Award
• For each council in your district, submit a District Deputy Report (#944) – Due 09/15

The All Star District Award is presented to those district deputies who attain the Star District Award and have all of their active councils earn the Star Council Award. Must have a minimum of three active councils to be All Star and only available in insurance territories.

Miscellaneous — District Deputy Section

Medals of Office — The supreme secretary forwards the medal of office for each new district deputy to the state deputy for presentation at the installation ceremony. The retiring district deputy is allowed to retain his medal of office as a memento of his term. Officers’ Failure to Perform Duties — When an officer of a council in your district fails or refuses to perform the responsibilities of his office, you may declare that office vacant in accordance with Sec. 92(b) of the Laws of the Order. You must report at once to the state deputy and supreme secretary any deposition or suspension made. If the vacancy will not be filled according to the Laws of the Order, you must appoint a member of the council to the office for the unexpired term. Installation of Officers — It is your duty to install the officers of each council in your district. According to Sec. 129 of the Laws of the Order, each council officer, unless excused by a vote of his council, must present himself for installation at the first monthly council meeting following his election. The time must be specified in a notice issued by or through the district deputy or state deputy. The district deputy or state deputy also have the right to excuse a council officer from the installation. The installation ceremony is detailed in the Installation of Council Officers (#770). You should prepare to conduct the installation as prescribed in the ceremonial book. Dissolution of Councils — Whenever the board of directors orders a council dissolved, you must follow any directions you receive from the supreme secretary regarding the transfer of memberships and the disposition of books, papers, records, accounts and moneys of the council. Dissolved Councils — A new council may not be established in a location that was the site of a dissolved council without first obtaining approval from the board of directors. The procedure calls for the state deputy to direct a letter of permission to the supreme secretary before any steps to organize are taken. Awards Presentations — Each year, the Star Council, Father McGivney, Founders’ and Columbian awards are forwarded to the district deputy of record (except where otherwise requested by the state deputy) for presentation. You are asked to present these awards to the council at an appropriate ceremony or occasion. You should invite the field agent to assist in all council award presentations, especially for the Founders’ Award. (Note: If the council earns only the Founders’ Award, it will be forwarded to the general agent of record for presentation.)  

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