Chapter 26
District Deputy Grand Master, Qualifications,
Powers and Duties
The Grand Master shall each year, or as often as he may deem it to be for the good of the Craft, divide the state into districts, having regard to the Masonic population, the number of lodges, and the convenience of travel. [13-2.18].
1. The districts may be defined by territorial limits, or by designating the subordinate lodges that shall constitute a district.
2. The territorial jurisdiction of such lodges shall be contiguous, and the districts shall be numbered and not named.
There shall be only one District Deputy Grand Master in each district, and he shall be appointed and commissioned by the Grand Master annually.
1. Each District Deputy Grand Master shall be a Master or Past Master of a subordinate lodge.
2. Each District Deputy Grand Master shall be a member of a subordinate lodge within the district he represents. (This regulation amended, effective 1/1/2017)
3. Each District Deputy Grand Master shall be well skilled in the Authorized Work of the three degrees of Symbolic Masonry and well informed in the best business practices for Masonic lodges, the law, custom, and usage of the Craft in this Grand Jurisdiction. [3-1.5; 11-4; 11-4.3; Official Form 53].
4. Each District Deputy Grand Master, when duly appointed and commissioned as such, is then, and without the necessity for installation or any other act, fully entitled to the prerogatives of, and shall perform the duties of, a District Deputy Grand Master.
5. During his official term he is responsible only to the Grand Master or the Grand Lodge for his official acts or discipline. [11-4].
It shall be the duty of each District Deputy Grand Master: [39-2.6.F].
1. To visit each subordinate lodge in his district as often as convenient but not less than once a year.
2. To bring the lodges in his district into closer relations with each other and with the Grand Lodge. [43-2.12].
3. To preside therein upon the occasion of his official visitations.
4. To examine thoroughly its records and accounts.
5. To inform himself fully as to the condition of the lodge, the number of its members, and the regularity of their attendance. [45-14].
6. To inquire into all the affairs of the lodge and the administration thereof.
7. To make such suggestions and recommendations to the officers as he deems necessary to insure a full and prompt compliance with the law of the Grand Lodge.
8. To instruct or counsel officers and members in any particular wherein he may find they need information and particularly to recommend attention to the moral and benevolent principles of Masonry.
9. To caution the brethren in the admission of petitioners for the degrees.
10. To confer with the officers and members concerning non-affiliated and unaffiliated Masons.
11. To endeavor, if he should discover in his district any Masonic error or any unmasonic conduct, to correct the same immediately by Masonic means; and if he judges it expedient, to report the same immediately to the Grand Master. [71-9].
12. To take possession of the funds and property of any dormant or extinct lodge in his district and transfer the same to the Grand Secretary or to comply with any instructions given by the Grand Secretary in regard to the same. [49-7.4].
13. To perform such other services and executive duties as may from time to time be assigned to him by the Grand Master.
14. On each official visitation, and as often as he may deem it necessary, he shall call for and personally examine the Vocabulary assigned to the several lodges in his district, and shall require a strict compliance with Regulation 24-3 in regard to each book. He shall examine the lodge's copy of THE CODE to see that all amendments thereto have been properly posted. He shall immediately report any irregularities found by his examination to the Grand Master. The duty herein described is mandatory and may not be omitted for any reason. [86-2.55; 59-12.9].
He shall make an annual report based on the calendar year and file it with the Grand Master by November fifteenth, setting forth his official acts during the year, the condition of each lodge in his district, and the condition of Masonry in his district, and suggesting such measures as to him may appear conducive to the general good of the lodges and the fraternity. This report shall not be published in the Annual Proceedings of the Grand Lodge, but it shall be transmitted to the incoming Grand Master as information for his use. (This regulation amended, effective 1/1/2006)
He shall render to the Grand Master before December tenth of each year an itemized account of the actual travel expense incurred by him in the performance of his duties. The amount of reimbursement for mileage shall be determined by the Committee on Finance and approved by the Board of General Purposes. The Grand Master may order the same to be paid from the funds of the Grand Lodge, if such expense has been incurred in the performance of routine duty, but not for more than two official visits to each lodge in his district during a calendar year. If the expense has been incurred for a special duty, the Grand Master may order the lodge or the Grand Lodge to pay it. A District Deputy Grand Master shall not be compensated for his services.
A brother who has heretofore served, or shall serve, three consecutive years as District Deputy Grand Master, shall not succeed himself unless the Grand Master shall find that it is in the best interest of Masonry for said brother to continue with his duties.