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 North Carolina.
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].
(This section amended, effective 1/1/2006)
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 or three days following. Such reconsideration shall be announced at the next stated communication of the lodge and marginal notations made on the minutes of the previous communication. (this subsection amended, effective 1/1/2013)
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 information is available as follows:
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. In the event more than Two (2) years have passed since his demit, the application shall be forwarded to the Grand Secretary and referred to a Committee of Investigation whose report shall be filed before a ballot can be had thereon. The Grand Secretary shall order a criminal background check of the applicant, and information with respect to the petitioner as he may possess.
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 Secretaryprovided, 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.