“Frequently boards include ex-officio members — that is, persons who are members of the board by virtue of an office or committee chairmanship held in the society, or in the parent state or national society or federation or some allied group; or — sometimes in boards outside of organized societies — by virtue of a public office. In the executive board of a society, if the ex-officio member of the board is under the authority of the society (that is, if he is a member, officer, or employee of the society), there is no distinction between him and the other board members. If the ex-officio member is not under the authority of the society, he has all the privileges of board membership, including the right to make motions and to vote, but none of the obligations — just as in a case, for example, where the governor of a state is ex officio a trustee of a private academy.” Henry M. Robert, Robert’s Rules of Order Newly Revised § 49, at 466 (10th ed. 2000).
ex officio
ex officio (eks [schwa]-fish-ee-oh), adv. & adj.[Latin] By virtue or because of an office; by virtue of the authority implied by office. • The term is often misused as a synonym for “nonvoting.” Some meetings mistakenly label their regularly invited guests as “ex officio members” when in fact they are not members at all; others mistakenly refer to the nonvoting members as “ex officio members” even though some nonvoting members are present only in an individual capacity and not by virtue of office, or even though some voting members also serve ex officio. But an ex officio member is a voting member unless the applicable governing document provides otherwise.
