State Advocate

From the Desk of the State Advocate

State Advocate Jason Esteve Worthy District Deputies and Grand Knights,

From time to time, I will be sharing information with you as State Advocate. I understand we are all busy, and I promise not to make these too lengthy, so please take the time to review the information and take action when necessary.

Per Capita Payments
Some Grand Knights and some Financial Secretaries are under the impression that the payment of a Supreme Council or a State Council obligation requires a motion to be passed at a Council Business meeting. This is not the case. Under the Laws and Rules of the Order, the Financial Secretary initiates payment of the obligation (see section 139 (8)) and is paid without action from the council (section 145). This includes Supreme and State Per Capita as well as the Catholic Advertising Fund and Culture of Life Fund, for example.

State Bylaw Revisions
Now that the Supreme Convention has concluded, the revision to the State bylaws will continue. The committee has completed a first pass, which consisted mainly of changing from all upper case to mixed case (for readability) and a first pass to identify typos, punctuation issues and grammar problems. The committee’s next task is to read the bylaws and revise them to represent how the State currently conducts business and to shape the bylaws to reflect how the State plans to operate in the future. All council input is welcome. In the same manner resolutions are presented to the State council , proposed bylaw revisions are presented for review and vote. Please feel free to contact me for more information on how your council can send a proposed bylaw change for consideration.

Questions to the State Advocate
If you or your councils have questions for me, please send them to me either in writing or via email at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . While I can try and answer your questions verbally, do not consider that a definitive answer. In many cases I will need to either take time to review the question or forward it to the Supreme Advocate’s office for their review.

Again, thank you for your time. I look forward to hearing from you.

Vivat Jesus,

Jason Esteve
State Advocate
Alabama State Council
Knights of Columbus

Friday, 17 August 2012 02:18

Last Updated on Friday, 17 August 2012 02:25

Columbus Club Liability Insurance for Council Events

In 1999, the Archdiocese of Mobile published a letter requiring “non-parish sponsored” activities to have liability coverage in effect while conducting any functions or activities on parish grounds. The Archdiocese offered ‘Special Events Coverage” to these organizations on a per event basis, currently that is offered for $90 per event.

Council 11480 in Enterprise contacted a local insurance agent and purchased an annual liability policy that meets the Archdiocese requirements – the current annual premium is $157. Councils are encouraged to pursue obtaining some form of liability coverage, either that offered by the Archdiocese / Diocese (if available) or through other commercial sources.

Council 11480 obtains their policy through the following agency:

Whittaker/Warren Insurance Inc.
P.O. Box 311283
Enterprise, AL 36331
(334) 347-2631

Contact: Forrest Warren or Dana Sparks

I have been in contact with Mr. Forrest Warren and he has assured me that he can provide coverage for all the councils in the state at or near the current annual premium rate of $157. There may be slight variations due to the number of members in the council. I urge you to have your Grand Knight contact them or any agency they choose as soon as possible.

As important as procuring liability insurance is, it is also imperative that each council becomes incorporated so that in the unfortunate event of any legal action against the council, the Grand Knight as the CEO is not held individually liable. Information on how to become incorporated will be posted on the State Web Site in the near future.

Sunday, 25 October 2009 01:46