TRIAL CODE OF A BISHOP
Ques. 1. To whom is a Bishop amenable for his conduct?
Ans. 1. To the General Conference which has power to try him for
improper conduct and to acquit, suspend, reprimand, retire with or
without salary or expel him.
Ques. 2. What provision is made for the trial of a Bishop if he be
accused of immorality in the interval of the General Conference?
Ans 2. When a bishop shall be under a report or be accused of
immorality, three traveling elders shall, after notice to him, carefully
inquire into the case and if they believe an investigation necessary,
they shall report the matter to another bishop—and it shall be his duty
to call together at some convenient place not fewer than twelve (12)
traveling elders— and also the witnesses by whom the accusation is
expected to be established, and the said elders shall be a committee for
the investigation of the charge against the Bishop.
If the majority of them believe a trial necessary, they shall suspend
him until the next General Conference.
The presiding Bishop shall cause an exact record of the investigation,
signed by the president and secretary, to be transmitted to the General
Conference. By this record and such other testimony as may be obtained,
the case shall be considered and determined by the General Conference
without the intervention of another committee. But in no case shall the
inquiring elders be recognized as the accusers, but the three elders
afore-mentioned must act wholly upon rumors and not personal knowledge,
and shall not take any further part in the case.
Ques. 3. What provision is made for the appeal of a Bishop who may be
suspended during the interval of the General Conference?
Ans. 3. There shall be a court of appeals composed of fifteen (15)
persons appointed as follows: Two by each Bishop and one by the fourteen
(14) appointed by the Bishops—one of the Bishops shall be ex-officio
president of said court. The number composing said court shall be
increased at the same ratio as the number of Bishops may be increased
until the number composing the court shall reach twenty-five (25), to
which all appeals shall be made by the accused who may have been
suspended in the interval of the General Conference; said court shall
have the power to sustain the action of the investigating committee,
reverse and remand, or reverse and dismiss. In all cases their decisions
shall be final except when the action of the investigating committee is
sustained by it.
In said excepted case, the suspension remains until the ensuing General
Conference.
The Bishop appointed to preside over said court is hereby authorized,
upon the receipt of an appeal, from the decision of any committee of
investigation, to cause to be appointed the fifteen (15) members as
above stated, which said number will sit as an appellate court as before
stated at a place most convenient to all parties concerned.
But should an appeal reach the Bishop within three months of the sitting
of the General Conference, the court shall not be convened—but the case
takes its regular course.
Ques. 4. What provision is made for the trial of a Bishop if he should
be accused during the session of the General Conference?
Ans. 1. An accusation preferred during the session of the General
Conference shall be referred for investigation to a committee of
twenty-five (25) members of the General Conference to be selected by the
president. Of this number, the accused shall have the right of challenge
for fifteen (15) of the twenty-five (25) appointed by the Bishop or
president—and the committee shall report to the General Conference
whether or not a trial is necessary.
If the committee of investigation decides that a trial is necessary,
they shall formulate charges and specifications conforming them with the
grade of offense involved in the accusation and shall appoint one or
more of their number to prosecute the case.
The bill of charges and specifications shall be a part of the report of
the committee to the General Conference. Every case to be tried under
this process, shall, upon finding of a bill of charges, be referred to
the Committee on Episcopacy, who shall have full power to try the case
and whose decision shall be final save as to the right of appeal.
The said committee shall make a written report to the General Conference
and deliver to the secretary the whole record of the case with the
decision rendered.
2. A Bishop who shall be found guilty by the committee on Episcopacy
shall have the right to appeal to the General Conference then in session
which shall finally determine the case.
3. No charge against a Bishop shall be tried unless it be made in
writing with specifications signed by the accusers—and a copy of the
charge with the specifications shall be delivered to the accused in
sufficient time before the trial to enable him to make all necessary
preparation for his defense.