Standard Operating Procedure (Command)

The Council

The council is made up of each faction head of staff and the premier. A decision from the council has absolute authority and precedence over all other decisions, regulations, and rules except during a code red scenario. Members of the council are given only a small set of rules that apply during any council vote or decision.

• All Colonists must respect a decision made by the council and follow said decision. This includes even dissenting options from heads of staff. Issues with a vote can be taken to the High Council via faxes for an appeal. All low council votes are to be followed, even if contested, unless overruled by High Council or another Low Council vote.

• All heads of staff are required to vote yes or no during a decision. Any head of staff that refuses to make a decision or abstains is to be demoted on the spot. This is not negotiable, you are a leader and expected to make choices, especially hard choices. Any head of staff attempting to abstain or not vote is to be demoted on the spot.
• The Soteria overseers may only have a collective vote of one and only if both agree on the decision. This means that when the votes are tallied both overseers count as a singular vote and only if they both arrived at the same vote. If the CRO and CBO cannot come to an agreement on where they vote, they instead lose their vote entirely. The inability for them to agree is not a valid grounds for demotion of either overseer. If there is only one overseer active, they have a single vote.
• The steward does not have a vote. They are a secretary and bodyguard and while they are considered command staff.
• Heads of staff, baring the Foreman, should stay within the colony to oversee their department unless circumstances warrant travel outside of it. Examples for when this is acceptable is if departmental employees cannot handle an ongoing situation outside of the colony, if the colony itself or its inhabitants are in danger, or other issues arise warranting a head of staff to leave the colony, this must be announced to their department radio and over command channels.
• Heads, such as the Warrant Officer and Blackshield Commander, may leave the colony to lead training exercises - but must ensure all staff are properly informed and ample notice given. The council may suspend any training operations at their discretion.
• All heads of staff can use the medivac shuttle in times of crisis if there are no Blackshield nor Marshals. When using the shuttle, bring at least two other individuals with you, one to be left behind at least to guard the shuttle. If found to be using the medivac shuttle for personal reasons or reasons that do not qualify the usage of the shuttle, i.e. prospectors using it to get to locations that they scavenge from, then this can and will be charged by a §406, exceeding official powers.

Voting Procedures

During a Low Council meeting, the councilors are to place their votes on the discussed topic. Every vote is valued, as multiple organizations and corporations are the lifeblood of the colony.

• For a vote to be considered valid, at least three members of the council must be present. The Premier is included in this requirement, so any two councilors plus the Premier may call a vote as well.
  • The Steward does not count to this requirement. Stewards are, for all effective purposes, not considered a head of staff.
• In the event of only two councilors being present, if there is no premier to break a tie or preside over the vote, a vote will automatically fail.
• A vote may be called for a large number of reasons, but some things may not be changed by council vote. For example, you may choose to ignore colony laws or choose to ignore Standard Operating Procedure by way of a vote.
• A councilor, if only one is present, may send a requesting fax to the High Council for permission to conduct a vote on their own. In this case, the counselor should state what the vote is, why they want this vote, what this vote would change, and their own vote.
  • This vote must be approved by the High Council. This means it must be sent to the High Council offices.
  • An example of a situation that this style of vote may be used for is the allowance of a Foreigner (Outsider) into the colony. This vote MUST be done before allowing the Foreigner entry. In this case, they may be allowed inside without waiting for a reply of approval, so long as this is sent first. This is only applicable if there is one member of the council.
    • In the event of the Foreigner causing issues before a return fax is received, the counselor should be charged with any crimes the Foreigner committed, in addition to 301, 'Negligence.' If a reply is received to deny this Foreigner entry into the colony, they should be expelled without consequence to the councilor unless the Foreigner caused problems.

The Premier

The Premier is to be a interdepartmental mediator, seeking out ways to please both sides of an argument. Their goal is to use their mediation abilities to call for meetings, aid heads of staff in holding colony law and SOP to the proper standards, and act as an arbitrator in cases of emergency or importance.

• The Premier may not vote during a council vote. They are to act as a mediator. In the case of a tie during a council vote, however, the premier may act as a tiebreaker; ruling in favor of the side they deem correct.
• The Premier may VETO any vote the council makes, for any reason. This includes votes that they call to be made, which is within their power to do so.
• The Premier's veto considers the vote to automatically result in a 'no' vote. This may not be overturned unless a council of at least 3 councilors vote a unanimous decision to overturn the veto.
• The Premier may call a vote on any issue at any time, just as any other member of the Council may. This extends only to the Premier, and not the Steward. Failure to vote on a vote the Premier calls carries the same immediate removal penalties as failing to vote otherwise.

The Premier may, reasonably, call votes about decisions designed by the High Council. This includes things that the Council normally may not vote on. Such as, but not limited to; what charges may be applied to situations for Marshals, or temporary modification to standard operating procedure. This however does not mean council or voting standard operating procedure may be modified though. Doing so constitutes an Abuse of Executive Powers charge.

Demoting Staff

In the event that a head of staff desires the demotion of a staff member in their faction they must meet one of the following criteria.

• Dereliction of Duty, the subject in question failed to perform their job duty at the bare minimum satisfaction.
• Negligence, the subject in question performed a grossly incompetent action while on duty that resulted in injury, loss of life, damages, or loss of property.
• Criminal activity, the subject in question performed an orange or red paragraph crime in which they were successfully convicted of.
• Failure to execute an order, the subject willfully and knowingly defied a valid order from their respective head of staff. Note that this only covers valid orders pertaining to their department, a head of staff could enforce a no smoking policy on his staff inside medical but not outside of medical.
• Violation of Standard Operating Procedures. This applies to both violations of general SOP, such as privacy rights, to departmental SOP unique to each department.
• In the case of a Low Council member, they may be voted to be demoted from their position if displaying actions that would be considered conduct unbecoming of a council member - such as interrupting voting, being disruptive of a council meeting, or other actions such as incompetency.

Employees who have been demoted three times from their respective faction may be permanently demoted and unable to take work in any positions within that department, unless an exemption is given (This will typically lead to a job strike at staff's discretion). Not all demotions are considered valid and they are required to record with the paperwork using a dismissal form before being faxed to their respective faction owner for review.

Evidence or testimony regarding the demotion is to be attached to the demotion form when faxed. The fired employee is, similarly, to be given a full copy as well after dismissal.

Heads of staff may be demoted by a council vote and approval from the respective faction owner using a demotion form and proper signature from a premier or, if one is not present, the steward. Lacking both, the signature may remain blank.

How to order an execution

In the rare and unfortunate event that a crew member has committed a crime in which execution is considered a certain criteria must be met in order for the execution to be valid.

• Assuming the person in question is successfully convicted and placed within the brig a premier must be present to arbitrate the crime to first ensure that the conviction is entirely valid with appropriate evidence and witnesses.
• A premier and at minimum three heads of staff must be present for an execution vote to be made. An execution vote may be called by any head of staff except for the premier. Once called all members must meet and discuss the case, all evidence, and what should be done.
• For an execution to be considered valid upon finishing discussion of the case all heads of staff must vote unanimously for execution and then sign and stamp a document that will be faxed to whichever faction owner presides over the prisoner. A reply will then be made back approving said execution.
• The prisoner is then executed in accordance with Marshal policy once approved by the relevant faction owner.

Faxes

As a head of staff and Council member, you are the most responsible person within your department and as such are expected to handle most situations without having to fax the High Council. Only when it is absolutely necessary or outside of your hands, experience, or capabilities, should you fax the High Council. The High Council may not always respond to a fax sent to them, especially when the fax sent does not warrant a response from the High Council. Only when it's absolutely needed, the High Council will send a response.