Officers

Structure of the Order

Supreme Council—The Supreme Council meets annually. It consists of the supreme officers, supreme directors, the state deputies of the various jurisdictions, the most recent immediate past state deputies, territorial deputies, past supreme knights and elected delegates from each jurisdiction. There are two categories of elected delegates, associate and insurance, with the number of delegates in each category determined by the
number of associate and insurance members in each jurisdiction.

In addition to receiving the reports of the supreme officers, the delegates also set policy for the Order by means of resolutions. They also elect members to the board of directors.
Directors are elected for three-year terms and, annually, they appoint from their own ranks the supreme officers who run the Order on a day-to-day basis. (Note: The supreme chaplain and the supreme warden are elected by the board.) The supreme officers are:

• Supreme Knight (chief executive)
• Supreme Chaplain (a voting member of the board)
• Deputy Supreme Knight
• Supreme Secretary
• Supreme Treasurer
• Supreme Advocate
• Supreme Warden

The day-to-day business of the Order is conducted from the Supreme Council office in New Haven. All the officers, except the supreme chaplain and the supreme warden, work
here on a full-time basis. The office has approximately 700 employees.

State Council – The State Council meets annually. It consists of the state officers, the most immediate past state deputy, the grand knight and a past grand knight of each local
council. The State Council receives the annual reports of the state officers and sets state council policy by means of a resolutions process. The State Council annually elects the State Council officers who are, by title:

• State Deputy (chief executive)
• State Chaplain (appointed)
• State Secretary
• State Treasurer
• State Advocate
• State Warden

In addition to these officers, each jurisdiction has a number of directors and committee chairmen who are responsible for various State Council programs and for specific areas such as membership growth.

District deputies are appointed and assigned to be the only representative of the supreme knight and the state deputy to a designated group of local, usually five in number.

Local Council – The basic unit of the Knights of Columbus is the local council. At monthly meetings council members hear the proposals of various committees, decide which activities, programs and charitable causes the council will pursue and how
the council will allocate its funds. They also vote on applications for membership and hear the reports of key council officers and directors. To be a council officer, a Knight must be a Third Degree member of the Order. Council officers are:

• Grand Knight
• Chaplain (the chaplain is appointed and must be a priest)
• Deputy Grand Knight
• Chancellor
• Financial Secretary (appointed)
• Recorder
• Treasurer
• Advocate
• Lecturer (appointed)
• Warden
• Inside/Outside Guards
• Trustees (three in number)