1. Membership in 4-H is open to all youth ages 8-19 without regard to ancestry, color, disability or handicap, national origin, race, religious creed, sex, sexual orientation, or place of residence.
   
   
2. Youth must be at least 8 years of age by January 1 of the current year and not be 19 years of age by January 1 in order to participate in club, county, regional, state, or national 4-H events and activities (i. e. the calendar year in which a child turns 9 is his/her first year of eligibility for 4-H membership, and the calendar year in which he/she turns 19 is his/her last year of eligibility for the program).
   
   
3. Only active Erie County 4-H members will be permitted to participate in qualifying shows and roundups and represent the 4-H program in activities such as the 4-H Livestock Sale; in out-of-county 4-H competitions such as the Area 4-H Horse Production Show, District Dairy Show, etc.; and in out-of-county 4-H leadership development and citizenship events and activities such as camp counselor training, camp counseling, the Ambassadors Conference, National 4-H Congress, etc.

   To be considered an active Erie County 4-H member, a member must complete the following requirements:

• attend at least 60 percent of his/her club's regularly scheduled meetings, unless excused in advance by a club leader. Club or group leaders are charged with the responsibility for establishing specific club or group guidelines and for enforcing this policy within their club or group.
  
  
• remit to 4-H all monies collected in the name of 4-H.
  
  
• complete one or more 4-H projects annually (project completion is defined as completing a record book and any related activity guides and project materials such as a poster or display, submitting these materials for judging, and obtaining a minimum score of at least 70% and no fewer than 50% of the possible points in each judging category). Judging may require participation in a face-to-face interview with a judge or project leader. Completed project scoresheets must be submitted to the extension office on or before October 1 in order for the member to receive completion credit for the year.

Note: Members who tag market lambs, steers, or hogs as on feed for the annual 4-H Livestock Sale must complete required project records and activity guides for each animal in order to participate in the following year's 4-H Livestock Sale.

Note: Members enrolled in a dairy project must complete required project records and activity guides by Friday evening of the annual Erie County 4-H Dairy Roundup in order to be certified as active 4-H members eligible to participate in the State Junior Dairy Show.

Note: Members representing the Erie County 4-H/Youth Development Program in a contest at State 4-H Achievement Days must meet the project completion requirements for that project in order to represent the county at the following year's State 4-H Achievement Days.

4. 4-H members participating in or attending club, county, regional, district, state, and national programs, activities, events, shows, and contests sponsored for youth by the 4-H/Youth Development Program of Penn State Cooperative Extension are required to conduct themselves according to the Erie County
   4-H Code of Participation and the Pennsylvania 4-H Code of Conduct. The codes operate in conjunction with the rules and regulations of the specific event or activity.
   
   
5. A Pennsylvania 4-H member may not enroll in or exhibit the same project or species in two or more counties for 4-H project completion.

Approved by the Erie County 4-H/Youth Development Program Advisory Committee: 10/23/00; revised 11/4/02