Setting Up a Code of Conduct Enforcement Committee
How to form and operate a Code of Conduct enforcement committee. Covers committee size, selection, training, rotation, and decision-making processes.
Detailed Explanation
Setting Up an Enforcement Committee
Handling code of conduct reports is emotionally demanding work. A committee distributes this burden and produces better outcomes than a single enforcer.
Committee Size
- Small projects (< 50 contributors): 2-3 members
- Medium projects (50-500 contributors): 3-5 members
- Large projects (500+ contributors): 5-7 members
Always aim for an odd number to avoid tied votes.
Selection Criteria
Committee members should be:
- Trusted by the community — Known for fair and thoughtful behavior
- Diverse — Different backgrounds, roles, and perspectives
- Available — Able to respond to reports within 24-48 hours
- Trained — Understand conflict resolution and de-escalation
- Not the sole maintainer — Avoid conflicts of interest
Decision-Making Process
A typical workflow:
- Report received — Acknowledged within 24 hours by any committee member
- Triage — One member assigned as lead, others review
- Investigation — Gather context from all parties (3-7 days)
- Discussion — Committee discusses and votes on action
- Action — Lead communicates the decision
- Documentation — Record the decision and reasoning
- Follow-up — Check in after 30 days
Rotation
Committee members should serve fixed terms (typically 1 year) with staggered rotation so institutional knowledge is preserved. This prevents burnout and brings fresh perspectives.
Confidentiality
All reports and deliberations must remain confidential. Committee members should agree to:
- Never discuss reports outside the committee
- Recuse themselves from cases involving friends or colleagues
- Secure all communication (encrypted email or private channels)
Training Resources
- Community Covenant resources
- Ada Initiative's anti-harassment policy resources
- Geek Feminism Wiki's incident response documentation
Use Case
Growing open source projects that are transitioning from a single maintainer handling reports to a formal committee structure, especially after experiencing the limitations of ad-hoc enforcement.