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Age requirements for candidates applying for the degrees

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Grand Lodges’ Age Requirements for Candidates

If anyone wants to send me email, especially if any of the information on this chart is not correct or if you know of additional information that should be included, please send me email by clicking on my name Paul M. Bessel.

U.S. Grand Lodges

 

# Grand Lodge Min. Age for Candidates Details
1 Alabama 21
2 Alaska 18 changed around 1998
3 Arizona 18
4 Arkansas 21
5 California 18 Changed in September or October 2002
6 Colorado 18
7 Connecticut 18 Adopted April 2006
8 Delaware 18 Adopted March 2002
9 District of Columbia 18 Adopted May 12, 1999
10 Florida 21
11 Georgia 21
12 Hawaii 21
13 Idaho 18 adopted 1972
14 Illinois 18 adopted October 1997
15 Indiana 18 May 1998
16 Iowa 18
17 Kansas 18
18 Kentucky 21
19 Louisiana 18 Lowered at the Grand Lodge meeting Feb. 2001
20 Maine 18 Grand Lodge voted to lower the age to 18 at its June 2003 meeting
21 Maryland 18 Lowered at Grand Lodge Semi-Annual meeting May 2001
22 Massachusetts 18 The Grand Master in Massachusetts (Donald G.  Hicks, Jr.) decreed at the Grand Lodge Quarterly Meeting held in Boston on March 12, 2003 that effective immediately the necessary age qualification in Massachusetts would be lowered from 21 to 18. 
23 Michigan 19 Lowered at the Grand Lodge meeting in June 2000
24 Minnesota 18
25 Mississippi 18 Lowered at the Grand Lodge session February 2001
26 Missouri 18 §13.040 of the Constitution and By-Laws for The Grand Lodge A.F.&A.M. of the State of MO requires the petitioner to be at least 18 yrs. of age when he
signs the petition. (Amended 1975-52)
27 Montana 18 June 2000, lowered from 19 to 18
28 Nebraska 18
29 Nevada 18 GL voted in Nov 1999 to make age 18 by vote of 95-49, so this was carried over to the GL session in the year 2000 (90% needed to pass at 1st appearance, 2/3 next year). I have been told that this failed at the 2000 session of Grand Lodge, but I have now been told (Nov. 2002) that it passed at the GL session this year.
30 New Hampshire 18 Changed May 19, 2001
31 New Jersey 21 A motion to change to 18 was withdrawn or defeated in 1997 or 1998
32 New Mexico 19
33 New York 21 Proposal to change to 18 was approved in May 2001 but defeated in May 2002, and needed to be approved twice in a row to become effective
34 North Carolina 18 Changed September 2002, effective December 2002
35 North Dakota 18
36 Ohio 19
37 Oklahoma 18
38 Oregon 18 Adopted in mid-1980s
39 Pennsylvania 18 Changed in early 2002
40 Rhode Island 21
41 South Carolina 18 Adopted April 2001
42 South Dakota 19
43 Tennessee 18 Adopted March 24, 2005
44 Texas 18 Adopted December 1, 2006
45 Utah 18
46 Vermont 18
47 Virginia 18 Adopted 1995 or 1996
48 Washington 18 Adopted in 1994
49 West Virginia 21
50 Wisconsin 18 According to an email message: The minimum age for joining was changed from 21 to 19 in 1980. The first attempt to lower the age happened in 1962 when the GL approved a resolution to “consider” lowering the age to 18, but there was no follow up on the resolution. The debate on lowering the age appeared at every Wisconsin annual communication from 1969 through 1980 with the exception of 1978.Age lowered to 18 – see Wisconsin Proceedings 1999, page 129.
51 Wyoming 19
Summary 36 5 10

 

Non – U.S. Grand Lodges

 

Grand Lodge Min. Age for Candidates Details

Ontario

21
Grand Lodge of France (GLF) 21

A Mason’s son (“lowton”) may be initiated at 18, but it happens very, very seldom.

 

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