What is the Accountability Board?
The Accountability Board is a short term panel of volunteer burners who will review and decide upon actionable responses in cases involving a participant accused of major, non-consensual harm, up to and including banning from our event, as well as cases involving Event Leadership and Consent Team misconduct.
This board is designed to allow community input on accountability while maintaining proper respect for consent as part of the process. It is intended to make these decisions less shadowed and far better documented and accountable than past measures. Our goal for the Accountability Board is for other events to adopt this model and to mutually share our pool of volunteers in order to further ensure impartiality.
A quick summary of the process:
Volunteers register by filling out the Accountability Board Application (Be sure to use an email where you can easily be reached if called upon!)
When an actionable consent report appears and plea statements that carefully remove ALL identifying details are created, 5 volunteers will be selected at random.
Members will be trained on Board procedures and asked to sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement.
Members review the case and vote from a list of actionable responses.
Event Leadership (LLC Consent Liaison) transmits the results to reporting and reported parties.
Board Members are thanked and the Board is dissolved until a new case arises and different members are selected.
We’re building something important with this and your Participation is what makes it real. All that is needed is your willingness for impartiality and your desire to help make our community a safer one for everyone involved. If after reading the FAQ on this page you'd like to sign up to be considered for the board, please click the application link below:
ACCOUNTABILITY BOARD SIGN UP
ACCOUNTABILITY BOARD FAQ
How will the board be selected?
The board will be selected from a list of registered email addresses from participants who have been trained for the position and signed a Non-Disclosure Agreement with the LLC in order to protect the safety of the community.
If I file a report:
Does filing a report mean it automatically goes to the Accountability Board?
No. Only cases that request one of a few specific outcomes (like ban request) will be considered for the Accountability Board.
Who decides whether my case goes to the board, and can I ask that it does not?
The Consent Team will work each specific case through their current processes. In situations where a Ban request is made you will be given the option to have your case sent to the Accountability Board. The Consent Team can also decide a case should be considered for the Accountability Board. You do not have to go through any consent or ban voting process if you do not want to. Resolving the issues through mediation and restorative justice are the favored options and are the heart of the normal Consent process.
Will I see what the board is told about my case before they see it?
Yes. Final reports will be reviewed and signed off by the reporter/reportee to check for accuracy and concerns before sending the reports to the Consent Liaison (LLC) for final review before going to the Board.
Will I know who is on the board reviewing my case?
You will not know who is reviewing the case. We want to protect the anonymity of the participants reviewing cases as much as we do the cases themselves.
What if the person I am reporting is on the Consent Team, the LLC, or is a team lead?
There is a wholly separate process for those reports laid out to address those situations. There are also other avenues of reporting such cases in the event you do not feel comfortable reporting through the Consent Team. Reports can also be made directly to the Consent Team LLC member via email or with Rangers. (Publish email link here for LLC Consent team, Rangers, and a link to the procedural document here).
How long does ban voting take, and who updates me on case progress?
We are all volunteers and these situations can sometimes take time. Ideally, it will take no more than a 2 week window to prepare cases for review by the Accountability Board once the decision to ask for a ban has been made. This two week window is subject to the report-er’s and report-ee’s availability and cooperation . Board voting will likely take 1 to 3 weeks depending on recusals, availability, and training. Each case, once submitted for voting, will be given a specific deadline for the voted verdict to arrive, usually between 2 and 4 weeks depending on the needs of the situation. We hope the entire process takes less than 10 weeks. The Consent Liaison (LLC) will do bi-weekly check-ins to monitor progress on case preparation and make sure that cases are being worked on as timely as possible. Your Consent Team representative or the Consent Liaison (LLC) will check in and give you updates on the status of your case.
What happens if I disagree with the outcome?
Not everyone is always going to be happy with the outcomes. The vote of the accountability board is final.
Can I stop or step out of the process once it has started?
If you choose to do so, you must step out of the process prior to the documents being sent to the Accountability Board. There will be clear communication on deadlines to withdraw from the process prior to sending documents to selected Board members. If you choose to stop the voting process you can still proceed with the normal Consent Teams process.
Is anything protecting my volunteer role or my position while my report is open?
Yes. There will be no penalties until cases are voted upon. If you feel that you are experiencing some retaliation for filing a report, or being the subject of a report. Please contact the Consent Team. You can also bring your concerns to Rangers who can offer you available solutions or bring the matter directly to the LLC when necessary.
If I have been reported
Will I be told a report has been filed about me?
Yes. The Consent Team process applies and reportees will be informed when a report is filed against them.
Do I get to give my side, and will the board see it in my words?
Yes. The reporter and the reportee will both work with their Consent Team representatives on written reports from each’s perspective in their own words. Each report will be reviewed and signed off on by the party that wrote the report before and after redaction for final review and approval before it is sent to the Consent Liaison (LLC).
Will I see the summary the board is given?
No. you will be informed of the final vote result.
What happens if I do not want to participate?
As the reporting party, you may go through normal consent restorative justice procedures. You may choose not to ask for a ban, and avoid this entire voting process. If a ban is requested against you, you may participate or not participate as much as you wish to make sure your side of the case is documented and heard.
If I want to apply to the board
What am I actually agreeing to when I sign up and what training do I get before I read a case?
Once you sign up, you likely won’t hear much for anything for some time. If you are selected to vote, you will need to make yourself available to be trained on the voting procedures and requirements. These trainings will cover the need to recuse yourself regarding cases that would prevent your impartiality (triggers) why to recuse yourself for conflict of interest, an introduction to the NDA, what it means, and consequences for breaking it, and training on the comments field available to them and how to send messages to LLC. After each training participants that completed the training will be offered a form to fill out with their legal name, email address, preferred method of contact and information. Each person will be informed that the emails will only be kept on file for 5 years, and after that they will need to refresh training and reapply. Each person’s information will be removed once they have participated in working a case. Voters will be asked to opt in, or out of the possibility of sharing their email address regionally to form a regional Board. Each participant that applies to the Accountability Board will need to maintain confidentiality for the cases that they are working. It’s not just about consent, although that is important, it is also about safety. You will be expected to respect privacy and understand that it is our civic responsibility to protect the welfare of our community members by not sharing any voting information without written LLC consent.
If I request a ban, what is my time commitment, and how often would I be contacted?
You will be asked to discuss the case if you are willing , with your assigned consent team helper.
You’ll be asked to help author a document fully detailing your reason to request a ban, and assist in the redaction/anonymizing process
You’ll be contacted with the results of a vote when complete.
You may also ask Consent team to check in on you from time to time
What legal risk are the Voters taking on personally, and what does the NDA cover and not cover?
The NDA states simply not to share any information you learn from a case with anyone other than the Consent Liaison. Sharing information outside of this scope will result in your banning from the Voting Board, and likely from the event entirely.. Further, if a participant shares information outside of the case about a specific individual, that individual has the legal right to sue that voter for any defamation or libel they may commit. While truth is a defense to libel, you would still need to hire your own attorney to defend you (The NDA will prohibit sharing any documents you received in the case unless requested specifically by an attorney) Furthermore, breaching confidentiality and the nda puts the entire burn as a whole at risk. If your sharing of private information results in lawsuits being brought against the LLC as well as you individually, the burn may not be able to afford to happen any more and could shut down the event entirely. This is a very serious role and you should only apply if you are willing to accept all the responsibility it requires
What do I do if I open the file and recognize the people in it?
You would need to contact the Consent Liaison (LLC) and recuse yourself from that case. In these situations your name will not be removed from the overall pool and you may be selected for another case in the future. Your NDA requirements must still be honored
Can I step out partway through if it is too much?
Yes. If you need to recuse yourself from the case review for any reason, contact the Consent Liaison (LLC) as quickly as possible and inform them that you need to withdraw. A new member will be selected and trained, and the parties involved will be updated on the revised timeline. Your NDA requirements must still be honored.
Will anyone know I served on a board?
No. Participation in the Board case reviews is as confidential as the information in cases. The only person who will know is yourself is the Consent Liaison (LLC).
General
Is this replacing the Consent Team?
No. The Consent Team will still be fully available and follow their restorative justice procedures for cases not involving direct ban requests
Why not just let the LLC decide?
Ban requests are difficult decisions. With no supporting evidence, which story is actually the truth? We have heard an outcry from the local burn community to be involved in the tough, socially-affecting decisions and have a voice. The LLC’s primary job is to make sure that an event happens by determining timing, managing budget accounts, purchasing, and overseeing that procedures are being followed.
As volunteers and burners themselves , LLC members are likely to have biases, emotions and already know many of the report-ees. This is an attempt to create an anonymous and impartial voting group from the community itself.
What happens to reports that were filed before this starts?
Reports filed prior to this process going into effect in October 2026 will still be handled under the Consent Team process that was active at the time of the filing.
What stops this from becoming a popularity contest?
Full anonymity will stop this from becoming a popularity contest. Voters will be trained on reasons to recuse themselves from a case, and strongly expected to uphold that responsibility.
Where does my application information live, who can see it, and how long is it kept?
The application information will remain only with the Consent Liaison (LLC), on a rights secured google drive folder. This information is kept for 5 years before removal.
If my application is shared with other regionals later, do I get asked first?
Yes. Before the process moves to regional, each applicant will be contacted and need to give specific consent on being on the shared list.
