We have a younger group of residents that are under 55 years of age. We have a barriatric unit where residents have medical problems and they are morbidly obese. They are in the nursing home to lose weight. We also have residents that are under 55 that are in the facility just because of health problems. The problem has grown because of the number of younger residents. This group average age is 30 years old. In our 100 bed LTC facility approx. 17 residents are in this age group. They seem to be very opinionated, and take over at council meetings. They do have seperate activities, that they participate in, but are able to attend activities that are offered on the main activity calendar. My question is are we allowed to have two seperate resident councils. One for the 55 and under group and another, for those over 55. And can I legally keep them from coming to council meetings for the older groups. At this time we are having election of officers and it is usually the younger people who hold the offices.