In The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the Common Council of the Church is a body of the church that has the power to discipline or remove the President of the Church or one of his counselors in the First Presidency due to misbehavior. Its existence and status are uncertain and controversial, and the body has only been formally convened twice, once to try Joseph Smith, Jr. in 1834 and in 1844 when it excommunicated Sidney Rigdon in absentia. The Common Council of the Church is sometimes confused with the Council of the Church.