Section 10-19.1-148 - Secretary of state - Powers - Enforcement - Penalty - Appeal1. The secretary of state has the power and authority reasonably necessary to efficiently administer this chapter and to perform the duties imposed thereby.2. The secretary of state may propound to any corporation or foreign corporation that is subject to this chapter and to any officer, director, or employee thereof, any interrogatory reasonably necessary and proper to ascertain whether the corporation has complied with all provisions of this chapter applicable to the corporation. a. The interrogatory must be answered within thirty days after mailing, or within any additional time as must be fixed by the secretary of state. The answer to the interrogatory must be full and complete and must be made in writing and under oath.b. If the interrogatory is directed: (1) To an individual, it must be answered by that individual; or(2) To a corporation, it must be answered by the president, vice president, secretary, or assistant secretary of the corporation.c. The secretary of state is not required to file any record to which the interrogatory relates until the interrogatory has been answered, and not then if the answers disclose the record is not in conformity with this chapter.d. The secretary of state shall certify to the attorney general, for action the attorney general may deem appropriate, an interrogatory and answers thereto, which discloses a violation of this chapter.e. Each officer, director, or employee of a corporation or foreign corporation who fails or refuses within the time provided by subdivision a to answer truthfully and fully an interrogatory propounded to that person by the secretary of state is guilty of an infraction.f. An interrogatory propounded by the secretary of state and the answers are not open to public inspection. The secretary of state may not disclose any facts or information obtained from the interrogatory or answers except insofar as permitted by law or insofar as required for evidence in any criminal proceedings or other action by this state.3. If the secretary of state rejects any record required by this chapter to be approved by the secretary of state before the record may be filed, then the secretary of state shall give written notice of the rejection to the person that delivered the record, specifying the reasons for rejection. a. Within thirty days after the service of the notice of denial, the corporation or foreign corporation, as the case may be, may appeal to the district court in the judicial district serving Burleigh County by filing with the clerk of the court a petition setting forth a copy of the record sought to be filed and a copy of the written rejection of the record by the secretary of state.b. The matter must be tried de novo by the court. The court shall either sustain the action of the secretary of state or direct the secretary of state to take the action the court determines proper.4. If the secretary of state dissolves a corporation or revokes the certificate of authority to transact business in this state of any foreign corporation, pursuant to section 10-19.1-146.1, then the corporation or foreign corporation may appeal to the district court in the judicial district serving Burleigh County by filing with the clerk of the court a petition, including:a. A copy of the corporation's articles of incorporation and a copy of the notice of dissolution given by the secretary of state; orb. A copy of the certificate of authority of the foreign corporation to transact business in this state and a copy of the notice of revocation given by the secretary of state. The court shall try the matter de novo. The court shall sustain the action of the secretary of state or direct the secretary of state to take the action the court determines proper.
5. If the court order sought is one for reinstatement of a corporation that has been dissolved as provided in subsection 6 of section 10-19.1-146, or for reinstatement of the certificate of authority of a foreign corporation that has been revoked as provided in subsection 7 of section 10-19.1-146, then together with any other actions the court deems proper, any such order which reverses the decision of the secretary of state shall require the corporation or foreign corporation to:a. File the most recent past-due annual report;b. Pay the fees to the secretary of state for all past-due annual reports as provided in subsection 24 of section 10-19.1-147; andc. Pay the reinstatement fee to the secretary of state as provided in subsection 24 of section 10-19.1-147.6. Appeals from all final orders and judgments entered by the district court under this section in review of any ruling or decision of the secretary of state are treated as other civil actions.Amended by S.L. 2015, ch. 86 (HB 1335),§ 12, eff. 7/1/2015.