§ 55D-15. Filing duty of Secretary of State. - North Carolina Statutes

§ 55D‑15.  Filing dutyof Secretary of State.

(a)        If a documentdelivered to the office of the Secretary of State for filing satisfies therequirements of this Chapter and of Chapter 55, 55A, 55B, 57C, or 59 of theGeneral Statutes, the Secretary of State shall file it. Documents filed withthe Secretary of State under this Chapter may be maintained by the Secretaryeither in their original form or in photographic, microfilm, optical diskmedia, or other reproduced form. The Secretary may make reproductions ofdocuments filed under this Chapter, or under any predecessor law, byphotographic, microfilm, optical disk media, or other means of reproduction,and may destroy the originals of those documents reproduced.

(b)        The Secretary ofState files a document by endorsing "Filed", together with theSecretary's name and official title and the date and time of filing, on thedocument. After filing a document, the Secretary of State shall deliver adocument copy to the person submitting the document for filing and as providedin G.S. 55D‑32.

(c)        If the Secretary ofState refuses to file a document, the Secretary shall return it to the personsubmitting the document for filing within five days after the document wasreceived, together with a written statement of the date of the refusal and abrief explanation of the reason for refusal. The Secretary of State may correctapparent errors and omissions on a document submitted for filing if authorizedto make the corrections by the person submitting the document for filing.

(d)        The Secretary ofState's duty is to review and file documents that satisfy the requirements ofthis Chapter and of Chapter 55, 55A, 55B, 57C, or 59 of the General Statutes.The Secretary of State's filing or refusing to file a document does not do anyof the following:

(1)        Except as providedin G.S. 55‑2‑03(b), 55A‑2‑03(b), or 57C‑2‑20(b),affect the validity or invalidity of the document in whole or part.

(2)        Relate to thecorrectness or incorrectness of information contained in the document.

(3)        Create a presumptionthat the document is valid or invalid or that information contained in thedocument is correct or incorrect. (1955, c. 1371, s. 1; 1967, c. 13, s. 1; c. 823, s.16; 1989, c. 265, s. 1; 1989 (Reg. Sess., 1990), c. 1024, s. 12.2; 1993, c. 552,s. 2; 1995, c. 539, s. 2; 2001‑358, ss. 3(b), 4, 46; 2001‑387, ss.173, 175(a); 2001‑413, s. 6.)