21-2903. Terms, defined.

For purposes of the Nebraska Limited Cooperative Association Act, unless the context otherwise requires:

(1) Articles of organization includes initial, amended, and restated articles of organization. In the case of a foreign limited cooperative association, the term includes all records that:

(a) Have a function similar to articles of organization; and

(b) Are required to be filed in the office of the Secretary of State or other official having custody of articles of organization in this state or the country under whose law it is organized;

(2) Bylaws includes initial, amended, and restated bylaws;

(3) Contribution means a benefit that a person provides to a limited cooperative association in order to become a member or in the person's capacity as a member;

(4) Debtor in bankruptcy means a person that is the subject of:

(a) An order for relief under 11 U.S.C. 101 et seq., as the sections existed on January 1, 2008; or

(b) An order comparable to an order described in subdivision (4)(a) of this section under federal, state, or foreign law governing insolvency;

(5) Designated office means the office designated under section 21-2913;

(6) Distribution means a transfer of money or other property from a limited cooperative association to a member because of the member's financial rights or to a transferee of a member's financial rights. The term does not include the amounts described in section 21-2983;

(7) Domestic entity means an entity organized under the laws of this state;

(8) Entity means an association, a business trust, a company, a corporation, a cooperative, a limited cooperative association, a general partnership, a limited liability company, a limited liability partnership, or a limited partnership, domestic or foreign;

(9) Financial rights means the right to participate in allocation and distribution under sections 21-2980 and 21-2981 but does not include rights or obligations under a marketing contract governed by sections 21-2949 to 21-2952;

(10) Foreign limited cooperative association means a foreign entity organized under a law similar to the Nebraska Limited Cooperative Association Act in another jurisdiction;

(11) Foreign entity means an entity that is not a domestic entity;

(12) Governance rights means the right to participate in governance of the limited cooperative association under section 21-2928;

(13) Investor member means a member that has made a contribution to a limited cooperative association and is not permitted or required by the articles of association or bylaws to conduct patronage business with the limited cooperative association in order to receive financial rights;

(14) Limited cooperative association means an association organized under the Nebraska Limited Cooperative Association Act;

(15) Member means a person that is a patron member or investor member or both in a limited cooperative association. The term does not include a person that has dissociated as a member;

(16) Members' interest means the interest of a patron member or investor member;

(17) Members' meeting means an annual or a special members' meeting;

(18) Patron means a person or entity that conducts economic activity with a limited cooperative association which entitles the person to receive financial rights based upon patronage;

(19) Patronage means business transactions between a limited cooperative association and a person which entitles the person to receive financial rights based on the value or quantity of business done between the person and the limited cooperative association;

(20) Patron member means a person admitted as a patron member pursuant to the articles of organization or bylaws and who is permitted or required by the articles of organization or bylaws to conduct patronage business with the limited cooperative association in order to receive financial rights;

(21) Person means an individual; an entity; a trust; a governmental subdivision, agency, or instrumentality; or any other legal or commercial entity;

(22) Principal office means the office, whether or not in this state, where the principal executive office of a limited cooperative association or a foreign limited cooperative association is located;

(23) Record, used as a noun, means information that is inscribed on a tangible medium or that is stored in an electronic or other medium and is retrievable in perceivable form;

(24) Required information means the information a limited cooperative association is required to maintain under section 21-2910;

(25) Sign means, with the present intent to authenticate a record:

(a) To execute or adopt a tangible symbol; or

(b) To attach or logically associate an electronic symbol, sound, or process to or with a record;

(26) State means a state of the United States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands, or any territory or insular possession subject to the jurisdiction of the United States;

(27) Transfer includes assignment, conveyance, deed, bill of sale, lease, mortgage, security interest, encumbrance, gift, and transfer by operation of law; and

(28) Voting member means a member that, under the articles of organization or bylaws, has a right to vote on matters subject to vote by members.

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