(a) If a document delivered to the office of the Secretary of State for filing satisfies the requirements of Section 33-31-120, the Secretary of State shall file it.

(b) The Secretary of State files a document by stamping or otherwise endorsing "filed", together with his name and official title and date and time of receipt, on both the original and document copy, together with a further endorsement that the document is a true copy of the original document. After filing a document, except as provided in Sections 33-31-503 and 33-31-1510, the Secretary of State shall deliver the document copy to the domestic or foreign corporation or its representative and the document copy must be retained as part of the permanent records of the corporation.

(c) Upon refusing to file a document, the Secretary of State shall return it to the domestic or foreign corporation or its representative within five days after the document was delivered, together with a brief, written explanation of the reason or reasons for the refusal.

(d) The Secretary of State's duty to file documents under this section is ministerial. His filing or refusing to file a document does not:

(1) affect the validity or invalidity of the document in whole or in part;

(2) relate to the correctness or incorrectness of information contained in the document; or

(3) except as provided in Section 33-31-127, create a presumption that the document is valid or invalid or that information contained in the document is correct or incorrect.

HISTORY: 1994 Act No. 384, Section 1.