Arkansas Code Title 23, Subtitle 1, Chapter 17, Subchapter 2 - Rural Telecommunications Cooperative Act

• § 23-17-201 - Title.
  This subchapter may be cited as the "Rural Telecommunications Cooperative Act".
• § 23-17-202 - Definitions.
  As used in this subchapter, unless the context otherwise requires: (1) "Acquire" means and includes construct, acquire by purchase, lease, devise, gift, or other...
• § 23-17-203 - [Repealed.]
• § 23-17-204 - Purpose of Cooperative.
  Cooperative nonprofit membership corporations either with or without capital stock may be organized under this subchapter for the purpose of furnishing telecommunications service and...
• § 23-17-205 - Powers of Cooperative.
  Any cooperative created under the provisions of this subchapter shall have power to: (1) Sue and be sued in its corporate name; (2) Have...
• § 23-17-206 - Jurisdiction of Commission.
  Cooperatives doing business in this state pursuant to this subchapter shall be subject to the general jurisdiction of the Arkansas Public Service Commission. Jurisdiction...
• § 23-17-207 - Incorporators.
  Any three (3) or more natural persons of the age of twenty-one (21) or more who are residents of this state may act as...
• § 23-17-208 - Cooperative Names.
  The words "telecommunications cooperative" or "telephone cooperative" shall not be used in the corporate names of corporations organized under the laws of this state...
• § 23-17-209 - Articles of Incorporation -- Contents.
  (a) The articles of incorporation shall state: (1) The name of the cooperative. The name shall include the words "Telephone Cooperative" or "Telecommunications Cooperative",...
• § 23-17-210 - Articles of Incorporation -- Execution, Filing, and Recording.
  (a) Duplicate originals of the articles of incorporation shall be signed by the incorporators and acknowledged before an officer authorized by the laws of...
• § 23-17-211 - Articles of Incorporation -- Amendment.
  (a) Any cooperative organized under this subchapter, from time to time and as desired, may amend its articles of incorporation in any respect. However,...
• § 23-17-212 - Certificate of Incorporation.
  (a) Upon the issuance of a certificate of incorporation by the Secretary of State, the corporate existence of the cooperative shall begin.(b) The certificate...
• § 23-17-213 - Organizational Meeting.
  (a) After the issuance of the certificate of incorporation, an organizational meeting shall be held at the call of a majority of the incorporators...
• § 23-17-214 - Bylaws.
  (a) (1) The power to make, alter, amend, or repeal the bylaws of the cooperative shall be vested in the board of directors, subject...
• § 23-17-215 - Qualifications of Members.
  Subject to the provisions of this subchapter, the articles of incorporation of a cooperative, and the bylaws of a cooperative, a cooperative's board shall...
• § 23-17-216 - Membership Fees and Capital Credits.
  (a) When a member of a cooperative has paid the membership fee in full, a certificate of membership shall be issued to the member.(b)...
• § 23-17-217 - Meetings of Members.
  (a) Meetings of members may be held at such place as may be designated by the board. In the absence of any such provision,...
• § 23-17-218 - Board of Directors Generally.
  (a) The business affairs of a cooperative shall be managed by a board of directors consisting of not fewer than five (5) in number,...
• § 23-17-219 - Board of Directors -- Elections -- Term of Office -- Vacancies.
  (a) The directors of a cooperative shall hold office until their terms expire or until their successors are elected and qualified.(b) (1) At each...
• § 23-17-220 - Board of Directors -- Meetings.
  (a) Meetings of the board of directors, regular or special, shall be held at such place and upon such notice as the bylaws may...
• § 23-17-221 - Officers, Agents, and Employees.
  (a) (1) (A) The board of directors shall elect a president, a vice president, a secretary, and a treasurer, and one (1) person may...
• § 23-17-222 - Executive Committee.
  (a) By its bylaws, any cooperative may provide for an executive committee to be elected from and by its board of directors.(b) To such...
• § 23-17-223 - Waiver of Notice of Meeting.
  (a) Any person entitled to notice of a meeting may waive notice in writing either before or after the meeting.(b) If any person attends...
• § 23-17-224 - Consolidation.
  (a) (1) Any two (2) or more cooperatives may enter into an agreement subject to the approval by the required authorities, if any, for...
• § 23-17-225 - Dissolution.
  (a) Any cooperative may dissolve by a two-thirds (2/3) vote of the members present at any regular meeting or at any special meeting of...
• § 23-17-226 - Filing Fees.
  The Secretary of State shall charge and collect for: (1) Filing articles of incorporation and issuing a certificate of incorporation -- ten dollars ($10.00);...
• § 23-17-227 - [Repealed.]
• § 23-17-228 - Nonprofit Operation.
  (a) Each cooperative shall be operated on a nonprofit basis for the mutual benefit of its members and patrons.(b) (1) The bylaws of a...
• § 23-17-229 - Use of Revenues.
  The revenues of the cooperative shall be devoted to: (1) The payment of operating and maintenance expenses, the rendition of efficient service, and the...
• § 23-17-230 - Taxation -- Exemptions.
  Cooperatives formed under this subchapter shall continue to be exempt from all other excise taxes of whatsoever kind or nature except the Arkansas gross...
• § 23-17-231 - Mortgage, Pledge, or Other Disposition of Property.
  (a) The board of directors of a cooperative shall have full power and authority, without authorization by the members thereof, to authorize the execution...
• § 23-17-232 - Recordation of Mortgages -- Effect Thereof.
  (a) Any mortgage, deed of trust, or other instrument executed by a cooperative which affects real and personal property and which is recorded in...
• § 23-17-233 - Nonliability of Members and Shareholders for Debts of Cooperatives.
  No member or shareholder shall be liable or responsible for any debts of the cooperative, and the property of the members and shareholders shall...
• § 23-17-234 - [Repealed.]
• § 23-17-235 - Liabilities of Connecting Companies or Cooperatives.
  No cooperative shall be liable for damage resulting from loss, interruption, or diminished quality of service due to earthquake, flood, storm, infestation, pestilence, civil...
• § 23-17-236 - Construction Standards.
  (a) Construction of telecommunications lines and facilities by a telecommunications company or cooperative as a minimum requirement shall comply with the standards of the...
• § 23-17-237 - Limitation of Actions.
  No suit shall be brought against any telecommunications company or cooperative by the reason of the installation, use, or maintenance of telecommunications lines, poles,...
• § 23-17-238 - Indemnification of Directors, Officers, Employees, or Agents -- Insurance.
  (a) (1) A cooperative shall have power to indemnify any person who was or is a party or is threatened to be made a...
• § 23-17-239 - Standards of Conduct for Directors -- Actions Taken Without Board Meeting -- Conflicts of Interest -- Definition.
  (a) A director shall discharge his or her duties as a director, including his or her duties as a member of a committee: (1)...
• § 23-17-240 - Unclaimed Capital Credits and Stock.
  (a) When a cooperative formed under this subchapter declares capital credits and any capital credit which remains unclaimed one (1) year after notice of...
• § 23-17-241 - Opting Out of Underground Damage Coverage.
  (a) Any cooperative established under this subchapter may opt out of coverage under the Arkansas Underground Facilities Damage Prevention Act, § 14-271-101 et seq.,...
• § 23-17-242 - Cooperative Acquiring Another Cooperative.
  Any cooperative organized prior to January 1, 1979, under the provisions of this subchapter may enter into an agreement with any other cooperative so...

Last modified: November 15, 2016