(a) Within 40 days following the adoption of a resolution in accordance with Section 11-88-3, the applicants, or not less than three of the applicants, shall proceed to incorporate an authority by filing for record in the office of the judge of probate of the determining county a certificate of incorporation which shall comply in form and substance with the requirements of this section and which shall be in the form and executed in the manner provided in this section.
(b) The certificate of incorporation of the authority shall state:
(1) The names of the persons forming the authority, together with the residence of each, and that each of them is a resident of and an owner of real property in the area of the determining county in which the authority proposes to render water service, sewer service, and fire protection service, or any thereof, and that each of them is a duly qualified elector of said county;
(2) The name of the authority (which shall include the words "water authority," "water and fire protection authority," "fire protection authority," "sewer authority," "water and sewer authority," "water, sewer, and fire protection authority," "fire protection and sewer authority," or as may be appropriate);
(3) The period for the duration of the authority (if the duration is to be perpetual, subject to the provisions of Section 11-88-18, that fact shall be stated);
(4) The name of the determining county, together with the date on which the governing body thereof adopted the resolution in accordance with Section 11-88-3;
(5) The location of the principal office of the authority, which shall be in the determining county;
(6) A concise legal description of the area or areas in which the authority proposes to render water service, sewer service, and fire protection service, or any thereof; and
(7) Any other matters relating to the authority that the incorporators may choose to insert and that are not inconsistent with this article or with the laws of the state.
(c) The certificate of incorporation shall be signed and acknowledged by the incorporators before an officer authorized by the laws of the state to take acknowledgments to deeds.
(d) When the certificate of incorporation is filed for record, there shall be attached to it a certified copy of the resolution adopted by the governing body of the determining county in accordance with Section 11-88-3 and a certificate by the Secretary of State that the name proposed for the authority is not identical to that of any other corporation organized under the laws of the state or so nearly similar thereto as to lead to confusion and uncertainty.
(e) The judge of probate shall promptly examine all such documents and shall determine whether they are complete and regular on their face and whether the form and contents of the certificate of incorporation comply with the provisions of this article. If the judge of probate shall find that all such documents are complete and regular on their face and that the form and contents of the certificate of incorporation comply with the provisions of this article, he shall enter and sign an order setting forth his findings and requiring all such documents to be recorded, together with his order. Upon the filing for record of the said order and the documents referred to therein, the authority shall come into existence and shall constitute a public corporation under the name set forth in said certificate of incorporation.
(f) The judge of probate shall thereupon send a notice to the Secretary of State that the certificate of incorporation of the authority has been filed for record.
Last modified: May 3, 2021