(a) By proceeding in the manner set forth herein, any number of natural persons, not less than three, may incorporate an educational building authority as a public corporation and as a political subdivision of the state. The said natural persons shall first file with the governing body of any municipality the proposed form of the certificate of incorporation of the authority, together with a written application seeking permission to apply for the incorporation of an authority for such municipality. Every such application shall also be accompanied by such supporting documents or evidence as the applicants may consider appropriate to show the need for an authority for the said municipality. The said governing body shall consider the said application and shall find and determine whether it is wise, expedient, necessary or advisable that the authority be formed; if the said governing body finds and determines that it is not wise, expedient, necessary or advisable that the authority be formed, it shall deny the application; but, if it finds and determines that it is wise, expedient, necessary or advisable that the authority be formed and if it approved the proposed form of the certificate of incorporation of the authority, the governing body shall adopt a resolution declaring that it has reviewed the application and has found and determined as a matter of fact that it is wise, expedient, necessary or advisable that the authority be formed and declaring that it has approved the proposed form of certificate of incorporation of the authority. No authority shall be formed hereunder unless the application required by this section shall be made and unless the resolution for which provision is made in this section shall be adopted.
(b) Within 40 days following the adoption of a resolution in accordance with subsection (a) of this section, the applicants, or not less than three of the applicants, shall proceed to incorporate the authority by filing for record in the office of the judge of probate of the county in which the determining municipality shall be situated (or, if the determining municipality shall be situated in more than one county, then with the judge of probate of any county in which any part of the determining municipality shall be situated) a certificate of incorporation in the form approved by the governing body of the determining municipality, which certificate shall also comply in form and substance with the requirements of this section and shall be executed in the manner herein provided.
(c) The certificate of incorporation of the authority shall state:
(1) The names of the persons forming the authority, together with the residence of each thereof, and that each of them is a resident of and an owner of real property in the determining municipality, and that each of them is a duly qualified elector of the determining municipality;
(2) The name of the authority (which shall include the words "educational building authority" and the name of, or other reference to, the determining municipality);
(3) The period for the duration of the authority (if the duration is to be perpetual, subject to the provisions of Section 16-17-19, that fact shall be stated);
(4) The name of the determining municipality, together with the date on which the governing body thereof adopted the resolution in accordance with this section;
(5) The location of the principal office of the authority, which shall be within the corporate limits of the determining municipality; and
(6) Any other matters relating to the authority that the incorporators may choose to insert and that are not inconsistent with this chapter or with the laws of the state.
(d) 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.
(e) When the certificate of incorporation is filed for record, there shall be attached to it:
(1) A certified copy of the resolution adopted by the governing body of the determining municipality in accordance with this section; and
(2) 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.
(f) 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 chapter. 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 chapter, he shall require all such documents to be recorded in a well-bound book in his office. Upon the filing of the said documents, the authority shall come into existence and shall constitute a public corporation and a political subdivision of the state under the name set forth in the said certificate of incorporation. 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