Maintenance of records at registered office; inspection and copying of records; civil liability; penalties.
1. A corporation shall keep a copy of the following records at its registered office:
(a) A copy certified by the Secretary of State of its articles of incorporation, and all amendments thereto;
(b) A copy certified by an officer of the corporation of its bylaws and all amendments thereto; and
(c) A stock ledger or a duplicate stock ledger, revised annually, containing the names, alphabetically arranged, of all persons who are stockholders of the corporation, showing their places of residence, if known, and the number of shares held by them respectively. In lieu of the stock ledger or duplicate stock ledger, the corporation may keep a statement setting out the name of the custodian of the stock ledger or duplicate stock ledger, and the present and complete mailing or street address where the stock ledger or duplicate stock ledger specified in this section is kept.
2. Any person who has been a stockholder of record of a corporation for at least 6 months immediately preceding his demand, or any person holding, or thereunto authorized in writing by the holders of, at least 5 percent of all of its outstanding shares, upon at least 5 days’ written demand is entitled to inspect in person or by agent or attorney, during usual business hours, the records required by subsection 1 and make copies therefrom. Holders of voting trust certificates representing shares of the corporation must be regarded as stockholders for the purpose of this subsection. Every corporation that neglects or refuses to keep the records required by subsection 1 open for inspection, as required in this subsection, shall forfeit to the State the sum of $25 for every day of such neglect or refusal.
3. If any corporation willfully neglects or refuses to make any proper entry in the stock ledger or duplicate copy thereof, or neglects or refuses to permit an inspection of the records required by subsection 1 upon demand by a person entitled to inspect them, or refuses to permit copies to be made therefrom, as provided in subsection 2, the corporation is liable to the person injured for all damages resulting to him therefrom.
4. When the corporation keeps a statement in the manner provided for in paragraph (c) of subsection 1, the information contained thereon must be given to any stockholder of the corporation demanding the information, when the demand is made during business hours. Every corporation that neglects or refuses to keep a statement available, as in this subsection required, shall forfeit to the State the sum of $25 for every day of such neglect or refusal.
5. In every instance where an attorney or other agent of the stockholder seeks the right of inspection, the demand must be accompanied by a power of attorney signed by the stockholder authorizing the attorney or other agent to inspect on behalf of the stockholder.
6. The right to copy records under subsection 2 includes, if reasonable, the right to make copies by photographic, xerographic or other means.
7. The corporation may impose a reasonable charge to recover the costs of labor and materials and the cost of copies of any records provided to the stockholder.
Last modified: February 26, 2006