2014 North Dakota Century Code Title 54 State Government Chapter 54-09 Secretary of State
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CHAPTER 54-09
SECRETARY OF STATE
54-09-01. Records in custody of secretary of state.
The secretary of state is charged with the custody of:
1. The enrolled copy of the Constitution of North Dakota.
2. All the acts and resolutions passed by the legislative assembly.
3. The journals of the legislative assembly.
4. The great seal.
5. All books, records, deeds, parchments, maps, and papers kept or deposited in the
secretary of state's office pursuant to law.
54-09-02. Duties of secretary of state.
In addition to the duties prescribed by the constitution, the secretary of state shall:
1. Receive bills and resolutions from every session of the legislative assembly, and shall
perform such other duties as may devolve upon the secretary of state by resolution of
the two houses, or either of them.
2. Keep a register of and attest the official acts of the governor.
3. Affix the great seal with the secretary of state's attestation to commissions and other
public instruments to which the official signature of the governor is required.
4. Record and maintain records of all conveyances made to the state and all articles of
incorporation filed in the secretary of state's office.
5. Maintain records for all books distributed by the secretary of state and direct the
county auditor of each county to do the same as provided by law.
6. Furnish on demand to persons paying the fees therefor a certified copy of all or any
part of any law, record, or other instrument filed, deposited, or recorded in the
secretary of state's office.
7. Keep records of all the fees, commissions, and compensation of whatever nature or
kind earned, collected, or charged by the secretary of state, with the date, name of
payer, and the nature of the services in each case.
8. Biennially report to the governor with copies filed in the secretary of state's office as
prescribed by section 54-06-04 all moneys received from any source for services
performed and accompany the report with a detailed statement under oath of the
manner in which the appropriations for the secretary of state's office have been
expended during the preceding two fiscal years.
9. Immediately after the laws, resolutions, and journals of the legislative assembly are
bound, distribute the laws, resolutions, and journals to the persons entitled thereto by
law or rules of the senate and house of representatives.
10. Keep records of cities as prescribed by law.
11. Indicate on each bill passed by the legislative assembly the date of filing in the
secretary of state's office.
12. Perform all other duties as are prescribed by law.
54-09-02.1. Secretary of state - Certificates and certified copies to be received in
evidence.
1. All certificates issued by the secretary of state and all copies of records filed in
accordance with this chapter or any other chapter, when certified by the secretary of
state, may be taken and received in all courts, public offices, and official bodies as
evidence of the facts stated.
2. A certificate by the secretary of state under the great seal of this state, as to the
existence or nonexistence of the facts relating to records filed by the secretary of state
in accordance with this chapter or any other chapter which would not appear from a
certified copy of any of the foregoing records or certificates, may be taken and
received in all courts, public offices, and official bodies as evidence of the existence or
nonexistence of the facts stated.
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3.
Any certificate or certified copy issued by the secretary of state under this section may
be created and disseminated as an electronic record with the same force and effect as
if produced in a paper form.
54-09-03. Secretary of state to mark books distributed.
Repealed by S.L. 1999, ch. 449, § 1.
54-09-04. Fees.
The secretary of state shall charge and collect the following fees:
1. For a copy of any law, resolution, record, or other document or paper on file in the
secretary of state's office, fifty cents per page.
2. Unless otherwise provided by law, for affixing the signature of the secretary of state,
certificate, or seal, or combination thereof to any document, ten dollars.
3. For filing a certificate of appointment of attorney, five dollars.
4. For searching records and archives of the state, five dollars. For the purposes of this
section, a search of records conducted by the secretary of state for which a fee must
be collected includes the following:
a. A search of a filed document that is active or archived, an archived index, or an
index of business name changes to identify specific information to satisfy a
request;
b. A search of any record for which written verification of the facts of the search is
required; and
c. For every search of records when the request for the search is contained in a list
compiled by the requester.
The secretary of state may provide, at no charge, information from publications or
reference materials published or maintained by the secretary of state and verbal
confirmation of any element of information maintained in a computer database.
5. For filing any paper not otherwise provided for, ten dollars.
6. For filing any process, notice, or demand for service, the fee provided in section
10-01.1-03.
7. For preparing any listing or compilation of any information recorded or filed in the office
of the secretary of state, an amount established by the secretary of state to recover
the actual cost for assembling and providing the information in the format requested.
An individual required to file an oath of office with the secretary of state may not be charged
for filing the oath of office, nor may a state or county officer be charged for filing any document
with the secretary of state when acting in the officer's official capacity. All fees when collected
must be paid by the secretary of state into the state treasury at the end of each month and
placed to the credit of the state. Unless otherwise provided by law, the secretary of state shall
retain a handling charge from filing fees tendered when a document submitted to the secretary
of state under any law is rejected and not perfected. The handling charge is five dollars or fifty
percent of the filing fee, whichever is greater, but may not exceed one hundred dollars.
If, upon due presentment, any check, draft, money order, or other form of lawful payment
provisionally accepted in payment of any filing fee authorized to be charged and collected by the
secretary of state, is not honored or paid, or if no lawful form of payment accompanies the filing,
any record of credit or payment must be canceled or reversed as though no credit had been
given or payment attempted and the filing or action is void. The secretary of state may return to
the last-known address of the filer any record or document that was attempted to be filed or may
retain as unfiled the record or document for a reasonable time to permit proper payment and
filing.
This section does not apply to fees submitted for filing in, or information obtained from, the
computerized central notice system, to the computerized Uniform Commercial Code central
filing database, or to the computerized statutory liens database.
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54-09-04.1. Exception from fees.
A member of the legislative assembly or a state or county office may not be charged by the
secretary of state for any search relative to matters appertaining to duties of office, any fee for a
certified copy of any law or resolution passed by the legislative assembly relative to the
individual's official duties, or for filing any process, notice, or demand for service relative to the
individual's official duties.
54-09-05. Salary of secretary of state.
The annual salary of the secretary of state is ninety-six thousand seven hundred ninety-four
dollars through June 30, 2014, and ninety-nine thousand six hundred ninety-eight dollars
thereafter.
54-09-06. Official bond.
Repealed by S.L. 1999, ch. 113, § 24.
54-09-07. Service of process on secretary of state if agent not found or if secretary of
state appointed as agent for individual.
If an agent other than the secretary of state has been appointed for receipt of service, but
the affidavit of a sheriff or of an adult who is not a party to a proceeding establishes that diligent
inquiry has been made and that personal service cannot be accomplished upon any registered
agent, officer, or superintending, managing, or general agent of an entity, then the secretary of
state may be deemed the agent of the entity for receiving service of process. Service on the
secretary of state must be made as provided in section 10-01.1-13. Except as otherwise
provided by law, if the secretary of state is appointed as agent for service of process for any
individual under any provision of this code, then service on the secretary of state and the
responsibilities of the secretary of state with respect to the service shall be made or executed in
the manner provided in section 10-01.1-13, to the extent practicable.
54-09-08. (Effective through July 31, 2015, or see note) Secretary of state's general
services operating fund.
The secretary of state's general services operating fund is a special fund in the state
treasury. Moneys in the fund are to be used pursuant to legislative appropriations for the
provision of services under section 16.1-02-15, subsection 6 of section 41-09-94, subsection 8
of section 54-09-04, and sections 10-35-33, 54-09-10, and 54-09-11. At the close of each
biennium, the secretary of state shall transfer any unobligated balance remaining in the fund
exceeding seventy-five thousand dollars to the general fund.
(Effective after July 31, 2015, or see note) Secretary of state's general services
operating fund. The secretary of state's general services operating fund is a special fund in the
state treasury. Moneys in the fund are to be used pursuant to legislative appropriations for the
provision of services under section 16.1-02-15, subsection 4 of section 41-09-94, subsection 4
of section 41-09-96, subsection 7 of section 54-09-04, and sections 10-35-33, 54-09-10, and
54-09-11. At the close of each biennium, the secretary of state shall transfer any unobligated
balance remaining in the fund exceeding seventy-five thousand dollars to the general fund.
54-09-09. (Effective through July 31, 2015, or see note) Computerized central indexing
system - Rules.
1. The secretary of state shall maintain a computerized central indexing system that
contains the information filed with the office of the secretary of state or with any of the
offices of the recorder in this state pursuant to sections 35-13-02, 35-17-04, 35-20-16,
35-30-02, 35-31-02, 35-34-04, 35-34-06, 41-09-72, 57-28-29, 57-38-49, 57-39.2-13,
57-40.2-16, 57-40.3-07.1, 57-43.1-17.4, 57-43.2-16.3, and 57-51-11. The system must
connect each recorder's office to the secretary of state's office through the information
technology department. The system must allow access to financing statement
information by equipment that conforms to requirements determined by the information
technology department. The system must have safeguards to allow access to
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information that is in the system relating to security interests or liens and to prevent
unauthorized alteration or deletion of that information and to allow access to other
information in the system as prescribed by the secretary of state.
2. Within two working days of receipt of a financing statement, continuation statement,
amendment, or termination statement filed pursuant to chapter 41-09 or a statement
filed pursuant to section 35-13-02, 35-17-04, 35-20-16, 35-30-02, or 35-31-02, the
recorder or secretary of state shall file the information contained in the statement in the
computerized central indexing system. A computer printout of information from the
system is prima facie evidence of the existence or nonexistence of the filing of a
financing statement or lien. The secretary of state shall prescribe one form that can be
used to perfect a security interest in farm products or gain protection under the central
notice system, or both.
3. The secretary of state may adopt rules necessary to implement this section and
sections 54-09-10 and 54-09-11.
(Effective after July 31, 2015, or see note) Computerized central indexing system Rules.
1. The secretary of state shall maintain a computerized central indexing system that
contains the information filed pursuant to sections 35-13-02, 35-17-04, 35-20-16,
35-30-02, 35-31-02, 35-34-04, 35-34-06, 41-09-72, 57-38-49, 57-39.2-13, 57-40.2-16,
57-40.3-07.1, 57-43.1-17.4, 57-43.2-16.3, and 57-51-11. The system must allow
access to financing statement information by equipment that conforms to requirements
determined by the information technology department. The system must have
safeguards to allow access to information that is in the system relating to security
interests or liens and to prevent unauthorized alteration or deletion of that information
and to allow access to other information in the system as prescribed by the secretary
of state.
2. Within two working days of receipt of a financing statement, continuation statement,
amendment, or termination statement filed electronically pursuant to chapter 41-09 or
a statement filed electronically pursuant to section 35-13-02, 35-17-04, 35-20-16,
35-30-02, or 35-31-02, the information contained in the statement must be filed in the
computerized central indexing system. A computer printout of information from the
system is prima facie evidence of the existence or nonexistence of the filing of a
financing statement or lien. The secretary of state shall provide an electronic means
that can be used to perfect a security interest in farm products or gain protection under
the central notice system, or both.
3. The secretary of state may adopt rules necessary to implement this section and
sections 54-09-10 and 54-09-11.
54-09-10. (Effective through July 31, 2015, or see note) Secretary of state to compile
lists for crops and livestock - Distribution of lists.
1. From the computerized central indexing system, the secretary of state or a designee
shall produce each month one list for crops and one list for livestock that each contain
the information as filed on the forms pursuant to section 41-09-72. The secretary of
state shall also include on the lists the information filed for crops and livestock
pursuant to sections 35-17-04, 35-30-02, and 35-31-02. The lists must be in
alphabetical order according to the last name of, or in numerical order according to the
social security number of, the person engaged in farming operations. The lists may be
prepared in categories according to county, regions as designated by the secretary of
state, or on a statewide basis. If requested, the lists must be in printed form. Each list
must conspicuously note the effective date of the list.
2. The secretary of state shall distribute monthly by mail the lists prepared pursuant to
subsection 1, at least five business days in advance of the effective date of each of the
lists. If requested, the secretary of state shall mail the lists to any person making a
request at a fee as provided in section 54-09-11.
3. Upon a verbal request of any person, the secretary of state, a designee of the
secretary of state, or a recorder shall verbally provide information contained on a list
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generated through the computerized central indexing system if the collateral is crops
or livestock. The requesting party may request a certificate from the secretary of state
or the recorder and the secretary of state or the recorder shall confirm the information
given. Direct computer access is equivalent to oral confirmation, and a computer
printout constitutes the written confirmation of the secretary of state, if use of this
method of confirmation does not cause the central indexing system to lose federal
certification. A computer printout from the computerized central indexing system
constitutes the certificate of the secretary of state or the recorder as to whether there
is on file, on the date and hour stated on the computer printout, a financing statement.
(Effective after July 31, 2015, or see note) Secretary of state to compile lists for crops
and livestock - Distribution of lists.
1. From the computerized central indexing system, the secretary of state or a designee
shall produce electronically a list for crops and a list for livestock that each contain the
information as filed pursuant to section 41-09-72. The secretary of state shall also
include on the lists the information filed for crops and livestock pursuant to sections
35-17-04, 35-30-02, and 35-31-02. The lists must be in alphabetical order according to
the last name of, or in numerical order according to the social security number of, the
person engaged in farming operations. The lists may be prepared in categories
according to county, regions as designated by the secretary of state, or on a statewide
basis. If requested, the lists must be in printed form. Each list must conspicuously note
the effective date of the list.
2. The secretary of state shall distribute by mail or deliver electronically the lists prepared
pursuant to subsection 1. If requested, the secretary of state shall mail or deliver
electronically the lists to any person making a request at a fee as provided in section
54-09-11.
3. Upon a verbal request of any person, the secretary of state or a designee of the
secretary of state shall verbally provide information contained on a list generated
through the computerized central indexing system if the collateral is crops or livestock.
The requesting party may request electronically a certificate from the central indexing
system to confirm the information given. Direct computer access is equivalent to oral
confirmation, and a computer printout constitutes the written confirmation of the
secretary of state, if use of this method of confirmation does not cause the central
indexing system to lose federal certification. A computer printout from the
computerized central indexing system constitutes the certificate of the secretary of
state as to whether there is on file, on the date and hour stated on the computer
printout, a financing statement.
54-09-11. (Effective through July 31, 2015, or see note) Fees.
1. The secretary of state shall establish fees for placing data in the computerized central
indexing system; for obtaining computer access to the computerized central indexing
system, to the computerized Uniform Commercial Code central filing database, or to
the computerized statutory liens database; for receiving printouts; for direct access to
all or parts of the central indexing system; for lists sold or licensed under subsection 6
of section 41-09-94; for any other list provided by the secretary of state; for any
programming charges specifically incurred to provide information requested by
persons which is related to the central indexing system; and for other services
provided through the computerized system.
2. The fee for furnishing information on a verbal request pursuant to subsection 3 of
section 54-09-10 is seven dollars, and the fee for furnishing a certificate under
subsection 3 of section 54-09-10 is seven dollars.
3. The secretary of state shall establish the fee for furnishing lists under subsection 1 of
section 54-09-10 based on actual costs to produce the lists for distribution.
4. Fees collected by the secretary of state under subsections 1 and 3 and under
subsection 6 of section 41-09-94 must be deposited in the secretary of state's general
services operating fund. Fees collected by the secretary of state under subsection 2
must be deposited in the general fund in the state treasury.
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5.
The secretary of state may adopt rules regarding what portion of the filing fees and
search fees collected by the recorder under section 41-09-96 must be submitted to the
secretary of state for deposit into the secretary of state's general operating fund to
meet the cost of the provision of services required under sections 54-09-09 and
54-09-10.
(Effective after July 31, 2015, or see note) Fees.
1. The secretary of state shall establish fees for any programming charges specifically
incurred to provide information requested by persons which is related to the central
indexing system and for other services provided through the computerized system.
2. A fee may not be required for furnishing information on a verbal request pursuant to
subsection 3 of section 54-09-10, and the fee for furnishing a certificate under
subsection 3 of section 54-09-10 is fifteen dollars.
3. The secretary of state shall establish the fee for furnishing lists from the central
indexing system based on actual costs to produce the lists for distribution.
4. Fees collected by the secretary of state under this section, under subsection 4 of
section 41-09-94, and subsection 4 of section 41-09-96, and ten dollars from each
filing entered into the central indexing system must be deposited in the secretary of
state's general services operating fund. Fees collected by the secretary of state under
this section must be used for the programming and maintenance of the central
indexing system.
5. The secretary of state shall pay ten dollars to the county recorder of the county of
residence for the first debtor listed on each statement filed pursuant to section
35-13-02, 35-17-04, 35-20-16, 35-30-02, 35-31-02, or 41-09-72. The payment must be
made monthly from the general fund in the state treasury.
54-09-12. Confidential information in filed records.
A social security number or federal tax identification number disclosed or contained in any
record filed with the secretary of state is confidential. The secretary of state shall delete or
obscure a social security or federal tax identification number before a copy of any record is
released to the public. A filing office or an officer or employee of the filing office may not be held
civilly or criminally liable for the inadvertent disclosure of a social security or federal tax
identification number if the filer has placed the number in an improper field on the form
prescribed by the secretary of state or the filer submitted a filing other than on the form
prescribed by the secretary of state.
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