Current through Register 2024 Notice Reg. No. 38, September 20, 2024
(a) The definitions provided in subdivision
(a) of Section
21904 shall apply to this
section.
(b) The Secretary of State
in providing expedited filing services for a fee established pursuant to this
section, if such services do not cause disruption or delay in the process of
normal handling of documents, may suspend all or any portion of the expedited
filing services, as set forth in this section, when deemed necessary due to a
high volume of workload, staff shortages or equipment malfunction. Notice of
the suspension of all or any portion of the expedited filing services shall be
communicated to the public in a reasonable manner. Suspension of all or any
portion of the expedited filing services may be for a specified or indefinite
period of time, as denoted in the notice.
(c) The expedited filing of eligible
documents shall occur as described in this subdivision:
(1) To submit an eligible document for
expedited filing a customer shall personally deliver to the Sacramento office
of the Secretary of State, or submit electronically through the Secretary of
State's designated website, the following:
(A)
Eligible document, including the required signatures;
(B) Requisite filing fee;
(C) Written request personally delivered for
expedited filing must be on a Secretary of State prescribed cover
sheet;
(D) Statement as to the
class of service requested, as provided in subdivision (e);
(E) Statement as to the means of delivery of
the filing confirmation or the filing response, as provided in subdivision
(i);
(F) Name and telephone number
of the customer to whom questions, if any, regarding the document or service
may be directed; and
(G) Requisite
expedited filing fee, as provided in subsection (f).
(2) After receipt of an eligible document for
expedited filing, as provided in paragraph (1) of subdivision (c), the
Secretary of State shall provide one of the following responses within the time
period for the requested class of service, as provided in subdivision (e)
below.
(A) If the document is determined to
conform to law, the Secretary of State shall file the document and deliver the
filing confirmation by the requested means of delivery, as provided in
subdivision (i) below. The Secretary of State shall not be responsible for
ensuring that the confirmation of filing is received within the time period for
the requested class of service, as receipt may take additional time to reach a
customer due to the means of delivery or the fact that the customer is not
available to receive it.
(B) If the
Secretary of State determines that an eligible document does not conform to
law, the Secretary of State shall return the document and state in a filing
response the reason or reasons for returning the document. Such delivery may
take additional time to the extent that the customer is not available to
receive it.
(C) If it appears to
the Secretary of State that an eligible document cannot be filed or a filing
response cannot be issued within the time period for the requested class of
service, the Secretary of State shall contact the customer concerning the
appropriate action to be taken. The expedited filing fee shall be refunded if a
customer requests the document to be returned without
filing.
(d) If
a request for expedited filing pursuant to this section is not made in writing
or the applicable fee is not paid prior to or concurrently with the submission
for filing, the Secretary of State shall handle the filing of the document
under the normal processing procedures.
(e) The classes of expedited service for an
eligible document submitted pursuant to paragraph (1) of subdivision (c) are
the following:
(1) Class A service: an
eligible document shall be filed or a filing response issued within four (4)
hours of receipt by the Secretary of State, excluding weekends and state
holidays in which the Secretary of State is closed for business, if the
following conditions are satisfied:
(A) the
eligible document was personally delivered to the Secretary of State;
(B) the eligible document was precleared;
and
(C) the Secretary of State
determines that the information completing the designated blank spaces in the
preclearance version, if any, does not require additional time to review;
or
(2) Class B service:
an eligible document shall be filed or a filing response issued by 4:00 p.m.
the same business day of receipt by the Secretary of State, if the eligible
document was received by the Secretary of State by 9:30 a.m. that same business
day; or
(3) Class C service: an
eligible document shall be filed or a filing response issued within twenty-four
(24) hours of receipt by the Secretary of State, excluding weekends and state
holidays in which the Secretary of State is closed for
business.
(f) The
expedited filing fees shall be the following:
(1) $500 for Class A service;
(2) $750 for Class B service; and
(3) $350 for Class C
service.
(g) The
expedited filing fees provided for in subdivision (f) above shall be in
addition to the requisite fees for filing the document.
(h) If an eligible document is submitted for
expedited filing pursuant to this section and the Secretary of State determines
that the eligible document does not conform to law, the expedited filing fee
shall not be refunded.
(i) Delivery
of filing confirmation or filing response requested pursuant to subsection (E)
of paragraph (1) of subdivision (c) shall be by one of the following means:
(A) The filing confirmation or filing
response shall be available at the Sacramento office of the Secretary of State
for the customer to collect in person;
(B) The filing confirmation or filing
response shall be transmitted by telephone facsimile, if a telephone facsimile
number provided by the customer accompanies the expedited filing
request;
(C) The filing
confirmation or filing response shall be transmitted by electronic mail, if an
electronic mail address provided by the customer accompanies the expedited
filing request;
(D) The filing
confirmation or filing response shall be placed in the mail to be delivered by
overnight courier, if a prepaid, pre-addressed overnight courier envelope
provided by the customer accompanies the request for preclearance; or
(E) The filing confirmation or filing
response shall be placed in the mail to be delivered by the United States
Postal Service first class mail.
(j) Notwithstanding any other provision of
this section, eligible documents submitted for expedited filing via the
Secretary of State's designated website outside the regular business hours of
the Secretary of State shall be deemed to have been received, for file date
purposes, in accordance with the provisions of section
21902(b)(1).
However, the Secretary of State's response time, depending on the class of
service paid for, shall not begin until the beginning of the next Business
Day.
1. New section
filed 8-29-2000; operative 9-28-2000 (Register 2000, No. 35).
2.
Amendment of subsection (c)(1)(A) and amendment of NOTE filed 9-7-2006;
operative 9-7-2006 pursuant to Government Code section
11343.4
(Register 2006, No. 36).
3. Amendment filed 8-8-2008; operative
9-7-2008 (Register 2008, No. 32).
4. Amendment of subsection (c)(1)
and new subsection (j) filed 9-13-2018; operative 9-15-2018 pursuant to
Government Code section
11343.4(b)(3)
(Register 2018, No. 37).
5. Repealer of subsection (c)(1)(B),
subsection relettering, amendment of newly designated subsection (c)(1)(C) and
subsections (e)(1) and (i) filed 3-30-2022; operative 4-7-2022 pursuant to
Government Code section
11343.4(b)(3)
(Register 2022, No. 13).
Note: Authority cited: Section
12182,
Government Code; Budget Act, ch. 47, Stat. of 2006; and Section
17.1,
Corporations Code. Reference: Section
12182,
Government Code; and Section
17.1,
Corporations Code.
