(1) (a) Any three or more persons, who may or may not be residents of the state of Colorado, may associate themselves together to establish a corporation not for profit for any lawful business or to promote any legitimate object or purpose and may make, sign, and acknowledge and file in the office of the secretary of state of the state of Colorado and record in the office of the recorder of each county in which said corporation owns real estate in the state of Colorado a certificate in writing, setting forth the name of such corporation, the business, objects, or purposes for which it is formed, and the names of the first directors, trustees, or managers. The department of revenue shall collect a fee of five dollars for filing said certificate.
(b) Notwithstanding the amount specified for the fee in paragraph (a) of this subsection (1), the executive director of the department of revenue by rule or as otherwise provided by law may reduce the amount of the fee if necessary pursuant to section 24-75-402 (3), C.R.S., to reduce the uncommitted reserves of the fund to which all or any portion of the fee is credited. After the uncommitted reserves of the fund are sufficiently reduced, the executive director by rule or as otherwise provided by law may increase the amount of the fee as provided in section 24-75-402 (4), C.R.S.
(2) The provisions of this article shall not apply to any nonprofit corporation formed after December 31, 1967, nor shall they apply to any corporation not for profit formed prior to January 1, 1968, which is subject to the provisions of articles 121 to 137 of this title.
Source: G.L. § 224. G.S. § 367. R.S. 08: § 1013. C.L. § 2379. L. 31: p. 248, § 22. CSA: C. 41, § 172. L. 51: p. 282, § 1. CRS 53: § 31-20-1. C.R.S. 1963: § 31-19-1. L. 67: p. 658, § 10. L. 68: p. 2, § 2. L. 97: (2) amended, p. 756, § 7, effective July 1, 1998. L. 98: (1) amended, p. 1320, § 14, effective June 1.
ANNOTATION
Law reviews. For article, "When Corporate Stock Becomes Real Estate", see 21 Dicta 53 (1944). For a brief comment on the 1951 amendment to this section, see 28 Dicta 174 (1951). For article, "Highlights of the 1955 Legislative Session — Corporations", see Rocky Mt. L. Rev. 60 (1955). For article, "Non-Profit and Charitable Corporations in Colorado", see 36 U. Colo. L. Rev. 9 (1963). For article, "Generation and Transmission Loan Policy Under the Rural Electrification Act", see 43 Den. L. J. 269 (1966).
Duty of secretary of state to file certificate. It is only upon the tender of a certificate properly setting forth what this section specifically requires that the secretary of state is under a duty to file it. Saunders v. People ex rel. Tyler, 99 Colo. 468, 63 P.2d 1231 (1936).
An association organized under this section may compel issuance of a permit by writ of mandamus to establish and maintain an old folks' home for aged people in good health and an orphanage for children of the Negro race. City Council v. United Negroes Protective Ass'n, 76 Colo. 86, 230 P. 598 (1924).
The treatment of nonmembers comes within the general scope of the purposes of a nonprofit association, by implication, there is no express restriction against it. Union Gold Mining Co. v. Rocky Mt. Nat'l Bank, 2 Colo. 248 (1873); Denver & R.G.R.R. Employees' Relief Ass'n v. Rishmiller, 64 Colo. 306, 171 P. 501 (1918).
Consequently, a hospital established by a nonprofit corporation may receive nonmember patients. Where the ultimate object of an association organized under this section was to treat and care for injured members and there was nothing in the certificate, constitution, or bylaws which provided that the hospital established should be for the exclusive use of the members of the association, the receiving of nonmembers as patients was not carrying on or transacting a separate and distinct business from that for which the association was formed. Denver & R.G.R.R. Employees' Relief Ass'n v. Rishmiller, 64 Colo. 306, 171 P. 501 (1918).