Title 35, Title 35

The directors of a cooperative association, subject to revision by the stockholders at a general or special meeting, may apportion the earnings of the association by first paying dividends on the paid-up capital stock, not exceeding 8% a year; from the remaining funds, if any, ac…

(1) The profits or net earnings of such associations shall be distributed to those entitled thereto at such times as the bylaws shall prescribe, which shall be as often as once in 12 months. (2) If such associations for 5 consecutive years shall fail to declare a dividend upon th…

It shall be lawful for two or more cooperative associations formed or which may be hereafter formed under the laws of the state of Montana to merge or consolidate with each other or with one or more associations incorporated under the laws of another state or states relating to o…

Before an association may merge or consolidate with any other association, a written plan of merger or consolidation shall be prepared by the board of directors of one or both associations, by a committee appointed for that purpose by the board of directors of one or both associa…

(1) Notice of the proposed plan and, in the case of consolidation, of the proposed new articles must be mailed or sent by electronic means to each stockholder of the associations to be affected by the proposed plan or the proposed new articles. (2) The notice must advise the stoc…

(1) Within 30 days after the merger or consolidation plan has been adopted, documents of merger or consolidation setting forth the plan and the manner of adoption thereof shall be signed by the president or vice-president and by the secretary or assistant secretary of each associ…

(1) After the effective date, the associations that are parties to the plan become a single association. In the case of a merger, the surviving association is that association designated in the plan. In the case of a consolidation, the new association is the association provided …

At any meeting the stockholders of a cooperative association may authorize the disposition or sale of all or substantially all of the association's assets if notice that such disposition or sale will be considered at such meeting has been given to all persons entitled to vote the…

No action may be maintained to invalidate any sale, merger, or consolidation taken pursuant to this chapter because of the manner of its adoption unless the action is commenced within 2 years after the date of filing same.

Except as otherwise herein specifically provided, corporations or districts organized under the provisions hereof shall be governed and controlled by the laws relative to corporations generally.

Mere error or omission in the description of any lands or in the names of any of the holders of title or evidence of title to lands shall not operate to render invalid any proceedings hereunder or to deprive the district court of the subject matter unless such error or omission s…

Whenever under the provisions hereof any application is permitted to be made to the district court or appeal allowed thereto, the action of the district court upon such application or appeal shall be final unless appealed from in accordance with Title 25 within 60 days from and a…

At any time after March 5, 1921, any 10 or more holders of title or evidence of title to agricultural, horticultural, or farm lands in this state of an aggregate value of not less than $75,000 who may desire to form a company or district for the purpose of promoting or improving …

(1) The persons desiring to incorporate shall prepare, sign, acknowledge, and file a petition with the clerk of the district court of the county in which the lands or the greater portion of the lands included in the petition are situate, the petition to state: (a) the name of the…

Upon the filing of such petition, the clerk of the district court wherein the same shall be filed shall set the same for hearing before said court at a time not less than 10 or more than 20 days from the date of filing such petition and shall cause notice of such setting to be ma…

(1) At the time specified in the notice of hearing, a district judge of the state of Montana shall in open court hear said petition and the evidence offered in support thereof and determine whether or not the requirements of this chapter have been complied with. If upon such hear…

Within 30 days after the issuance of a certificate of incorporation, the persons named and designated in the petition to be directors or trustees for the first 3 months shall cause a written notice to be mailed or delivered to each and every signer of the petition of a proposed f…

Every corporation or district formed under this chapter must, by majority action at its organization meeting after incorporation, adopt a code of bylaws for its government, not inconsistent with the constitution and laws of this state.

The bylaws, where no other provision is specially made, may provide for: (1) the time, place, and manner of calling and conducting meetings of stockholders or members; (2) the number of stockholders or members or quantity of units of membership in acres, lands, or production, as …

(1) The bylaws and all amendments and additions thereto shall be recorded. (2) The bylaws may be repealed or amended or new bylaws may be adopted at the annual meeting or at any other meeting of the members called for that purpose by the directors, by a vote representing two-thir…

Any corporation or district organized under the provisions hereof shall have the power to create subdivisions or subdistricts of said corporation or district, by geographical or other location, as shall best subserve the purposes of the corporation or district or the welfare of t…

(1) Any cooperative or other corporation, association, society, or group of individuals on or before March 5, 1921, associated together for purposes and objects similar to those contemplated by the provisions of this chapter desiring to come within the provisions of this chapter …

If any stockholder or member of an existing cooperative or other corporation, association, society, or group of individuals declines to consent to the transfer or refuses to become a member of the new organization, the stockholder or member shall, within 30 days after receiving w…

(1) An agricultural association or company, either cooperative stock or nonprofit nonstock, existing on July 1, 1921, or organized under the laws of Montana after that date may own and operate two or more cooperative enterprises in different parts of the state and may exercise an…

The members of a corporation or district organized hereunder shall be called "members". The lands included by such members shall be called "membership lands".

(1) Whenever any corporation or district has been formed under the provisions of this chapter, it is authorized and directed to permit other holders of title or evidence of title of similar or like agricultural, horticultural, or farm land within this state to become members, upo…

(1) A person who holds title or evidence of title to membership land included in a corporation or district organized under the provisions of this chapter and who desires to withdraw the person's land from the corporation or district may do so upon: (a) presenting to the board of …

If the board of directors refuses or fails for a period of 30 days to act upon a petition of withdrawal, the petitioner is entitled to apply to the district court in the county in which the land or the larger proportion of the land is situated for an order of withdrawal, and upon…

At the organization meeting or any meeting of the stockholders or members of a corporation or district organized under the provisions of this chapter, each member and each unit of membership in acres, production, or other evidence of membership is entitled to vote in person or by…

Directors must be elected at the annual meeting and may hold office for the term and in the manner as specified in the bylaws.

All elections must be by ballot and every stockholder or member or holder of a unit of membership in acres, production, or other evidence of membership shall have the right to vote in person or by a proxy in conformity with the provisions hereof, the constitution and laws of this…

(1) A person is not eligible to be a director of any corporation or district organized under the provisions of this chapter unless the person is a member of the corporation or district and a resident agricultural freeholder in the state of Montana. (2) A quorum of the board of di…

(1) The corporate or district powers, business, and property of all corporations or districts formed under the provisions hereof must be exercised, conducted, and controlled by a board, which shall never be less than three members. Otherwise, the number of members of the board ma…

(1) After the date of the inclusion of any land or property as a member in any corporation or district organized under the provisions of this chapter, all mortgage or bonded indebtedness created by such corporation or district is a first lien upon the membership lands to an exten…

(1) The board of directors or other officers of a corporation or district organized under the provisions hereof as such shall have no power to incur any debt or liability which will be a lien upon its membership lands, except in accordance with the terms and provisions hereof. (2…

Upon the passage of such resolution, the executive officers of the corporation or district shall prepare and file their verified petition in the district court of the county of principal place of business of such corporation or district, setting forth the fact of the passage of t…

(1) Upon presentation of such petition to the court, the court shall set the same for hearing at a time not less than 20 or more than 40 days from the date of filing thereof and direct personal notice to be given to such members as are within the state of Montana and by mail to s…

Upon the signing, entering, and docketing of a judgment authorizing the loan, the executive officers of such corporation or district shall be authorized and empowered to make, execute, and provide for the sale and delivery of notes, bonds, coupons, or other evidences of indebtedn…

In the event there shall be default in either principal or interest or the terms and conditions of any bonds, notes, or mortgages or deeds of trust, made, executed, and delivered pursuant to the authority hereof, the holder or holders of such mortgage or the trustee named in the …

This chapter shall be referred to as the "Cooperative Marketing Act".

In order to promote, foster, and encourage the intelligent and orderly marketing of agricultural products through cooperation and to eliminate speculation and waste and to make the distribution of agricultural products as direct as can efficiently be done between producer and con…

(1) The term "agricultural products" includes horticultural, viticultural, forestry, dairy, livestock, poultry, bee, and any farm products. (2) The term "association" means any corporation organized under this chapter to include an out-of-state entity if it is authorized to trans…

Five or more persons engaged in the production of agricultural products may form a cooperative association, with or without capital stock, under the provisions of this chapter.

An association may be organized to engage in: (1) any activity in connection with the marketing or selling of the agricultural products of its members or with the harvesting, preserving, drying, processing, canning, packing, storing, handling, shipping, or utilization thereof or …

Each association incorporated under this chapter shall have the following powers: (1) to engage in any activity in connection with the marketing, selling, harvesting, preserving, drying, processing, canning, packing, storing, handling, or utilization of any agricultural products …

Every group of persons contemplating the organization of an association under this chapter is urged to communicate with the dean of the state agricultural college who will inform it whatever a survey of the marketing conditions affecting the commodities to be handled by the propo…