H. B. 2023

(By Delegates Jenkins, Amores and Kime)




(Orginating in the House Committee on the Judiciary)


[January 13, 1995]


A BILL to amend and reenact section five, article nineteen, chapter twenty-nine of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to the registration of charitable organizations with the office of the secretary of state.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section five, article nineteen, chapter twenty-nine of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 19. SOLICITATION OF CHARITABLE FUNDS ACT.
§29-19-5. Registration of charitable organizations; fee.
(a) Every charitable organization, except as provided in section six of this article, which intends to solicit contributions within this state or to have funds solicited on its behalf shall, prior to any solicitation, file a registration statement with the secretary of state upon forms prescribed by him or her, which shall be good for one full year and which shallbe refiled in the next and each following year in which such charitable organization is engaged in solicitation activities. If an organization discontinues solicitation at any time after its last registration filing, then it must file a registration statement reflecting its activities during its last fiscal year in which solicitation in West Virginia took place. It shall be the duty of the president, chairman or principal officer of such charitable organization to file the statements required under this article. Such statements shall be sworn to and shall contain the following information:
(1) The name of the organization and the purpose for which it was organized;
(2) The principal address of the organization and the address of any offices in this state. If the organization does not maintain an office, the name and address of the person having custody of its financial records;
(3) The names and addresses of any chapters, branches or affiliates in this state;
(4) The place where and the date when the organization was legally established, the form of its organization;
(5) The names and addresses of the officers, directors, trustees and the principal salaried executive staff officer;
(6) A copy of a balance sheet and a statement or report of income and expenses for the organization's immediately preceding fiscal year, or a financial statement reporting information showing the kind and amount of funds raised during the precedingfiscal year, the costs and expenses incidental thereto and showing how the funds were disbursed or allocated for the same fiscal year: Provided, That for organizations raising more than fifty thousand dollars per year in contributions, the balance sheet and income and expense statement, or financial statement provided, shall be audited by an independent public accountant. Organizations are required to report the amount of money raised in the state and the amount spent in the state for charitable purposes;
(7) A copy of any determination of the organization's tax exempt status under the provisions of 26 U.S.C. §501(c)(3) and a copy of the last filed Internal Revenue Service form 990 and Schedule A for every charitable organization and any parent organization;
(8) Whether the organization intends to solicit contributions from the public directly or have such done on its behalf by others;
(9) Whether the organization is authorized by any other governmental authority to solicit contributions and whether it is or has ever been enjoined by any court from soliciting contributions;
(10) The general purpose or purposes for which the contributions to be solicited shall be used;
(11) The name or names under which it intends to solicit contributions;
(12) The names of the individuals or officers of theorganization who will have final responsibility for the custody of the contributions;
(13) The names of the individuals or officers of the organization responsible for the final distribution of the contributions; and
(14) Copies of all contract documentation from professional fund-raising counsels and professional solicitors as provided for in subsection (d), section seven of this article.
(b) Each chapter, branch or affiliate, except an independent member agency of a federated fund-raising organization, may separately report the information required by this subsection, or report the information to its parent organization which shall then furnish such information as to its West Virginia affiliates, chapters and branches in a consolidated form to the secretary of state. An independent member agency of a federated fund-raising organization, as hereinbefore defined, shall comply with the provisions of this article independently. Each organization shall file a separate registration form for each name under which funds will be solicited.
(c) The registration forms and any other documents prescribed by the secretary of state shall be signed by an authorized officer or by an independent public accountant and by the chief fiscal officer of the charitable organization and shall be verified under oath.
(d) Every charitable organization collecting less than one million dollars during any year which submits an independentregistration to the secretary of state shall pay an annual registration fee of fifteen dollars; every charitable organization collecting more than one million dollars during one year which submits an independent registration to the secretary of state shall pay an annual registration fee of fifty dollars; a parent organization filing on behalf of one or more chapters, branches or affiliates or a single organization filing under different names shall pay a single annual registration fee of fifty dollars for itself and such chapters, branches or affiliates included in the registration statement.
(e) For good cause shown, the secretary of state may extend the due date for the annual filing of a registration statement or financial report for a period not to exceed one hundred eighty days. During such period, the previously filed registration statement of the charitable organization which has been granted the extension shall remain in effect.
(f) In addition to the registration fee, a charitable organization failing to file a registration application by the due date shall pay an additional fee of twenty-five dollars for each month or part of the month after the date on which the registration statement and financial report were due to be filed or after the period of extension granted for such filing. Any such additional fees received shall be paid into the charitable organization fund established pursuant to the provisions of section fifteen-b of this article.

NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to establish a late charge for charitable organizations which fail to file the required annual registration statement in a timely manner.