Section 293-A:1.38 Interrogatories by Secretary of State; Penalties.
(a) The secretary of state may propound to any corporation, domestic or foreign, subject to the provisions of this chapter, and to any officer or director of the corporation, interrogatories as may be reasonably necessary and proper to enable him to ascertain whether the corporation has complied with all the provisions of this chapter applicable to the corporation. Interrogatories shall be answered within 30 days after the mailing, or within such additional time as shall be fixed by the secretary of state. The answers to the interrogatories shall be full and complete and shall be made in writing and under oath. If the interrogatories are directed to an individual they shall be answered by him, and if directed to a corporation they shall be answered by its president, vice president, secretary or assistant secretary. The secretary of state shall not need to record any document to which the interrogatories relate until the interrogatories are answered as provided in this section, and then not if the answers to the interrogatories disclose that the document is not in conformity with the provisions of this chapter. The secretary of state shall certify to the attorney general, for such action as the attorney general may deem appropriate, all interrogatories and answers to interrogatories which disclose a violation of any of the provisions of this chapter.
(b) The attorney general may petition the superior court of the county in which the individual to whom interrogatories are directed resides, or in which the corporation has its registered office, or of Hillsborough county if the individual or corporation does not reside in or maintain a registered office in this state to seek enforcement of the interrogatories. To the extent that they are not in conflict with this section, all rules of the superior court relating to interrogatories shall be applicable to the interrogatories propounded by the secretary of state pursuant to this section.
(c) Interrogatories propounded by the secretary of state and the answers to the interrogatories shall not be open to public inspection nor shall the secretary of state disclose any facts or information obtained from the answers except insofar as his official duty may require it to be made public or in the event the interrogatories or their answers are required for evidence if any criminal proceedings or in any other action by the state.
(d) Each officer and director of a corporation, domestic or foreign, who fails or refuses within the time prescribed by this chapter to answer truthfully and fully interrogatories propounded to him by the secretary of state in accordance with the provisions of this chapter, or who signs any articles, statement, report, application or other document filed with the secretary of state which is known to the officer or director to be false in any material respect, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.
Source. 1992, 255:1, eff. Jan. 1, 1993.