§ 131E-19. Incorporation of a hospital authority.

§ 131E‑19. Incorporation of a hospital authority.

(a)        After the commissioners are appointed, they shall present tothe Secretary of State an application for incorporation as a hospitalauthority. The application shall be signed by each of the commissioners andshall set forth:

(1)        That the city council or the county board of commissionershas  found that it is in the interest of the public health and welfare tocreate a hospital authority;

(2)        That the mayor or the chairman of the county board ofcommissioners has appointed them as commissioners;

(3)        The name and official residence of each of thecommissioners;

(4)        A certified copy of the appointment evidencing thecommissioners' right to office, and the date and place of induction into andtaking of office;

(5)        That they desire the hospital authority to become a publicbody and a body corporate and politic under this Part;

(6)        The term of office of each of the commissioners;

(7)        The name which is proposed for the corporation; and

(8)        The location and principal office of the corporation.

Theapplication shall be subscribed and sworn to by each of the commissionersbefore an officer authorized by the laws of this State to take and certifyoaths. This officer shall certify upon the application that he or she personallyknows the commissioners and knows them to be the officers as asserted in theapplication, and that each subscribed to the application and took the oath inthe officer's presence.

(b)        The Secretary of State shall examine the application. If heor she finds that the name proposed for the corporation is not identical withthat of a person or of any other corporation in this State or so nearly similarso as to lead to confusion and uncertainty, the application shall be filed andrecorded in the appropriate book of record in the Secretary of State's office.The Secretary of State shall then make and issue to the commissioners acertificate of incorporation pursuant to this Part, under the Seal of theState, and shall record the certificate with the application.

(c)        A hospital authority's name or the location or principaloffice of the corporation may be changed by the adoption of a resolution by themajority of the authority's commissioners. A copy of the resolution, dulyverified by the chair and secretary of the commission before an officerauthorized by the laws of this State to take and certify oaths, shall bedelivered to the Secretary of State, along with a conformed copy. If theSecretary of State finds that the proposed name is not identical with that of aperson or any corporation of this State, or so nearly similar as to lead toconfusion and uncertainty, the resolution shall be filed and recorded in theappropriate book of record in the Secretary of State's office. A resolutionchanging the location or principal office of the hospital authority shall befiled and recorded in the appropriate book of record in the Secretary ofState's office. The Secretary of State shall then return to the authority theconformed copy, together with a certificate stating that the attached copy is atrue copy of the document in the Secretary of State's office, that shows thedate of filing.

(d)        In any legal proceeding, a copy of the certificate ofincorporation, certified by the Secretary of State, shall be admissible inevidence and shall be conclusive proof of its filing and contents and theincorporation of the hospital authority in accordance with this Part. (1943, c. 780, s. 4; 1966, c. 988, s. 1; 1971, c. 799;1983, c. 775, s. 1.)