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Call Now: 904-383-7448A certificate attached to a copy of a document or electronic transmission filed by the Secretary of State, bearing his or her signature, which may be in facsimile, and the printed or embossed seal of this state, or its electronic equivalent, is prima-facie evidence that the original document has been filed with the Secretary of State.
(Code 1981, §14-2-127, enacted by Ga. L. 1988, p. 1070, § 1; Ga. L. 1999, p. 405, § 2.)
Source: Model Act, § 1.27. This follows the pattern of the former law, § 14-2-6(a).
The Secretary of State may be requested to certify that a specific document has been filed with him upon payment of the fees specified in the fee schedule of the Secretary of State. Georgia departed from the Model Act language, which made the certificate conclusive evidence of filing, to provide that it is only prima facie evidence of filing, to allow for the possibility of fraud or collusion between an employee of the Secretary of State and the applicant. The limited effect of the certificate is consistent with the ministerial filing obligation imposed on the Secretary of State under the Model Act.
The Model Act was modified to provide that the Secretary of State's certificate will be evidence not that the original document "is on file," in the words of the Model Act, but "have been filed," since in some cases original documents will be destroyed and retained only in microform.
Cross-References Forms, see § 14-2-121. Secretary of state's filing duty, see § 14-2-125.
Cited in Due W. Assocs. v. Renfroe Mining & Grading Co., 194 Ga. App. 397, 391 S.E.2d 13 (1990).
No results found for Georgia Code 14-2-127.