O.C.G.A.

O.C.G.A. § 14-3-101 (2019)

Short title

✓ O.C.G.A. — 2019 edition (Public.Resource.Org Release 73)
Code text and O.C.G.A. statutory annotations on this page reflect the 2019 Official Code of Georgia Annotated (Public.Resource.Org Release 73, 2019-08-21; public domain per Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org, 2020). The Syfert case-law annotations in Notes of Decisions, below, are current.
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This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the ‘‘Georgia Nonprofit Corporation Code.’’

History

(Code 1981, § 14-3-101, enacted by Ga. L. 1991, p. 465, § 1.)

Annotations

Law reviews. - For annual survey of law of business associations, see 43 Mercer L. Rev. 85 (1991). For symposium article, ‘‘Incorporation Choice, Uniformity, and the Reform of Nonprofit State Law,’’ see 41 Ga. L. Rev. 1113 (2007). For symposium article, ‘‘Revising the Model Nonprofit Corporation Act: Plus Ca Change, Plus C’est La Meme Chose,’’ see 41 Ga. L.

Rev. 1335 (2007). For article, ‘‘Georgia Condominium Law: Beyond the Condominium Act,’’ see 13 Ga. St. B. J. 24 (2007). For comment, ‘‘Must God Regulate Religious Corporations? A Proposal for Reform of the Religious Corporation Provisions of the Revised Model Nonprofit Corporation Act,’’ see 42 Emory L.J. 721 (1993).

COMMENT Source: Model Act § 18. This Code was drawn principally from the Georgia Business Corporation Code (referred to throughout the comments hereto as the ‘‘Business Code’’), enacted by Ga. L. 1988, p. 1070, § 1, and adheres to its nomenclature and its structure when appropriate. The former Georgia Nonprofit Corporation Code was adopted in 1968 and was patterned on the Model Nonprofit Corporation Act. The former Code was amended periodically to reflect changes made to the Georgia Business Corporation Code. Although a Revised Model Nonprofit Corporation Act (the ‘‘Model Act’’) was approved in 1987 and published in 1988, its general approach of categorizing nonprofit corporations into three groups was not followed. Because of the desire to conform this Code to the Business Code whenever possible and appropriate, separate comments on similar or identical provisions were deemed unnecessary. Accordingly, the comments to this Code seek to illuminate only those provisions that differ from their Business Code counterparts. Comments to some provisions based on the Model Act are based on comments to the Model Act, with permission of the American Bar Association and the publisher, Prentice Hall Law and Business.

CORPORATIONS & PARTNERSHIPS

JUDICIAL DECISIONS Removal of board of directors of church was secular issue. - Trial court erred in granting summary judgment for a former board of directors of a church for want of jurisdiction as the issues of removal of the former board of directors under the Georgia Nonprofit Corporation Code, O.C.G.A. § 14-3-101 et seq., and disposition of church property were secular in nature and capable of judicial review without considering ecclesiastical matters. Members of Calvary Missionary Baptist Church v. Jackson, 259 Ga. App. 647, 578 S.E.2d 275 (2003). Construction with O.C.G.A. §§ 14-3-180 and 14-5-40. - Georgia Nonprofit Corporate Code, O.C.G.A. § 14-3-101 et seq., can be used to resolve

certain controversies involving religious institutions, under O.C.G.A. §§ 14-3-180 and 14-5-40 et seq. Waverly Hall Baptist Church, Inc. v. Branham, 276 Ga. App. 818, 625 S.E.2d 23 (2005). Requiring meeting was not impermissible intrusion. - Merely requiring a congregational church to hold a meeting pursuant to the Georgia Nonprofit Corporation Code, O.C.G.A. § 14-3-101 et seq., did not constitute an impermissible intrusion or excessive entanglement into ecclesiastical matters. Waverly Hall Baptist Church, Inc. v. Branham, 276 Ga. App. 818, 625 S.E.2d 23 (2005). Cited in Nguyen v. Tran, 287 Ga. App. 888, 652 S.E.2d 881 (2007).

RESEARCH REFERENCES Am. Jur. 2d. - 18 Am Jur 2d Corporations § 27 et seq., § 33 et seq. 18B Am. Jur. 2d, Corporations, §§ 1325 et seq., 1337, 1406 et seq. 66 Am. Jur. 2d, Religious Societies, § 7. C.J.S. - 19 C.J.S., Corporations, § 518 et seq. ALR. - Removal by court of director or officer of private corporation, 124 ALR 364. Nonprofit purposes and character which warrant creation of nonprofit corporation, 16 ALR2d 1345.

Construction and effect of corporate bylaws or articles relating to change in number of directors, 3 ALR3d 623. Validity of agreement in conjunction with sale of corporate shares that majority of directors will be replaced by purchaser’s designees, 13 ALR3d 361. Distribution of funds by nonprofit corporation absent dissolution, 51 ALR3d 1318.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 19 cases (3 in the last 5 years), 1995–2022 · leading case: Shorter Coll. v. Baptist Convention of Georgia, 614 S.E.2d 37 (Ga. 2005).
Shorter Coll. v. Baptist Convention of Georgia, 614 S.E.2d 37 (Ga. 2005). · cites it 8× “The current Georgia Nonprofit Corporation Code "was drawn principally from the Georgia Business Corporation Code" and reflects "the desire to conform [it] to the Business Code whenever possible and appropriate.”
Rector of Christ Church v. Bishop of Episcopal Diocese of Georgia, Inc., 718 S.E.2d 237 (Ga. 2011). · cites it 4× “As a result, the Bishop's conduct may be entirely ultra vires, and therefore, unlawful under the Georgia Nonprofit Corporation Code, OCGA § 14-3-101 et seq. It appears from the record that the Bishop performed these acts without any legal authority to do so after CCS terminated…”
Turpen v. Rabun Cnty. Bd. of Commissioners, 537 S.E.2d 435 (Ga. Ct. App. 2000). · cites it 4× “See OCGA § 14-3-101 et seq. It specifically includes those entities yet also includes all other nonprofit entities.”
Paradise Lost, LLC v. Oglethorpe Power Corp., 774 S.E.2d 755 (Ga. Ct. App. 2015). · cites it 2× “7 In Georgia today, such a religious corporation would be considered a nonprofit corporation under OCGA § 14-3-101. See OCGA § 14-5-40. 8 Oglethorpe and Smarr point to the statement in Northern Pac.”
Infinite Energy, Inc. v. Marietta Nat. Gas, LLC, 826 S.E.2d 189 (Ga. Ct. App. 2019). · cites it 4× “17 OCGA § 14-3-101 et seq. 18 A for-profit corporation is defined in this title as a "business corporation.”
McGee v. Patterson, 746 S.E.2d 719 (Ga. Ct. App. 2013). · cites it 2× “(a) The trial court relied on the purported bylaws to find as a matter of fact that the MEHOA was organized as a nonprofit corporation under the Georgia Nonprofit Corporation Code, OCGA § 14-3-101 et seq. The court concluded that the failure of the board to hold the required…”
Members of Calvary Missionary Baptist Church v. Jackson, 578 S.E.2d 275 (Ga. Ct. App. 2003). · cites it 2× “The pastor refused to vacate his position, and the members of the church voted to remove appellees from the Board of Directors and then from the church, allegedly pursuant to the Georgia Nonprofit Corporation Code, OCGA § 14-3-101 et seq. Appellants then filed a lawsuit against…”
Kidist Mariam Ethiopian Orthodox Tawahedo Church, Inc. v. Kidist Mariam Ethiopian Orthodox Tawahedo Church, Inc., 465 S.E.2d 491 (Ga. Ct. App. 1995). · cites it 2× “The Kidist Mariam Church was established under Georgia’s Nonprofit Corporation Code, OCGA § 14-3-101 et seq. and is dedicated to the religious, spiritual and liturgical precepts of a religious body known as the Ethiopian Orthodox Tawahedo Church (“EOTC”).”
Baptist Convention v. Shorter Coll., 596 S.E.2d 761 (Ga. Ct. App. 2004). · cites it 2× “11 OCGA § 14-3-101 et seq. 12 OCGA § 14-3-140 (20).”
Westbury Square Townhouses Ass'n v. Bryan, 479 S.E.2d 190 (Ga. Ct. App. 1996). · cites it 2× “See Code Revision Committee comments to OCGA §§ 14-3-101 and 14-2-1604. OCGA § 14-3-1604 (a) provides that a superior court may “summarily” issue *887 an order for access to records covered by OCGA § 14-3-1602 (a).”
Ga. Appreciation Prop., Inc. v. Enclave at Riverwalk Townhome Ass'n, Inc., 812 S.E.2d 157 (5th Cir. 2018). “See OCGA § 14-3-101 et seq. ; see also OCGA § 44-3-227 (a).”
Jackson v. Members of Calvary Missionary Baptist Church, 603 S.E.2d 711 (Ga. Ct. App. 2004). · cites it 4× “The underlying lawsuit involved issues regarding (i) the disposition of church property and (ii) church members’ compliance with the provisions of the Georgia Nonprofit Corporation Code (OCGA § 14-3-101 etseq.) in dismissing Jackson and the other former church members from the…”
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