CHAPTER 9.
STATE REVENUE - DOMESTIC CORPORATIONS.
AN ACT to Amend Chapter 6 of the Revised Code of the State of Delaware, relative to Annual Reports of Corporations to the Secretary of State.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the State of Delaware in Genera/ Assembly met:
Section 1. That Chapter 6 of the Revised Code of the State of Delaware be, and the same is hereby amended by the repeal of 103, Section 66 and the insertion in lieu thereof of the following section to be styled 103, Section 66.
103. Section 66. Annually on or before the first Tuesday in January, it shall be the duty of the President, Treasurer or other proper officer, or any two directors, of any corporation now existing or hereafter to be incorporated under the provisions of the laws of this State of the character specified in the preceding section, to make report to the Secretary of State, stating specifically, (with the degree of particularity required by Paragraph 2, Section 1919, being Section 5 of Chapter 65 of the Revised Code of the State of Delaware), the location of its principal office in this State, and the name of the agent upon whom service of process against said corporation may be served, the location or locations (town or towns, city or cities, street or streets and number, if number there be) of the place or places of business of said corporation without this State; the names and addresses of all the directors and officers of the company and when the terms of each expire; the amount of its authorized capital stock, if any, and the amount actually issued; the date appointed for the next annual meeting of the stockholders for the election of directors; as well also the following particulars, namely: Each telegraph, telephone, cable or express company, not owned by a railroad company and not otherwise taxed, shall state the gross amount of its receipts from business done in this State for the year preceding the making of such report; each gas company and electric light company shall state the amount of its receipts for light or power supplied within this State for the year preceding the making of such report, and the amount of dividends declared or paid during the same time; each company organized for the distribution of heat or power or organized for the purpose of producing or distributing steam, heat or power, shall state the amount of its receipts for the distribution of heat or power, or for the production or distribution of steam, heat or power within this State for the year preceding the making of such report, and the amount of dividends declared or paid during the same time; each parlor, palace or sleeping car company shall state the gross amount of its receipts for fare or tolls for transportation of passengers within this State during the same time; each oil or pipe line company engaged in the transportation of oil or crude petroleum shall state the gross amount of its receipts from the transportation of oil or petroleum through its pipes or in and by its tanks or cars in this State during the same time; each fire, marine, livestock, casualty or accident insurance company shall state the total amount of premiums received by it for insurance upon the lives of persons resident or property, located within this State during the same time; each life insurance company shall state the total amount of premiums received by it for insurance upon the lives of persons resident within this State, during the same time.
Every other corporation shall file with the Secretary of State on or before the first Tuesday in January in each year an annual report which shall state, (with the degree of particularity required by Paragraph 2, Section 1919, being Section 5 of Chapter 65 of the Revised Code of the State of Delaware), the location of its principal office in this State, and the name of the agent upon whom service of process against said company may be served; the location or locations (town or towns, city or cities, stating the streets and numbers, if numbers there be) of the place or places of business of said company without this State; the names and addresses of all the directors and officers of the company, and when the terms of each expire; the date appointed for the next annual meeting of stockholders for the election of directors; the amount of its authorized capital, the amount actually issued, the amount invested in real estate, the tax annually thereon, and the amount invested in manufacturing or mining in this State, or both; and, if exempt from taxation under the provisions of Sections 68, 72 and 83 of this Chapter, the specific facts entitling such corporation to exemption from taxation aforesaid, provided, that no part of this section shall apply to corporations which are by law under the supervision of the Insurance Commissioner; if such report is not so made and so filed the corporation shall forfeit to the State the sum of two hundred dollars, to be recovered with costs in an action of debt, to be prosecuted by the Attorney-General, who shall prosecute such actions whenever it shall appear that this section has been violated; and provided further, if such report shall not be so made and filed, all the directors of any such corporation, who shall willfully refuse to comply with the provisions thereof and who shall be in office during the default, shall at the time appointed for the next election, and for a period of one year thereafter, be thereby rendered ineligible for election or appointment to any office in the company as directors or otherwise; no director shall be thus disqualified for the failure to make and file such report, if he shall file with the Secretary of State before the time appointed for holding the next election of directors after such default a certificate stating that he has endeavored to have such report made and filed, but that the officers have neglected to make and file the same, and shall report the items required to be stated in such annual report so far as they are within his knowledge, or are obtainable from sources of such information open to him, verified by him to be true to the best of his knowledge, information and belief; the Secretary of State shall upon application, furnish blanks in proper form and shall safely keep in his office all such reports, which shall be open to the inspection of all persons at proper hours.
In case any such corporation shall fail to file such report within the time required by this section, and in case the agent in charge of the principal office of such company upon whom process against such company may be served shall die, or shall resign, or shall remove from the State, or such agent cannot with due diligence be found, it shall be lawful while such default continues, to serve process against such corporation upon the Secretary of State, and such service shall be as effectual to all intents and purposes as if made upon the president or head officers of such corporation, and within two days after such service upon the Secretary of State as aforesaid, it shall be the duty of the Secretary of State to notify such corporation thereof by letter directed to such corporation at its registered office, in which letter shall be enclosed a copy of the process or other paper served; and it shall be the duty of the plaintiff in any action in which said process shall be issued to pay to the Secretary of State, for the use of the State, the sum of three dollars, which said sum shall be taxed as a part of the costs in said suit if the plaintiff shall prevail therein; the Secretary of State shall keep a book to be called the "process book," in which shall be entered alphabetically, by the name of the plaintiff and defendant therein, the title of all causes in which processes have been served upon him, the test of the process so served, the return day thereof, and the day and hour when the service was made.
All companies incorporated under the General Corporation Law of this State, accepting the provisions of the Constitution of Delaware and coming under the supervision of said law, shall file an annual report with the Secretary of State as hereinbefore provided in this section, provided further, however, that in the discretion of the Secretary of State the filing fee may be remitted in the case of a charitable or beneficial organization, carried on without profit, or a corporation that is required to file a report with the Insurance Commissioner for which a fee is collected.
Approved March 8, A. D. 1915.