(1) (a) Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, the secretary of state may require any filing to be made by electronic means as determined by the secretary of state.
(b) In order to ensure the security of the secretary of state's online business filing system, the secretary shall implement, under such conditions as the secretary may determine, a password-protected system for and take appropriate actions to address fraudulent activities against altering data in any filings, updates, or other filing requirements under title 7, C.R.S., while still allowing for access to and retrieval of publicly available records, including a certificate of good standing, without a password.
Where a document is stored by the secretary of state or the department of state andavailable to the public by electronic means, the secretary of state, to the extent it is reasonable and feasible, may designate electronic access as the sole means of access to the document.
The secretary of state may use a phase-in period or any other method to mitigatehardship caused by mandatory electronic services that are required pursuant to subsections (1) and (2) of this section. The secretary of state may provide exceptions from such mandatory electronic services where hardship or other good cause is shown. If the secretary of state requires any filing to be made by electronic means or designates electronic access as the sole means of access to a document, the secretary of state shall assure that such filing may be made or such access attained by means that do not require use by the public of customized or specially designed electronic hardware or software.
As used in this section, unless the context otherwise requires:
"Document" means a document, record, or other information.
"Filing" means a document required or permitted by law to be filed with the department of state or the secretary of state or a document required or permitted by law to be delivered to the department or the secretary of state and filed by the department or the secretary of state.
Source: L. 2004: Entire section added, p. 1174, § 1, effective May 27. L. 2011: (1) amended, (HB 11-1095), ch. 220, p. 952, § 1, effective May 27.