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Secretary of State raises concerns as committee reviews bill allowing county access to commercial registered-agent records
Summary
Senate File 59 would let county assessors and treasurers request otherwise-confidential registered-agent records from the Secretary of State for "official business;" Secretary Chuck Gray and office counsel warned the committee the change may be too broad and could undermine existing fraud-reporting collaboration.
The House Corporations Committee heard testimony on Senate File 59, a bill from the business-fraud interim working group that would broaden access to confidential records held by commercial registered agents.
Secretary of State Chuck Gray and policy counsel Joe Rubino explained current practice: commercial registered agents that represent 10 or more entities must maintain certain contact and service-of-process information, and the Secretary of State's office may audit and hold those records. Under current statute the office may release such confidential information only by court-ordered subpoena or to a bona fide law-enforcement agency for use in a criminal investigation.
Senate File 59 would add a pathway for county assessors or county treasurers to obtain those records from the Secretary of State by written application for "official business," with the records held confidential by the county and releasable only to a court-ordered subpoena or bona fide law-enforcement agency. Joe Rubino described the bill as a response to requests from county officers, and said the language in the version presented includes sideboards to keep the Secretary of State as the clearinghouse for records and to require confidentiality of records once released.
Secretary Gray told the committee he is concerned about the policy choice of placing county assessors and treasurers on the same footing as a bona fide law-enforcement agency for the limited exception currently in statute. "I just don't know if policy wise that's the right choice," Gray said, adding he feared the change could discourage existing collaboration that currently results in referrals to the Secretary of State for investigations and dissolutions when filings look fraudulent.
Committee members and the secretary discussed whether "official business" is defined narrowly enough and whether counties are the right party to receive the data. The secretary suggested the topic may require further work in the interim to refine scope and safeguards. The committee left the item open for future consideration and planned to hear assessors and treasurers at a subsequent meeting.
No committee vote was held on the bill during the hearing.
