---
title: O.C.G.A. § 14-3-126. Appeal from Secretary of State’s refusal to file document.
collection: code
id: 14-3-126
cite_as: O.C.G.A. § 14-3-126 (2025)
canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/14-3-126
md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/14-3-126.md
text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/14-3-126/text
source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/api/document/docs/default-source/joint-features-document-library/t14-(v12)-pdf.pdf?sfvrsn=82868bd8_0#page=45
date: 2025
status: active
corpus_version: 2025-supplement-89aa39ab3c68
license: CC0-1.0
publisher: Georgia Commons, an independent project of Georgia Civic Data. Not the State of Georgia. Not legal advice.
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index: https://georgiacommons.org/code/index.md
version: the only printed version
in_force: true
current_through: Including Acts of the 2025 Regular Session of the General Assembly
heading_path: CORPORATIONS, PARTNERSHIPS, AND ASSOCIATIONS / NONPROFIT CORPORATIONS / GENERAL PROVISIONS / DOCUMENTS
extraction_warnings:
  - dehyphenation_unverified:resubmit-ting
---

# O.C.G.A. § 14-3-126. Appeal from Secretary of State’s refusal to file document.

(a) If the Secretary of State refuses to file a document delivered to the Secretary of State’s office for filing, the document may be resubmitted within 30 days accompanied by an opinion in a record from an attorney admitted to practice in this state stating why the document conforms to law and the authorities upon which the opinion is based. The Secretary of State may rely with respect to any disputed point of law upon the opinion in determining whether the document conforms to law.

(b) If the Secretary of State refuses to file a document delivered to the Secretary of State’s office for filing, as an alternative to resubmitting the document under subsection (a) of this Code section or following a refusal by the Secretary of State to file the document after it is resubmitted under subsection (a) of this Code section, the domestic corporation or foreign corporation may appeal the refusal to the superior court. Such appeal must be filed with the superior court within 30 days after the return of the document by the Secretary of State. The appeal is commenced by petitioning the court to compel filing of the document and by attaching to the petition the document and the Secretary of State’s explanation of his or her refusal to file.

(c) The matter shall promptly be tried de novo by the court without a jury. The court may summarily order the Secretary of State to file the document or take other action the court considers appropriate.

(d) The court’s final decision may be appealed as in other civil proceedings.

## History

Code 1981, § 14-3-126, enacted by Ga. L. 1991, p. 465, § 1; Ga. L. 2004, p. 508, § 68; Ga. L. 2023, p. 419, § 1-1/SB 148, effective July 1, 2023.

## Amendments

The 2023 amendment, effective July 1, 2023, added subsection (a); redesignated former subsections (a) through (c) as present subsections (b) through (d), respectively; and rewrote the first sentence of present subsection (b), which formerly read: “If the Secretary of State refuses to file a document delivered to his or her office for filing, the domestic or foreign corporation may appeal the refusal within 30 days after the return of the document to the superior court.”