§ 173 — Professional fund-raisers, commercial co-venturers and fund raising counsel

§ 173. Professional fund-raisers, commercial co-venturers and fund\nraising counsel. 1. Registration and bond required. No person shall act\nas a professional fund raiser or fund raising counsel on behalf of a\ncharitable organization required to be registered pursuant to this\narticle before registering with the attorney general or after the\nexpiration or cancellation of such registration or any renewal thereof.\nApplications for registration and re-registration shall be in writing,\nunder oath, in the form prescribed by the attorney general and shall be\naccompanied by an annual fee in the sum of eight hundred dollars. A\nprofessional fund raiser shall at the time of filing each application\nfor registration or re-registration, file with, and have approved by,\nthe attorney general a bond. In said bond, the filer shall be the\nprincipal obligor, in the sum of ten thousand dollars, with one or more\nsureties whose liability in the aggregate as such sureties will at least\nequal the said sum. The bond which may be in the form of a rider to a\nlarger blanket liability bond shall run to the attorney general for the\nuse of the state and to any person who may have a cause of action\nagainst the obligor of said bond for any malfeasance or misfeasance in\nthe conduct of such solicitation. Registration or re-registration when\neffected shall be for a period of one year, expiring one year from the\ndate of registration or re-registration and may be renewed upon written\napplication, under penalties for perjury, in the form prescribed by the\nattorney general and the filing of the bond and the fee prescribed\nherein for each additional one year period. Applications for\nregistration and re-registration and bonds, when filed with the attorney\ngeneral, shall become public records of the attorney general. If there\nis any material change in the information provided in any such\napplication for registration or re-registration, the applicant or\nregistrant shall notify the attorney general, under penalties for\nperjury, in writing within twenty days of such change.\n 2. Books and records. A professional fund raiser, commercial\nco-venturer and fund raising counsel shall maintain accurate and current\nbooks and records of all activities conducted pursuant to contracts\nrequired under section one hundred seventy-three-a of this article;\nwhich, until at least three years shall have elapsed after the end of\nthe effective period of the contract to which they relate, shall be kept\nin such person's office available for inspection and examination and/or\naudit by the charitable organization and/or attorney general or any duly\nauthorized representative. Provided, however, that any such books and\nrecords obtained by the attorney general shall not be available to the\npublic for inspection. A professional fund raiser, commercial\nco-venturer and fund raising counsel shall, within seven days of a\nrequest of any charitable organization with which it has contracted,\nprovide copies of such records to the charitable organization.\n 3. Violations. Any person who wilfully violates the provisions of this\nsection is guilty of a misdemeanor.\n