§ 53 — Alternative service of notice of claim upon the secretary of state

§ 53. Alternative service of notice of claim upon the secretary of\nstate. 1. In lieu of serving a notice of claim upon a public corporation\nas provided for in section fifty-e of this article, a notice of claim\nsetting forth the same information as required by such section may be\nserved upon the secretary of state in the same manner as if served with\nthe public corporation. All the requirements relating to the form,\ncontent, time limitations, exceptions, extensions and any other\nprocedural requirements imposed in such section with respect to a notice\nof claim served upon a public corporation shall correspondingly apply to\na notice of claim served upon the secretary of state as permitted by\nthis section. For purposes of this article, the secretary of state shall\nbe deemed to be the agent for all public corporations upon whom a notice\nof claim may be served prior to commencement of any action or proceeding\nsubject to the requirements of this article.\n 2. All public corporations entitled to have served upon them a notice\nof claim as a condition precedent to commencement of an action or\nproceeding shall, no later than thirty days after the date upon which\nthis section shall take effect, file a certificate with the secretary of\nstate designating the secretary as the agent for service of a notice of\nclaim and shall in such statement provide the secretary with the name,\npost office address and electronic mail address, if available, of an\nofficer, person, or designee, nominee or other agent-in-fact for the\ntransmittal of notices of claim served upon the secretary as the public\ncorporation's agent. Any designated post office address or electronic\nmail address to which the secretary of state shall transmit a copy of\nthe notice of claim served upon him or her as agent shall continue to be\nthe address to which such notices shall be transmitted until the public\ncorporation sends a notice to the secretary informing him or her of a\nnew post office address or electronic mail address to which such notices\nshall be transmitted. The initial filing with the secretary of state\nshall also contain the applicable time limit for filing a notice of\nclaim upon that public corporation, or if later changed by statute, a\nnew filing shall be made detailing the new time limit. Any public\ncorporation that does not have a current and timely statutory\ndesignation filed with the secretary of state shall not be entitled to\nthe portion of the fee to which it would otherwise be entitled pursuant\nto subdivision four of this section. Failure of the public corporation\nto so file with the secretary of state will not invalidate any service\nof a notice of claim upon the public corporation which has been received\nby the secretary of state.\n 3. The secretary of state is hereby empowered to accept properly\ntransmitted notices of claims on behalf of a public corporation, with\nthe same effect as if served directly upon a public corporation. The\nsecretary of state shall accept such service upon the following terms\nand conditions:\n (a) the secretary of state shall set and notify the public, on his or\nher website, of times, places and manner of service upon him or her of\nnotices of claims necessary to comply with the provisions of this\nsection;\n (b) upon receipt of a notice of claim, the secretary of state shall\nissue a receipt or other document acknowledging his or her receipt of\nsuch notice, and such receipt shall contain the date and time of receipt\nof the notice, an identifying number or name particular to the notice\nreceived, and the logo or seal of the department of state embossed upon\nit. Such receipt shall be prima facie evidence of service upon the\nsecretary of state for all purposes;\n (c) nothing in this section shall be deemed to alter, waive or\notherwise abrogate any defense available to a public corporation as to\nthe nature, sufficiency, or appropriateness of the notice of claim\nitself, or to any challenges to the timeliness of the service of a\nnotice of claim. Timely service upon the secretary of state shall be\ndeemed timely service upon the public corporation for purposes of\ninstituting an action or proceeding or other requirement imposed by law.\n 4. The secretary of state may impose a fee upon any person who serves\na notice of claim with the department. Such fee shall not exceed two\nhundred fifty dollars for each such notice filed. One-half of the fee\nimposed shall be retained by the secretary of state as payment for its\nservices provided in accordance with this section. The remaining\none-half of such fee shall be forwarded to the public corporation named\nin the notice of claim provided, however, if more than one such public\ncorporation is named, each named public corporation shall be entitled to\nan equal percentage of the one-half amount.\n 5. The secretary of state shall within sixty days after the effective\ndate of this section post on the departmental website a list of any\npublic corporation, including any public authority, public benefit\ncorporation or any other entity entitled to receive a notice of claim as\na condition precedent to commencement of an action or proceeding, and\nthat has filed, pursuant to this section, a certificate with the\nsecretary of state designating the secretary as the agent for service of\na notice of claim. The list should identify the entity, the post office\naddress and electronic mail address, if available, of the public\ncorporation to which the notice of claim shall be forwarded by the\nsecretary of state, and any statutory provisions uniquely pertaining to\nsuch public corporation and the commencement of an action or proceeding\nagainst it.\n 6. The secretary of state is authorized to promulgate any rules or\nregulations necessary to implement the provisions of this section.\n