§ 14 — Judicial investigation of amount of property of religious corporations

§ 14. Judicial investigation of amount of property of religious\ncorporations. The supreme court at a special term, held in the judicial\ndistrict in which the principal place of worship or of holding corporate\nmeetings of a religious corporation is situated, may require such\ncorporation to make and file an inventory of its property, verified by\nits trustees or a majority of them, on the written application of the\nattorney-general, stating that, from his knowledge, or on information\nand belief, the value of the property held by such corporation exceeds\nthe amount authorized by law. On presentation of such application, the\ncourt shall order that a notice of at least eight days, together with a\ncopy of the application, be served upon the trustees of the corporation,\nrequiring them to show cause at a time and place therein specified why\nthey should not make and file such inventory and account. If, on the\nhearing of such application, no good cause is shown to the contrary, the\ncourt may make an order requiring such inventory or account to be filed,\nand may also proceed to take and state the amount of property held by\nthe corporation, and may appoint a referee for that purpose; and when\nsuch account is taken and stated, after hearing all the parties\nappearing on the application, the court may enter an order determining\nthe amount of property so held by the corporation and its annual income,\nfrom which order an appeal may be taken by any party aggrieved as from a\njudgment of the supreme court in an action tried therein before a court\nwithout a jury. No corporation shall be required to make and file more\nthan one inventory and account in any one year, or to make a second\naccount and inventory while proceedings are pending for the statement of\nan account under this section.\n