§ 24D-1-20 — Franchise document clearinghouse

(a) All cable operators holding an existing franchise on the effective date of this article shall file a copy of the franchise and any federal communications commission rulings or other rulings affecting such franchises with the commission with the annual report filed in one thousand nine hundred ninety-nine as referenced in section twenty-four of this article.

(b) Within sixty days of the granting of an initial franchise, a renewal franchise or a transferred franchise, the franchisee shall file a copy of the franchise and any federal communications commission rulings or other rulings affecting such franchise with the commission and the franchising authority. The commission and franchising authority shall maintain a file of all franchise documents so recorded and make copies available upon request for the cost of reproduction and mailing, plus a reasonable administrative fee. The filing fee for initial, renewal or transfer franchise documents is $50 per franchise, renewal or transfer of such franchise. In years in which the filing of initial, renewal or transfer franchise documents is not required, the franchisee shall pay a fee of $25 for each franchise it holds.

(c) All such fees paid by any cable operator are franchise fees with the intent and meaning of 47 U.S.C. §542 as the same is in effect on the effective date of this chapter.

Legislative History

1999 Reg. Sess., HB2453