PART V - A. FILING METHODS
§196. Filing methods
A.(1) The secretary of state may accept any filing required in Chapters 1 and 7 of
this Title by electronic, online, or facsimile transmission. All online filings authorized
pursuant to the provisions of this Section shall include an electronic signature.
(2) "Electronic signature" means an electronic sound, symbol, or process attached
to or logically associated with a record and executed or adopted by a person with the intent
to sign the record.
(3) "Online" means through the secretary of state's commercial online computer
system.
B. Printed documents transmitted through the process of an electronic method to the
secretary of state are deemed to be properly signed when the document received by a
facsimile machine or document image attachment in email by the commercial division, office
of the secretary of state, purports to be a copy of the original document and contains the
signatures required in this Section.
C.(1) The secretary of state is authorized to implement and establish procedures and
systems for secure online form filing for the filing of any instrument required to be filed with
the secretary of state pursuant to the provisions of Chapters 1 and 7 of this Title.
(2) Any provision that requires an instrument filed pursuant to the provisions of
Chapters 1 and 7 of this Title to be subscribed or acknowledged before a notary public may
be dispensed with if the instrument is filed and signed electronically as provided in
Paragraph (A)(2) of this Section by a person authorized to sign the instrument.
D. Notwithstanding the provisions of this Section, any filing authorized by Chapters
1 and 7 of this Title that the secretary of state has the capability to accept online shall be
filed only online.
E. Notwithstanding the provisions of this Section, any filing filed by an individual
from a parish with a population of one hundred thousand or less according to the latest
federal decennial census may be filed by facsimile transmission or mail.
Acts 2016, No. 554, §4, eff. Jan. 1, 2018.