23-563

23-563. Registration requirements; confidentiality

A. Every professional employer organization that provides professional employer
services in this state shall register with the secretary of state. The secretary of
state shall maintain a list of all registrants under this section. The secretary of state
may prescribe forms necessary for the administration of this section.

B. Every professional employer organization that registers under this section shall
provide the secretary of state the following:

1. The name or names under which the professional employer organization conducts
business.

2. The address of the principal place of business of the professional employer
organization and the address of each office that the professional employer organization
maintains in this state.

3. The professional employer organization's taxpayer or employer identification
number.

4. A list by state of each name under which the professional employer organization
has operated in the preceding five years, including any alternative names, names of
predecessors and, if known, names of successor business entities.

5. A statement of ownership that includes the names and business experience of
every person who owns or controls twenty-five per cent or more of the equity interest of
the professional employer organization.

6. A statement of management that includes the names and business experience of any
person who serves as president or chief executive officer of the professional employer
organization or any other person who has the authority to act as a senior executive
officer of the professional employer organization. The statement under this paragraph
shall also include whether any person serving as management has been convicted in the
preceding ten years of a felony that has a reasonable relationship to the professional
employer organization industry, including crimes involving accounting or tax violations,
dishonesty, fraud, misrepresentation, embezzlement, theft, forgery or perjury.

7. A financial statement that sets forth the financial conditions of the
professional employer organization, that is prepared with generally accepted accounting
principles and that is compiled, reviewed or audited by an independent certified public
accountant. The financial statement shall be dated no earlier than one hundred eighty
days before the date on which the financial statement is filed with the secretary of
state. A professional employer organization may submit compiled, reviewed or audited
financial statements.

8. A statement by a certified professional accountant that the applicant is current
with obligations that relate to payroll, payroll-related taxes, workers' compensation
insurance premiums for covered employees and employee benefits for the previous four
calendar quarters.

9. A certification that is signed by the chief executive officer of the
professional employer organization and that states the submitted financial statement is a
true and accurate representation of the financial status of the professional employer
organization as of the date the financial statement was prepared.

C. Except for proper administrative purposes, all records, reports, financial
statements and other information that is obtained from a professional employer
organization under this article by the secretary of state are confidential and are not
subject to inspection pursuant to title 39, chapter 1, article 2.

D. If the statement provided under subsection B, paragraph 6 indicates that any
person serving as management of the professional employer organization has been convicted
of a felony, the secretary of state shall deny the application for registration.