Okla. Stat. tit. 18 § 1014

Current through Laws 2024, c. 453.

Section 1014 - Emergency bylaws and other powers in emergency

A. The board of directors of any corporation may adopt emergency bylaws, subject to repeal or amendment by action of the shareholders, which, notwithstanding any different provision in the Oklahoma General Corporation Act, in the certificate of incorporation, or bylaws, shall be operative during any emergency resulting from an attack on the United States or on a locality in which the corporation conducts its business or customarily holds meetings of its board of directors or its shareholders, or during any nuclear or atomic disaster, or during the existence of any catastrophe, including but not limited to an epidemic or pandemic and a declaration of a national emergency by the United States government, or other similar emergency condition, irrespective of whether a quorum of the board of directors or a standing committee thereof can readily be convened for action. The emergency bylaws contemplated by this section may be adopted by the board of directors or, if a quorum cannot be readily convened for a meeting, by a majority of the directors present. The emergency bylaws may make any provision that may be practical and necessary for the circumstances of the emergency including provisions that:

1. A meeting of the board of directors or a committee thereof may be called by an officer or director in such manner and under such conditions as shall be prescribed in the emergency bylaws;

2. The director or directors in attendance at the meeting, or any greater number fixed by the emergency bylaws, shall constitute a quorum; and

3. The officers or other persons designated on a list approved by the board of directors before the emergency, all in such order of priority and subject to such conditions and for such period of time, not longer than reasonably necessary after the termination of the emergency, as may be provided in the emergency bylaws or in the resolution approving the list, shall, to the extent required to provide a quorum at any meeting of the board of directors, be deemed directors for such meeting.

B. The board of directors, either before or during any such emergency, may provide, and from time to time modify, lines of succession in the event that during such emergency any or all officers or agents of the corporation shall for any reason be rendered incapable of discharging their duties.

C. The board of directors, either before or during any such emergency, may, effective in the emergency, change the head office or designate several alternative head offices or regional offices, or authorize the officers to do so.

D. No officer, director or employee acting in accordance with any emergency bylaws shall be liable except for willful misconduct.

E. To the extent not inconsistent with any emergency bylaws so adopted, the bylaws of the corporation shall remain in effect during any emergency and upon its termination the emergency bylaws shall cease to be operative.

F. Unless otherwise provided in emergency bylaws, notice of any meeting of the board of directors during such an emergency may be given only to such of the directors as it may be feasible to reach at the time and by such means as may be feasible at the time including publication or radio.

G. To the extent required to constitute a quorum at any meeting of the board of directors during such an emergency, the officers of the corporation who are present shall, unless otherwise provided in emergency bylaws, be deemed, in order of rank and within the same rank in order of seniority, directors for such meeting.

H. Nothing contained in this section shall be deemed exclusive of any other provisions for emergency powers consistent with other sections of Section 1001 et seq. of this title which have been or may be adopted by corporations created pursuant to the provisions of Section 1001 et seq. of this title.

I. During any emergency condition of a type described in subsection A of this section, the board of directors or, if a quorum cannot be readily convened for a meeting, a majority of the directors present, may:

1. Take any action that it determines to be practical and necessary to address the circumstances of the emergency condition with respect to a meeting of shareholders of the corporation, notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this title or in the certificate of incorporation or bylaws including, but not limited to:

a. to postpone any such meeting to a later time or date with the record date for determining the shareholders entitled to notice of, and to vote at, such meeting applying to the postponed meeting irrespective of the requirements of Section 1058 of this title, and

b. with respect to a corporation subject to the reporting requirements of Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder, to notify shareholders of any postponement or a change of the place of the meeting or a change to hold the meeting solely by means of remote communication solely by a document publicly filed by the corporation with the Securities and Exchange Commission under Sections 13, 14, or 15(d) of such act and such rules and regulations; and

2. With respect to any dividend that has been declared as to which the record date has not occurred, change both the record date and payment date to a later date or dates if the changed payment date is not more than sixty (60) days after the changed record date; provided that, in either case, the corporation shall give notice of the change to shareholders as soon as practicable thereafter and in any event before the record date in effect. Such notice, in the case of a corporation subject to the reporting requirements of Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder, may be given solely by a document publicly filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission under Section 13, Section 14, or Section 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and the rules and regulations. No person shall be liable, and no meeting of shareholders shall be postponed or voided, for the failure to make a shareholders list available under Section 1064 of this title if it was not practicable to allow inspection during an emergency condition.

Okla. Stat. tit. 18, § 1014

Amended by Laws 2024 , c. 120, s. 12, eff. 11/1/2024.

Added by Laws 1986, c. 292, § 14, eff. 11/1/1986; Amended by Laws 2001 , SB 610, c. 405, § 5, eff. 11/1/2001.