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Statutes » New York » RCO Law » Article 23

N.Y. RCO Law § 475

This is the official text of N.Y. RCO Law § 475, part of New York’s RCO Law — part of the compiled statutory law of New York, published by the state as "RCO Law." Browse the sections below, each linked to its official government source.

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Church governance

Official statutory text

§ 475. Church governance. 1. A church incorporated under this section\nshall provide in its certificate of incorporation or by-laws for\ntrustees to be elected or appointed at large, or by virtue of their\noffice. There shall be a minimum of three trustees. To the extent\npracticable, terms of office shall be for three years and staggered.\nTerms may be consecutive.\n 2. Provision shall also be made in its certificate of incorporation or\nby-laws for officers of the corporation to be elected or appointed at\nlarge or by virtue of their office. The president and secretary shall\nnot be the same person. To the extent practicable, terms of office shall\nbe for three years and staggered. Terms may be consecutive.\n 3. Provision shall also be made in its certificate of incorporation or\nby-laws for spiritual oversight of the church by an eldership board or a\nsenior granthi or guru or some combination of the above. Terms of office\nmay be definite or indefinite as the by-laws may specify.\n 4. Provision shall also be made in its certificate of incorporation or\nby-laws for periodic affirmation of appointive positions by a designated\nbody or board.\n

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About this page: Statute text is reproduced from official government publishers via the Open US Law dataset (Vaquill AI, snapshot v2026.08, CC BY 4.0). Primary legislative text like this is public domain under the government-edicts doctrine (Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org, 2020). We link every section back to its official source so you can verify it independently.