CHARITABLE ORGANIZATIONS

Telephone: 974-3425

The Secretary of State regulates charitable orga-
nizations that are required to register and file fis-
cal reports annually. Professional solicitors and
fund-raising counsel and solicitors are also
required to register and file fiscal reports annually
(Code 1957, Art. 41, sees. 3-201 through 3-214).

Pursuant to Executive Orders of April 13, 1984,
and March 26, 1985, the Secretary of State ad-
ministers the United Charity Campaign of Mary-
land State employees and retirees. The regulation
of raffles of real property by charitable organiza-
tions is also a function of this office.

CERTIFICATIONS Telephone: 974-3425

The Secretary of State is authorized to issue cer-
tifications of incumbency, facsimile signature re-
gistrations, and official copies of documents that
are a matter of record in the Secretary's office
(Code State Government Article, sec. 1-106). The
Secretary is also authorized to issue the apostil
authenticating documents to be transmitted inter-
nationally.

DISCLOSURES Telephone: 974-3421

Persons doing at least $10,000 worth of business
with the State or its subdivisions in a calendar
year and who have made political contributions
are required to file a disclosure with this office
(Code 1957, Art. 33, sec. 30-2). Corporations
whose business with the State or local govern-
ments aggregate $100,000 in any one year are
required to disclose certain information to the
Secretary.

COOPERATIVES

A developer who is converting an apartment
house into a cooperative must file with the Secre-
tary of State a copy of the notice of conversion
and a list containing the name of each tenant to
whom notice was given. State law also provides
that the Office of the Secretary of State establish a
file of local legislation affecting cooperatives
(Code Corporations and Associations Article,
sees. 5-6B-05; 5-6B-09 through 5-6B-11).

TIME-SHARES

Since 1985, a developer of a time-share project
has been required to file with the Secretary of
State a public offering (disclosure) statement for
the proposed project. If the Secretary of State de-
termines that the public offering statement satis-
fies the requirements of the Maryland Real Estate

Time-Sharing Act, an order of approval is issued
(Code Real Property Article, sees. 11A-101
through 11A-129).

OTHER DUTIES

Other duties include the receipt of petitions to
bring Acts of the General Assembly to referen-
dum, and their publication together with Consti-
tutional Amendments to be voted upon in the
general elections (Code 1957, Art. 33, sec. 23-9);
the receipt and chapterization of bills adopted by
the General Assembly and approved by the Gov-
ernor (Code State Government Article, sec.
2-1511); and the advertising and recordation of
all Governor's pardons and commutations. The
Secretary is authorized to place upon the presi-
dential primary ballot the names of those candi-
dates determined to be generally advocated or rec-
ognized in the media (Code 1957, Art. 33, sec.
12-6). Through its Division of State Documents,
all regulations promulgated by State agencies are
published in the Maryland Register and the Code
of Maryland Regulations (COMAR) (Code State
Government Article, sees. 7-204 through 7-206).

Every two years the Secretary, with the State
Archives, participates in the distribution of the
Maryland Manual (Code State Government Arti-
cle, sec. 9-1027).

DIVISION OF STATE DOCUMENTS

Robert J. Colbom, Jr., Administrator
Dennis C. Schnepfe, Deputy Administrator

P.O. Box 802
11 Bladen Street (Old Armory Building)
Annapolis 21404 Telephone: 974-2486

The Division of State Documents was created
within the Office of the Secretary of State in 1974.
The Administrator is appointed by the Governor
and is responsible for the publication of the Mary-
land Register and the Code of Maryland Regula-
tions (COMAR). The Administrator also is re-
sponsible for the Maryland Information Retrieval
System (MIRS), a computerized information re-
trieval for various State documents (Code State
Government Article, sees. 7-201 through 7-222).

The primary duties of the Division are to print
and distribute two official State publications: (1)
the Code of Maryland Regulations (COMAR), the
permanent compilation of the Governor's execu-
tive orders, all State agency regulations, and all
opinions issued by the State Ethics Commission,