Whenever the property and franchises of any railroad company have been sold pursuant to a judgment or decree of a court of competent jurisdiction, in a suit for the enforcement of foreclosure of a mortgage on such railroad, the purchaser or purchasers at such sale, or his or their grantees and their associates and successors, if they desire to continue the operation of such railroad, shall, upon filing in the office of the Secretary of the State the certificate herein provided for, be a corporation by the name designated in such certificate, with power to hold, use, maintain and operate such railroad, with all the powers enjoyed by railroad companies under the laws of this state. Such certificate shall be signed, sealed and acknowledged by the persons who have acquired such property and franchises, or a majority of them, and shall set forth:

1. (1) The name of the corporation;
2. (2) the names of such persons, not less than twenty-five in number, as have associated themselves together for the organization of such corporation, and the names of the persons who compose the first board of directors;
3. (3) the amount of capital stock and the number of shares into which the same is divided;
4. (4) the owners of such shares at the date of filing such certificate. The amount of such capital stock shall not exceed the total value of the railroad together with its franchises, which value shall be determined by the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority. The first board of directors shall adopt bylaws relating to the management of the affairs of the corporation, which bylaws may be amended by the stockholders.

(1949 Rev., S. 5638; P.A. 75-486, S. 1, 69; P.A. 77-614, S. 162, 610; P.A. 80-482, S. 99, 348; P.A. 11-80, S. 1.)

History: P.A. 75-486 replaced public utilities commission with public utilities control authority; P.A. 77-614 replaced public utilities control authority with division of public utility control within the department of business regulation, effective January 1, 1979; P.A. 80-482 made division an independent department and deleted reference to abolished department of business regulation; pursuant to P.A. 11-80, “Department of Public Utility Control” was changed editorially by the Revisors to “Public Utilities Regulatory Authority”, effective July 1, 2011.