1. An interest holder of a cooperative is entitled to inspect and copy, during regular business hours at the cooperative’s principal office, any of the records of the cooperative described in section 501.701, subsection 5, if the interest holder gives the cooperative written notice of the interest holder’s demand at least five business days before the date on which the interest holder wishes to inspect and copy.

Terms Used In Iowa Code 501.702

  • Articles: means the cooperative's articles of association. See Iowa Code 501.101
  • Board: means the cooperative's board of directors. See Iowa Code 501.101
  • Cooperative: means a cooperative association organized under this chapter or converted to this chapter pursuant to section 501. See Iowa Code 501.101
  • following: when used by way of reference to a chapter or other part of a statute mean the next preceding or next following chapter or other part. See Iowa Code 4.1
  • Interest: means a voting interest or other interest in a cooperative as described in the cooperative's articles of association. See Iowa Code 501.101
  • Interest holder: means a person who owns an interest in a cooperative, whether or not that interest has voting rights. See Iowa Code 501.101
  • Litigation: A case, controversy, or lawsuit. Participants (plaintiffs and defendants) in lawsuits are called litigants.
  • Member: means a person who owns a voting interest in a cooperative. See Iowa Code 501.101
 2. An interest holder of a cooperative is entitled to inspect and copy, during regular business hours at a reasonable location specified by the cooperative, any of the following records of the cooperative if the interest holder meets the requirements of subsection 3 and gives the cooperative written notice of the interest holder’s demand at least five business days before the date on which the interest holder wishes to inspect and copy any of the following:

 a. Excerpts from minutes of any meeting of the board of directors, records of any action of a committee of the board of directors while acting in place of the board of directors on behalf of the cooperative, minutes of any meeting of the members, and records of action taken by the members or board of directors without a meeting, to the extent not subject to inspection under subsection 1 of this section.
 b. Accounting records of the cooperative.
 c. The record of interest holders.
 3. An interest holder may inspect and copy the records described in subsection 2 only if:

 a. The interest holder’s demand is made in good faith and for a proper purpose.
 b. The interest holder describes with reasonable particularity the interest holder’s purpose and the records the interest holder desires to inspect.
 c. The records are directly connected with the interest holder’s purpose.
 4. The right of inspection granted by this section shall not be abolished or limited by a cooperative’s articles of association or bylaws.
 5. This section does not affect either of the following:

 a. The right of a member to obtain information under section 501.304 or the right of an interest holder to obtain information, if the interest holder is in litigation with the cooperative, to the same extent as any other litigant.
 b. The power of a court, independently of this chapter, to compel the production of cooperative records for examination.
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