Articles of incorporation; fees.

Each association organized under this chapter shall prepare and file articles of incorporation setting forth:

(1) The name of the association, which may or may not include the word “cooperative” or any abbreviation thereof;

(2) The purpose for which it is formed;

(3) The place where its principal office within the state will be located;

(4) Whether the association is to have perpetual existence and, if not, the term of its existence;

(5) The names and addresses (not less than three), of those who are to serve as directors for the first term or until the election of their successors;

(6) If organized without capital stock, whether the property rights and interest of each member shall be equal or unequal; if unequal, the general rules applicable to all members by which the property rights and interest, respectively, of each member may and shall be determined and fixed; and provision for the admission of new members, who shall be entitled to share in the property of the association with the old members, in accordance with such general rules. This provision or paragraph of the articles of incorporation shall not be altered, amended or repealed, except by the written consent or vote of three-fourths of the members;

(7) If organized with capital stock, the amount of such stock and the number of shares into which the capital stock is to be divided, whether all or part of the same shall have a par value, and if so, the par value thereof, whether all or part of the same shall have no par value, and if there is to be more than one class of stock created, a description of the different classes, the number of shares in each class, and the relative rights, interests, and preferences each class shall represent;

(8)(a) In addition to the foregoing, the articles of incorporation of any association incorporated hereunder may contain any provision consistent with law with respect to management, regulation, government, financing, indebtedness, membership, the establishment of voting districts, and the election of delegates for representative purposes, the issuance, retirement and transfer of its stock, if formed with capital stock or any provisions relative to the way or manner in which it shall operate or with respect to its members, officers, or directors, and any other provisions relating to its affairs.

(b) The articles shall be subscribed by the incorporators and acknowledged by one of them, if individuals, or by the president or any vice president of one of them, if corporations, before an officer authorized by law to take and certify acknowledgments of deeds and conveyances, and shall be filed with the Department of State accompanied by a fee of $52.50 which shall be the only fee required therefor; and thereupon the association shall be and constitute a body corporate under the provisions of this chapter, and a copy of said articles of incorporation certified by the Department of State shall be received in all the courts of this state and other places, as prima facie evidence of the facts contained therein and of the due incorporation of such association.