Sec. 13. A cooperative corporation may do any and all acts or things necessary or convenient for carrying out the purpose for which it was formed, including the following:

(1) To sue and be sued.

(2) To have a seal and alter the same at pleasure.

(3) To acquire, hold, and dispose of property, real and personal, tangible and intangible, or any interest in the property and to pay in cash or credit, and to secure and procure payment of all or any part of the purchase price on the terms and conditions as the board shall determine.

(4) If it is a local cooperative corporation, to furnish, improve, and expand telephone service to its members, to governmental agencies and political subdivisions, and to other persons.

(5) If it is a local cooperative corporation, to construct, purchase, lease as lessee, or otherwise acquire, and to improve, expand, install, equip, maintain, and operate, and to sell, assign, convey, lease as lessor, mortgage, pledge, or otherwise dispose of or encumber telephone facilities or systems, lands, buildings, structures, plants and equipment, exchanges, and any other real or personal property, tangible or intangible which is necessary or appropriate to accomplish the purpose for which the local cooperative corporation is organized.

(6) To cease doing business and to dissolve and surrender its corporate franchise.

(7) If it is a local cooperative corporation, to construct, operate, and maintain its telephone facilities across or along any street or public highway, or over lands that are the property of this state or a political subdivision of the state. Before telephone facilities are constructed across or along a highway in the state highway system, the local cooperative corporation shall first obtain the permit of the Indiana department of transportation to do so, and the location and setting of the telephone facilities shall be approved by and subject to the supervision of the Indiana department of transportation. Before telephone facilities are constructed on or across land belonging to the state, the local cooperative corporation shall first obtain the permit of the department of state having charge of the lands to do so, and the location and setting of the telephone facilities shall be approved by and subject to the supervision of the department. The telephone facilities shall be erected and maintained so as not to interfere with the use and maintenance of the streets, highways, and lands, and no pole or appliance shall be located so as to interfere with the ingress or egress from any premises on the street or highway. Nothing in this section contained shall deprive the body having charge of the street or highway of the right to require the relocation of any pole or appliance which may affect the proper use of the street or highway for public travel, for drainage, or for the repair, construction, or reconstruction of the street or highway. The local cooperative corporation shall restore the street, highway, or lands to their former condition or state as near as may be and shall not use the same in a manner to impair unnecessarily their usefulness or to injure the property of others.

(8) To accept gifts or grants of property, real or personal, from any person, municipality, or federal agency and to accept voluntary and uncompensated services.

(9) If it is a local cooperative corporation, to connect and interconnect its telephone facilities or systems with other telephone facilities or systems. A connection or interconnection shall be in a manner and according to specifications as will avoid interference with or hazards to existing telephone facilities or systems.

(10) To issue membership certificates.

(11) To borrow money and otherwise contract indebtedness, and to issue or guarantee notes, bonds, and other evidences of indebtedness and to secure the payment thereof by mortgage, pledge, or deed of trust of, or any other encumbrance upon, any or all of its then owned or after-acquired real or personal property, assets, franchises, or revenues.

(12) To make any and all contracts necessary or convenient for the full exercise of the powers in this chapter granted, including, without limiting the generality of the foregoing, contracts with any person, federal agency, municipality, or other corporation for the interconnection of telephone service; for the management and conduct of the business of the cooperative corporation; and for the fixing of the rates, fees, or charges for service rendered or to be rendered by the local cooperative corporation.

(13) To levy and collect reasonable fees, rents, tolls, and other charges for telephone service rendered.

(14) If it is a local cooperative corporation, to exercise the right of eminent domain in the manner provided by law for the exercise thereof by communications service providers (as defined in IC 8-1-2.6-13(b)).

(15) To adopt, amend, and repeal bylaws.

(16) If it is a local cooperative corporation, to become a member of a general cooperative corporation and if it is a general cooperative corporation, to have local cooperative corporations as its members.

(17) To recover, after a period of two (2) years, any unclaimed stocks, dividends, capital credits, patronage refunds, utility deposits, membership fees, account balances, or book equities for which the owner cannot be found and are the result of distributable savings of the corporation returned to the members on a pro rata basis pursuant to section 20 of this chapter.

Formerly: Acts 1951, c.193, s.13. As amended by Acts 1980, P.L.74, SEC.36; Acts 1981, P.L.106, SEC.2; P.L.18-1990, SEC.28; P.L.97-1993, SEC.7; P.L.27-2006, SEC.43.