Ginny’s Kids International, Inc. v. Office of Secretary of State
Colorado Court of Appeals
29 P.3d 333 (2000)
- Written by Abby Roughton, JD
Facts
Beginning in 1982, the Arvada, Colorado Kiwanis Club (the club) had a project called Ginny’s Kids, which held raffles to raise money to send children with life-threatening illnesses on dream vacations. In 1988, the club formed the Kiwanis Club of Arvada Foundation (the foundation) as a tax-exempt charitable organization. The foundation had the authority to raise and spend money in the name of Ginny’s Kids. In 1996, some foundation members wanted to begin using the Ginny’s Kids funds for other purposes. Opponents of that idea formed Ginny’s Kids International, Inc. (GKI) (plaintiff) as a separate charitable organization to continue the original dream-vacation purpose. The foundation transferred all of the Ginny’s Kids funds in its bank accounts to GKI and amended its bylaws to remove any reference to Ginny’s Kids. The foundation continued operating for other charitable purposes. In 1998, GKI applied to the Colorado Secretary of State (the secretary) (defendant) for a bingo-raffle license, but the secretary denied the application because GKI had not been in existence for five years, as required by a Colorado statute. An administrative-law judge upheld the secretary’s decision, and GKI appealed. On appeal, GKI argued that GKI should be considered the foundation’s successor because GKI had taken over the foundation’s role with respect to the mission of Ginny’s Kids. According to GKI, its alleged successor status meant that GKI could add its time in existence to the foundation’s time in existence to satisfy the statutory five-year requirement. GKI alternatively asserted that because it was essentially the same organization as the original Ginny’s Kids that began in 1982, its time prior to incorporation as GKI should be counted toward satisfying the five-year requirement.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Casebolt, J.)
Dissent (Taubman, J.)
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