National State Attorneys General Program
Charities Regulation and Oversight Project
STATE REGULATION OF RELIGIOUS ORGANIZATIONS
WORKING GROUP
I. GENERAL BACKGROUND READING AND MATERIALS
Internal Revenue Serv., Tax Guide for Churches and Religious Organizations: Benefits and Responsibilities
Under the Federal Tax Law (2009), http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p1828.pdf
Diana Henriques & Andrew Lehran, New York Times Series: In God’s Name, N.Y. Times (2006),
http://www.nytimes.com/ref/business/churchstate.html
26 U.S.C. § 7611 (2006)
Treas. Reg. § 53.4958-8(b)
Bob Jones Univ. v. United States, 461 U.S. 574 (1983)
Religious Organizations in the United States: A Study of Identity, Liberty, and the Law (James A. Serritella et al.
eds., 2006)
Office of the Attorney General, Cal. Dep’t of Justice, Nonprofit Transactions Requiring Notice or Attorney
General Approval: A Guide for Public Benefit, Mutual Benefit and Religious Corporations,
http://ag.ca.gov/charities/publications/charities_nonprofit_transactions.pdf,
Office of the Attorney General, New York State Department of Law, A Guide to Sales and Other Dispostions of
Assets Pursuant to Not-for-Profit Corporation Law §§ 510-511 and Religious Corporations Law , § 12,
http://www.charitiesnys.com/pdfs/sales.pdf
Colo. Rev. Stat. § 24-31-101(5) (2011), http://www.michie.com/colorado
II. FIRST AMENDMENT ISSUES
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U.S. Const. Amend. I
Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA), 42 U.S.C. § 2000bb(a) (2006)
City of Boerne v. Flores, 521 U.S. 507 (1997)
Surinach v. Pesquera de Busquets, 604 F.2d 73 (1st Cir. 1979)
Ohio Civil Rights Comm’n v. Dayton Christian Sch., Inc., 477 U.S. 619 (1986)
Employment Div. v. Smith, 494 U.S. 872 (1990)
Mark E. Chopko & Michael F. Moses, Freedom to Be a Church: Confronting Challenges to the Right of Church
Autonomy, 3 Geo. J.L. & Pub. Pol’y 387 (2005)
Cantwell v. Connecticut, 310 U.S. 296 (1940)
Sherbert v. Verner, 374 U.S. 398 (1963)
Gonzales v. O Centro Espirita Beneficente Uniao do Vegetal, 546 U.S. 418 (2006)
People v. Campobello, 810 N.E.2d 307 (Ill. App. Ct. 2004)
Soc’y of Jesus of New England v. Commonwealth, 808 N.E.2d 272 (Mass. 2004)
See, e.g., Greek Orthodox Diocese of N. & S. Am. v. Abrams, 162 Misc.2d 850, 856-57 (N.Y. Sup. Ct. 1994)
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III. DEFINITIONS OF "CHURCH" AND "RELIGIOUS ORGANIZATION"
Found. of Human Understanding v. United States, 614 F.3d 1383 (Fed. Cir. 2010)
Robert Louthian & Thomas Miller, Defining ‘Church’- The Concept of a Congregation, Exempt Organizations
Continuing Professional Education Technical Instruction Program(1994)
Country Bible Church v. County of Grant, No.c5-02-65, 2003 Minn. Tax LEXIS 19 (June 9, 2003)
Universal Life Church v. United States, 372 F. Supp. 770 (E.D. Cal. 1974)
Church Audit Procedures Act, IRC § 7611
Mo. Rev. State § 407.453 (1988) (Charitable Organizations and Solicitations Law: Definitions)
Mich. Comp. Laws § 450.178 (2011)
Spiritual Outreach Soc’y v. Comm’r, 927 F.2d 335 (8th Cir. 1991)
Internal Revenue Serv., Tax Guide for Churches and Religious Organizations: Benefits and Responsibilities
Under the Federal Tax Law (2009), http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p1828.pdf
Found. of Human Understanding v. United States, 614 F.3d 1383 (Fed. Cir. 2010)
Purnell v. Comm’r, 63 T.C.M. (CCH) 3037 (1992)
Ideal Life Church of Lake Elmo v. Wash. County, 304 N.W.2d 308 (Minn. 1981)
Church of Pan, Inc. v. Norberg, 507 A.2d 1359 (R.I. 1986)
Music Square Church v. United States, 218 F.3d 1367 (Fed. Cir. 2000)
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IV. JURISDICTION OF ATTORNEYS GENERAL
Weaver v. Wood, 425 Mass. 270 (1997)
State v. Burckhard, 1998 ND 121 (1998)
Stephen Senn, The Prosecution of Religious Fraud, 17 Fla. St. U. L. Rev. 325 (1990)
Macedonia Pentecostal Church Lis Pendens (2008)
Macedonia Pentecostal Church Complaint (2008)
Attorney Gen. v. First United Baptist Church, 601 A.2d 96 (Me. 1992)
Cal. Corp. Code § 9230 (2010) (Nonprofit Religious Corporations: Examination by Attorney General)
N.Y. Relig. Corp. Law § 12 (2011)
N.M. Stat. § 57-22-4(A) (2011)
Colo. Rev. Stat. § 24-31-101(5) (2011)
N.H. Rev. Stat. § 564-B:1-110(c) (2011)
Anderson v. Rochester Trust Co., 333 A.2d 718 (N.H. 1975)
N.H. Rev. Stat. § 21-M:2 (2011)
Or. Rev. Stat. § 65.627(1)
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V. REGISTRATION AND FILING REQUIREMENTS
Watchtower Bible & Tract Soc'y of N.Y., Inc. v. Vill. of Stratton, 536 U.S. 150 (2002)
Larson v. Valenti, 456 U.S. 228 (1982)
Espinosa v. Rusk, 634 F.2d 477 (10th Cir. 1980)
People ex rel. Ryan v. World Church of the Creator, 198 Ill. 2d 115 (Ill. 2001)
Office of the Illinois Attorney General, Charitable Trust Bureau, “Religious Organization Exemption Form”
(revised March 2005), available at http://illinoisattorneygeneral.gov/charities/co-3form.pdf
New York State Department of Law (Office of the Attorney General), Charities Bureau - Registration Section,
Request for Registration Exemption for Charitable Organizations, available at
http://www.charitiesnys.com/pdfs/char410SchE.pdf
State by State Exemption Provisions for Religious Organizations, available at
http://www.law.columbia.edu/null?&exclusive=filemgr.download&file_id=163943&rtcontentdisposition=filename
%3DReligious%20organization%20exemption%20-%20all%20states.doc
Conn. Gen. Stat. 33-264 – 33-281, available at http://www.cga.ct.gov/2011/pub/chap598.htm#Sec33-266.htm
Md. Code, Bus. Reg. § 6-102(c)
Fla. Stat. § 496.404(19) (2011)
Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 44-6552 (G) (2011)
26 CFR § 1.6033-2(g)
Press Release, Office of the Attorney Gen. of Mass., AG Coakley Unveils Proposed Amendments to
Regulations Governing Religious Charities (Dec. 29, 2011), http://www.mass.gov/ago/news-andupdates/press-releases/2011/ag-proposes-amendments-to-charities-regs.html
Glass v. First United Pentecostal Church of DeRidder, 676 So.2d 724, 735 (La. App. 1996)
W. Va. Code § 29-19-6(5) (2011)
Ill. Admin. Code tit. 14, § 400.40(a) (2011)
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VI. CORPORATE STRUCTURE: ASPECTS AND CONCERNS
Jones v. Wolf, 443 U.S. 595 (1979)
Latter-Day Saints v. Amos, 483 U.S. 327 (1987)
Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of N. & S. Am. v. Abrams, 162 Misc. 2d 850 (N.Y. Sup. Ct. 1994)
Maffei v. Roman Catholic Archbishop, 449 Mass. 235 (Mass. 2007)
Mark Chopko, Principal Civil Law Structures, The Jurist (2009)
Cal. Franchise Tax Bd., Exempt Organizations (2010), https://www.ftb.ca.gov/forms/misc/927.pdf
Internal Revenue Serv., Tax Guide for Churches and Religious Organizations: Benefits and Responsibilities
Under the Federal Tax Law (2009), http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p1828.pdf
Tex. Bus. Orgs. Code § 252.010 (2011)
N.Y. Not-for-Profit Corp. Law § 511(b) (2011)
N.Y. Relig. Corp. Law § 12(1) (2011)
Lacy v. Bassett, 132 S.W.3d 119 (Tex. App. 2004)
Stephen Senn, The Prosecution of Religious Fraud, 17 Fla. St. U. L. Rev. 325 (1990)
Cal. Corp. Code § 9230(c) (2011)
Materials specific to Hospital Mergers:
Judith C. Appelbaum & Jill C. Morrison, Hospital Mergers and the Threat to Women’s Reproductive Services:
Applying the Antitrust Laws, 26 N.Y.U. Rev. L. & Soc. Change 1 (2001)
Brietta R. Clark, When Free Exercise Exemptions Undermine Religious Liberty and the Liberty of Conscience:
A Case Study of the Catholic Hospital Conflict, 82 Ore. L. Rev. 625 (2003)
Judith Graham, Catholic Hospitals Face Choice, Chicago Tribune (Feb. 8, 2010), available at
http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2010-02-09/news/1002080254_1_vegetative-state-bishops-church-teachings
Catholic Charities of Sacramento v. Sacramento County, 32 Cal. 4th 527 (2004)
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Press Release, Nat’l Women’s Law Ctr., Complaint Filed with Arizona Attorney General in Hospital Merger
Case (Mar. 29, 2011), http://www.nwlc.org/resource/complaint-filed-arizona-attorney-general%E2%80%99soffice-hospital-merger-case
VII. DISTRIBUTION OF PROPERTY AND ASSETS
Michael Paulson, AG Gains Oversight of Assets at Parishes, The Boston Globe (Aug. 19, 2004), available at
http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2004/08/19/ag_gains_oversight_of_assets_at_parishes/
Jones v. Wolf, 443 U.S. 595, 602-06 (1979)
In re Metropolitan Baptist Church of Richmond, Inc., 48 Cal. App. 3d 850 (Cal. Ct. App. 1975).
Official Website of the Attorney General of Massachusetts, 940 CMR 2.00: Regulations Of The Director Of
Public Charities (2011)
New York State Office of the Attorney General, Charities Bureau, A Guide to Sales and Other Dispositions of
Assets Pursuant to Not-for-Profit Corporation Law §§ 510-11 and Religious Corporations Law § 12,
http://www.charitiesnys.com/pdfs/sales.pdf
In re Multi-Circuit Episcopal Church Property Litigation, 76 Va. Cir. 785 (Va. Cir. Ct. 2008)
The General Convention of the New Jerusalem in the United States of America v. MacKenzie, 874 N.E.2d
1084 (Mass. 2007)
Iglesia Evangelica Latina, Inc. v. Southern Pacific Latin American District of the Assemblies of God, 173 Cal.
App. 4th 420 (Cal. Ct. App. 2009)
Maffei vs. Roman Catholic Archbishop of Boston, 867 N.E.2d 300 (Mass. 2007)
Petition for Approximation of Religious Society Assets, In Re: Cy Pres of Holy Way Deliverance Assets, No.
138 (2010)
Catherine Wells, Churches, Charities and Corrective Justice: Making Churches Pay for Sins of their Clergy, 44
B.C. L. Rev. 1201 (2003)
Schmidt v. Catholic Diocese of Biloxi, 18 So. 3d 814 (2009)
Struemph v. McAuliffe, 661 S.W.2d 559 (1983)
N.Y. Not-for-Profit Corp. Law § 511(b) (2011)
N.Y. Relig. Corp. Law § 12(1) (2011)
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Cal. Corp. Code § 9633 (2011)
Jackson v. Callan Pub., Inc., 826 N.E.2d 413 (Ill. App. Ct. 2005)
Attorney Gen. v. First United Baptist Church of Lee, 601 A.2d 96 (Me. 1992)
VIII. GOVERNANCE ISSUES
Serbian E. Orthodox Diocese v. Milivojevich, 426 U.S. 696 (1976)
Lewis v. Seventh Day Adventists Lake Region Conference, 978 F.2d 940 (6th Cir. 1992)
Congregation Yetev Lev D’Satmar v. Kahana, No. 142, Slip. Op. 09068 (N.Y. Nov. 20, 2007) (see dissent for
guidance on distinguishing doctrinal and non-doctrinal issues)
Heard v. Johnson, 810 A.2d 871 (D.C. 2002)
Beards v. Bible Way Church, 680 A.2d 419 (D.C. 1996)
Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church & School v. EEOC, 563 U.S. ___ (2012)
Meshel v. Talmud Torah, 869 A.2d 343 (D.C. 2005)
Dayner v. Archdiocese of Hartford, 301 Conn. 759 (Conn. 2011)
Concerned Members of Old Elam Baptist Church v. Bd. of Trustees, 983 So. 2d 1079, 1087-1088 (Ala. 2007)
N.Y. Not-for-Profit Corp. Law § 621(d) (2011)
Petruska v. Gannon Univ., 462 F.3d 294, 306 (3d Cir. 2006)
Tex. Bus. Orgs. Code § 252.010(a) (2011)
N.Y. Not-for-Profit Corp. Law § 621(d) (2011)
Michelle Boorstein, State Files to Join Episcopal Case, Wash. Post, Jan. 12, 2008, at B3, available at
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/11/AR2008011103425.html?nav=emailpage
Press Release, Bill Schutte, Mich. Attorney Gen., Charity Board Members—Their Obligations (Jan. 1, 2011),
http://www.michigan.gov/ag/0,4534,7-164-17337_18095-44603--,00.html
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