§ 53. Alternative service of notice of claim upon the secretary of
state. 1. In lieu of serving a notice of claim upon a public corporation
as provided for in section fifty-e of this article, a notice of claim
setting forth the same information as required by such section may be
served upon the secretary of state in the same manner as if served with
the public corporation. All the requirements relating to the form,
content, time limitations, exceptions, extensions and any other
procedural requirements imposed in such section with respect to a notice
of claim served upon a public corporation shall correspondingly apply to
a notice of claim served upon the secretary of state as permitted by
this section. For purposes of this article, the secretary of state shall
be deemed to be the agent for all public corporations upon whom a notice
of claim may be served prior to commencement of any action or proceeding
subject to the requirements of this article.

2. All public corporations entitled to have served upon them a notice
of claim as a condition precedent to commencement of an action or
proceeding shall, no later than thirty days after the date upon which
this section shall take effect, file a certificate with the secretary of
state designating the secretary as the agent for service of a notice of
claim and shall in such statement provide the secretary with the name,
post office address and electronic mail address, if available, of an
officer, person, or designee, nominee or other agent-in-fact for the
transmittal of notices of claim served upon the secretary as the public
corporation's agent. Any designated post office address or electronic
mail address to which the secretary of state shall transmit a copy of
the notice of claim served upon him or her as agent shall continue to be
the address to which such notices shall be transmitted until the public
corporation sends a notice to the secretary informing him or her of a
new post office address or electronic mail address to which such notices
shall be transmitted. The initial filing with the secretary of state
shall also contain the applicable time limit for filing a notice of
claim upon that public corporation, or if later changed by statute, a
new filing shall be made detailing the new time limit. Any public
corporation that does not have a current and timely statutory
designation filed with the secretary of state shall not be entitled to
the portion of the fee to which it would otherwise be entitled pursuant
to subdivision four of this section. Failure of the public corporation
to so file with the secretary of state will not invalidate any service
of a notice of claim upon the public corporation which has been received
by the secretary of state.

3. The secretary of state is hereby empowered to accept properly
transmitted notices of claims on behalf of a public corporation, with
the same effect as if served directly upon a public corporation. The
secretary of state shall accept such service upon the following terms
and conditions:

(a) the secretary of state shall set and notify the public, on his or
her website, of times, places and manner of service upon him or her of
notices of claims necessary to comply with the provisions of this
section;

(b) upon receipt of a notice of claim, the secretary of state shall
issue a receipt or other document acknowledging his or her receipt of
such notice, and such receipt shall contain the date and time of receipt
of the notice, an identifying number or name particular to the notice
received, and the logo or seal of the department of state embossed upon
it. Such receipt shall be prima facie evidence of service upon the
secretary of state for all purposes;

(c) nothing in this section shall be deemed to alter, waive or
otherwise abrogate any defense available to a public corporation as to
the nature, sufficiency, or appropriateness of the notice of claim
itself, or to any challenges to the timeliness of the service of a
notice of claim. Timely service upon the secretary of state shall be
deemed timely service upon the public corporation for purposes of
instituting an action or proceeding or other requirement imposed by law.

4. The secretary of state may impose a fee upon any person who serves
a notice of claim with the department. Such fee shall not exceed two
hundred fifty dollars for each such notice filed. One-half of the fee
imposed shall be retained by the secretary of state as payment for its
services provided in accordance with this section. The remaining
one-half of such fee shall be forwarded to the public corporation named
in the notice of claim provided, however, if more than one such public
corporation is named, each named public corporation shall be entitled to
an equal percentage of the one-half amount.

5. The secretary of state shall within sixty days after the effective
date of this section post on the departmental website a list of any
public corporation, including any public authority, public benefit
corporation or any other entity entitled to receive a notice of claim as
a condition precedent to commencement of an action or proceeding, and
that has filed, pursuant to this section, a certificate with the
secretary of state designating the secretary as the agent for service of
a notice of claim. The list should identify the entity, the post office
address and electronic mail address, if available, of the public
corporation to which the notice of claim shall be forwarded by the
secretary of state, and any statutory provisions uniquely pertaining to
such public corporation and the commencement of an action or proceeding
against it.

6. The secretary of state is authorized to promulgate any rules or
regulations necessary to implement the provisions of this section.