No, bylaws and operating agreements (and any amendments thereto) are maintained by the business entity and are not filed with the Secretary of State. Requests for copies or information about these documents should be directed to the business entity itself.
To submit Form SI-100, you may file it online at the California Secretary of State's website or mail it to the Statement of Information Unit at P.O. Box 944230, Sacramento, CA 94244-2300. For in-person submissions, visit the Sacramento office located at 1500 11th Street, Sacramento, CA 95814.
Although organizations don't need to file these bylaws with the state, California law requires that the treasurer or other designated member of the organization maintains a copy on file.
LLCs are not required to have bylaws. However, they are governed by an operating agreement which is like a corporation's bylaws.
Every California Corporation must adopt bylaws, and this article identifies the key components that should be included in California Corporation Bylaws; however, this article does not contain all the headings or provisions that are required to be included in California Corporation Bylaws.
(b) Bylaws may be adopted, amended or repealed by approval of the members (Section 5034); provided, however, that such adoption, amendment or repeal also requires approval by the members of a class if such action would: (1) Materially and adversely affect the rights, privileges, preferences, restrictions or conditions ...
Corporate bylaws are a company's foundational governing document. They lay out how things should run day-to-day and the processes for making important decisions. They serve as a legal contract between the corporation and its shareholders, directors, and officers and set the protocol for how the organization operates.
Corporate bylaws are legally required in New York. Under NY Bus Corp L § 601, corporate bylaws “shall be adopted” by a company's incorporators. That means that in New York, you'll need to adopt bylaws to comply with the law.
There's also the fact that if you don't list the number of directors in your Articles of Incorporation, you're legally required to list that information in your bylaws (see California Corp Code § 212). The bottom line: corporate bylaws are not legally required, but they're pretty much essential for your corporation.
1. DIRECTORS: Not less than three, unless there are only one or two shareholders of record, in which case the number of directors may be less than three but not less than the number of shareholders. 2. OFFICERS: The three required positions are President, Secretary and Treasurer.