Appointment of custodian or receiver of corporation on deadlock or for other cause; powers of custodian.
K.S.A. 17-6516
in effect17-6516. Appointment of custodian or receiver of corporation on deadlock or for other cause; powers of custodian.
(a) The district court, upon application of any stockholder, may appoint one or more persons to be custodians and, if the corporation is insolvent, to be receivers, of and for any corporation when:
(1) At any meeting held for the election of directors the stockholders are so divided that they have failed to elect successors to directors whose terms have expired or would have expired upon qualification of their successors;
(2) the business of the corporation is suffering or is threatened with irreparable injury because the directors are so divided respecting the management of the affairs of the corporation that the required vote for action by the board of directors cannot be obtained and the stockholders are unable to terminate this division; or
(3) the corporation has abandoned its business and has failed within a reasonable time to take steps to dissolve, liquidate or distribute its assets.
(b) A custodian appointed under this section shall have all the powers and title of a receiver appointed under K.S.A. 17-6901 , and amendments thereto, but the authority of the custodian is to continue the business of the corporation and not to liquidate its affairs and distribute its assets, except when the court shall otherwise order and except in cases arising under subsection (a)(3) or K.S.A. 17-7212 (a)(2), and amendments thereto.
(c) In the case of a charitable nonstock corporation, the applicant shall provide a copy of any application referred to in subsection (a) to the attorney general of the state of Kansas within one week of its filing with the district court.
L. 1972, ch. 52, § 69; L. 2016, ch. 110, § 59; July 1.
Source or Prior Law:
8 Del. C. § 226.
Cross References to Related Sections:
Failure to elect directors, see 17-6501(c).
Contested election of director, see 17-6515.
Powers of district court in election of directors, see 17-6517.
Appointment of provisional director for close corporation, see 17-7213.
Law Review and Bar Journal References:
"The Kansas Corporation Code of 1972," William E. Treadway, 40 J.B.A.K. 301, 344 (1971).
CASE ANNOTATIONS
1. Custodian not personally liable to corporate creditors for negligent loss of corporate assets. Valley View State Bank v. Owen, 241 Kan. 343, 344, 347, 348, 349, 737 P.2d 35 (1987).
2. Custodian also acting in capacity as provisional director (K.S.A. 17-7213) to be paid by corporation or from its assets. Coles v. Taliaferro, 251 Kan. 648, 655, 840 P.2d 1102 (1992).
3. For corporations, a custodian may be appointed for a deadlocked corporation. In re Metcalf Assocs.-2000, 42 Kan. App. 2d 412, 213 P.3d 751 (2009).
Source: Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes (ksrevisor.gov)URL: https://www.ksrevisor.gov/statutes/chapters/ch17/017_065_0016.htmlFetched: 10/20/2026