Cross-jurisdiction analysis

Which states mandate meetings, bylaws, and operating agreements

Across the 53 jurisdictions with a governance record, 50 require corporations to hold an annual shareholder meeting and 53 let corporate shareholders act by written consent instead of meeting. 43 make bylaws mandatory. LLCs are the looser regime everywhere: only 1 jurisdiction mandates an annual member meeting, and just 4 (Delaware, Maine, Missouri, New York) require an operating agreement at all.

50Require an annual shareholder meetingof 53, corporations

1Require an annual member meetingof 53, LLCs

43Make bylaws mandatoryof 53

4Require an operating agreementDE, ME, MO, NY

Annual shareholder meeting required 50No statutory annual-meeting mandate 3Outside the dataset or unresolved 1

Which jurisdictions require corporations to hold an annual shareholder meeting.

Governance rules by jurisdiction - corporations and LLCs
Jurisdiction	Org. meeting corp	Annual meeting corp	Written consent corp	Bylaws corp	Annual meeting LLC	Written consent LLC	Operating agreement LLC	Status
AK Alaska	yes	yes	yes	yes	no	yes	no	Verified
AL Alabama	yes	yes	yes	yes	no	yes	no	Verified
AR Arkansas	yes	yes	yes	yes	no	yes	no	Verified
AZ Arizona	yes	yes	yes	yes	no	yes	no	Verified
CA California	no	yes	yes	yes	no	yes	no	Verified
CO Colorado	no	yes	yes	no	no	yes	no	Verified
CT Connecticut	yes	yes	yes	yes	no	yes	no	Verified
DC District of Columbia	yes	yes	yes	yes	no	yes	no	Verified
DE Delaware	yes	yes	yes	no	no	yes	yes	Verified
FL Florida	yes	yes	yes	yes	no	yes	no	Verified
GA Georgia	yes	yes	yes	yes	no	yes	no	Verified
GU Guam	yes	yes	yes	yes	no	yes	no	Verified
HI Hawaii	yes	yes	yes	yes	no	yes	no	Verified
IA Iowa	yes	yes	yes	yes	no	yes	no	Verified
ID Idaho	yes	yes	yes	yes	no	yes	no	Verified
IL Illinois	yes	yes	yes	yes	no	yes	no	Verified
IN Indiana	yes	yes	yes	yes	no	yes	no	Verified
KS Kansas	yes	yes	yes	yes	no	yes	no	Verified
KY Kentucky	yes	yes	yes	yes	no	yes	no	Verified
LA Louisiana	yes	yes	yes	no	no	see the rule	no	Verified
MA Massachusetts	yes	yes	yes	yes	no	see the rule	no	Verified
MD Maryland	yes	yes	yes	yes	no	yes	no	Verified
ME Maine	yes	yes	yes	yes	no	yes	yes	Verified
MI Michigan	no	yes	yes	yes	no	see the rule	no	Verified
MN Minnesota	yes	no	yes	no	no	yes	no	Verified
MO Missouri	yes	yes	yes	no	no	yes	yes	Verified
MS Mississippi	yes	yes	yes	yes	no	yes	no	Verified
MT Montana	yes	yes	yes	yes	no	yes	no	Verified
NC North Carolina	yes	yes	yes	yes	no	yes	no	Verified
ND North Dakota	yes	no	yes	no	no	yes	no	Verified
NE Nebraska	yes	yes	yes	yes	no	yes	no	Verified
NH New Hampshire	yes	yes	yes	yes	no	yes	no	Verified
NJ New Jersey	yes	yes	yes	yes	no	yes	no	Verified
NM New Mexico	yes	yes	yes	yes	no	yes	no	Verified
NV Nevada	no	yes	yes	no	no	yes	no	Verified
NY New York	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes	Verified
OH Ohio	yes	yes	yes	yes	no	yes	no	Verified
OK Oklahoma	yes	yes	yes	yes	no	yes	no	Verified
OR Oregon	yes	yes	yes	yes	no	yes	no	Verified
PA Pennsylvania	yes	yes	yes	yes	no	yes	no	Verified
PR Puerto Rico	yes	yes	yes	no	no	yes	no	Verified
RI Rhode Island	yes	no	yes	yes	no	yes	no	Verified
SC South Carolina	yes	yes	yes	yes	no	yes	no	Verified
SD South Dakota	yes	yes	yes	yes	no	yes	no	Verified
TN Tennessee	yes	yes	yes	yes	no	yes	no	Verified
TX Texas	yes	yes	yes	yes	no	yes	no	Verified
UT Utah	no	yes	yes	no	no	yes	no	Verified
VA Virginia	yes	yes	yes	yes	no	yes	no	Verified
VT Vermont	yes	yes	yes	yes	no	yes	no	Verified
WA Washington	yes	yes	yes	yes	no	yes	no	Verified
WI Wisconsin	yes	yes	yes	no	no	yes	no	Verified
WV West Virginia	yes	yes	yes	yes	no	yes	no	Verified
WY Wyoming	yes	yes	yes	yes	no	yes	no	Verified

A see the rule cell means the statute resolves the question with a default rule rather than a yes or no - the detail is on the jurisdiction page. Every rule's statutory citation and verbatim quote lives on its jurisdiction page's governance section, where the publication gate adjudicates each one individually; none are repeated here.

Provenance - governance rulesVerified

Records: 371 rules across 53 jurisdictions, 371 verified
Reviewed: 2026-08-17
Citations: rendered per rule on each jurisdiction page, never here

1 jurisdiction carries no governance record yet - see the gap map on the coverage page.

Cite this page

Cite the page for the compilation and its verification record; for the underlying fact, cite the official source shown on its row. Formats:

incFACTS, "Which states mandate annual meetings, bylaws, and operating agreements," FACTS repository v0.10.03 (data as of 2026-09-15), https://www.incfacts.com/analysis/governance-rules/ (accessed 2026-09-15).

incFACTS, Which states mandate annual meetings, bylaws, and operating agreements, https://www.incfacts.com/analysis/governance-rules/ (last visited 2026-09-15).

@misc{incfacts_analysis_governance_rules_2026,
  author = {incFACTS (FACTS repository)},
  title = {Which states mandate annual meetings, bylaws, and operating agreements},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://www.incfacts.com/analysis/governance-rules/},
  note = {v0.10.03, data as of 2026-09-15, accessed 2026-09-15}
}

How to cite incFACTS · The accessed date is today's; the version and data-as-of date identify what you relied on.