Registered Agent
Last updated .
Registered Agent. The person or company designated to receive legal documents and official notices on a business’s behalf. Every state requires one.
Why it matters
The agent’s address must be a real street address in the state, staffed during business hours, and it is published. That publication is why so many owners use a service: the alternative is putting a home address on a permanent public record.
What to know
- Failing to maintain one is a leading route to administrative dissolution, because the state loses its way of reaching you.
- You can be your own agent in most states if you have a qualifying address there and are available during business hours.
- A PO box is not acceptable in any state.
- The agent is not an owner, an officer, or a decision maker. Seeing a commercial agent on a record tells you nothing about who runs the business.
Contacting the filing office, by state
Agent requirements are set by each state and enforced by the office below. If you need to confirm what a specific state will accept, that office is the authority.
| Jurisdiction | Business filings phone | Office hours | Official search |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | (334) 242-5324 | 8:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. | arc-sos.state.al.us |
| Alaska | (907) 269-8160 | 8:00 a.m.-11:30 a.m. | commerce.alaska.gov |
| Arizona | (602) 542-3026 | 8:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. | ecorp.azcc.gov |
| Arkansas | (501) 682-3409 | 8:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m. | sos.arkansas.gov |
| California | (916) 657-5448 | 8:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. | bizfileonline.sos.ca.gov |
| Colorado | (303) 894-2200 | 8:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. | coloradosos.gov |
| Connecticut | (860) 509-6002 | 8:30 a.m.-4:00 p.m. | service.ct.gov |
| Delaware | (302) 739-3073 | 8:00 a.m.-4:30 p.m. | icis.corp.delaware.gov |
| District of Columbia | — | — | corponline.dcra.dc.gov |
| Florida | (850) 245-6052 | 8:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. | search.sunbiz.org |
| Georgia | (404) 656-2817 | 8:00 A.M. to 4:00 P.M. | ecorp.sos.ga.gov |
| Hawaii | (844) 808-3222 | 7:45 a.m.-4:30 p.m. | hbe.ehawaii.gov |
| Idaho | (208) 334-2301 | 8:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. | sosbiz.idaho.gov |
| Illinois | (800) 252-8980 | 8:00 a.m.-4:30 p.m. | apps.ilsos.gov |
| Indiana | (317) 234-9768 | 8:00 a.m.-4:30 p.m. | bsd.sos.in.gov |
| Iowa | (515) 281-5204 | 8:00 a.m.-4:30 p.m. | sos.iowa.gov |
| Kansas | (785) 296-4564 | 8:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. | kansas.gov |
| Kentucky | (502) 564-3490 | 8:00 a.m.-4:30 p.m. | sos.ky.gov |
| Louisiana | (225) 925-4704 | 8:00 a.m.-4:30 p.m. | coraweb.sos.la.gov |
| Maine | (207) 624-7752 | 8:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. | apps1.web.maine.gov |
| Maryland | (410) 767-1330 | 8:30 A.M to 4:30 P.M. | egov.maryland.gov |
| Massachusetts | (617) 727-9640 | 8:45 a.m.-4:00 p.m. | corp.sec.state.ma.us |
| Michigan | (517) 241-6470 | 8:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. | mibusinessregistry.lara.state.mi.us |
| Minnesota | (651) 296-2803 | 8:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m. | mblsportal.sos.state.mn.us |
| Mississippi | (601) 359-1633 | 8:30 A.M. to 5:00 P.M. | corp.sos.ms.gov |
| Missouri | (573) 751-4153 | 9:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m. | bsd.sos.mo.gov |
| Montana | (406) 444-3665 | 8:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M. | biz.sosmt.gov |
| Nebraska | (402) 471-4079 | 8:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M. | nebraska.gov |
| Nevada | (775) 684-5708 | 8:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M. | esos.nv.gov |
| New Hampshire | (603) 271-3246 | 8:30 a.m.-4:00 p.m. | quickstart.sos.nh.gov |
| New Jersey | (609) 292-9292 | 8:30 A.M. to 4:30 P.M. | njportal.com |
| New Mexico | (505) 827-3600 | 8:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. | enterprise.sos.nm.gov |
| New York | (518) 473-2492 | 8:45 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. | apps.dos.ny.gov |
| North Carolina | (919) 814-5400 | 8:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. | sosnc.gov |
| North Dakota | (701) 328-2900 | 8:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. | firststop.sos.nd.gov |
| Ohio | (614) 466-3910 | 8:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. | businesssearch.ohiosos.gov |
| Oklahoma | (405) 522-2520 | 8:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. | sos.ok.gov |
| Oregon | (503) 986-2200 | 8:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. | sos.oregon.gov |
| Pennsylvania | (717) 787-1057 | 8:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. | file.dos.pa.gov |
| Rhode Island | (401) 222-3040 | 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. | business.sos.ri.gov |
| South Carolina | (803) 734-2158 | 8:30 a.m.-5:00 p.m. | businessfilings.sc.gov |
| South Dakota | (605) 773-4845 | 8:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. | sosenterprise.sd.gov |
| Tennessee | (615) 741-2286 | 8:00 a.m.-4:30 p.m. | tncab.tnsos.gov |
| Texas | (512) 463-5555 | 8:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. | comptroller.texas.gov |
| Utah | (801) 530-4849 | 8:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. | businessregistration.utah.gov |
| Vermont | (802) 828-2386 | 7:45 a.m.-4:30 p.m. | bizfilings.vermont.gov |
| Virginia | (804) 371-9733 | 8:15 a.m.-5:00 p.m. | cis.scc.virginia.gov |
| Washington | (360) 725-0377 | 8:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m. | ccfs.sos.wa.gov |
| West Virginia | (304) 558-8000 | 8:30 a.m.-5:00 p.m. | apps.sos.wv.gov |
| Wisconsin | (608) 261-7577 | 7:45 a.m.-4:30 p.m. | apps.dfi.wi.gov |
| Wyoming | (307) 777-7311 | 8:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. | wyobiz.wyo.gov |
Common questions
Can I be my own registered agent?
In every state, yes, provided you have a street address in the state of formation and are there during business hours. The trade is that the address becomes a permanent public record, and that somebody has to be present to accept service in person.
Do I need a registered agent in every state?
One in every state where the business is registered. Form in Delaware and operate in Texas and you need an agent in both, because each state needs a way to reach you.
What happens if my registered agent resigns?
The state gives a window to appoint a replacement, and the clock runs whether or not you noticed. Missing it is a direct route to losing good standing, because the state now has no way to serve documents on the business.
Does using a commercial agent hide who owns the business?
No. It keeps a home address off the register, which is worth something, but ownership is disclosed separately in states that require it, and federal beneficial-ownership reporting is a separate obligation entirely. An agent is a mail and service address, not anonymity.
Where you will see it
This term appears on business entity search results and in correspondence from the Secretary of State. If you met it on a search result and are not sure how it applies to a specific business, the record itself usually says more than the summary line does.
You can check a name against all 50 states and the District of Columbia from the search on our home page. Every result links back to the state office that holds the record.
Sources reviewed
The sources below were retrieved and confirmed in August 2026. Filing requirements and fees change with legislative sessions and agency rulemaking; check the state’s own page before acting on anything here. This page is general information, not legal or tax advice.
- Official business entity search portals for all 51 jurisdictions, each retrieved and confirmed to resolve. The full list appears in the table above.
Related
The same question, and the registers it applies to:
- Can two businesses have the same name?
- What names to avoid for an LLC
- Does registering a business name protect it?
- How to find the owner of an LLC
- Florida business entity search
- California business entity search
- Texas business entity search
- New York business entity search
- Georgia business entity search
- Illinois business entity search