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Terms guide

Registered agent: a quick guide

Your LLC's official recipient for lawsuits and state mail: a person or company with a street address in the state.
Written by the Simple Filing Guide editorial team

Quick reference

You may see
Statutory agent in some states and resident agent in others
Related terms
Service of process ahead of Registered office ahead of Statutory agent, resident agent and other names

What it means for you

Write down where the agent will forward documents, and confirm how quickly. That one detail separates a good service from a poor one.

Across the 50 states

Required in 46 states. For the other 4, see:

  • Minnesota: A Minnesota LLC must keep a registered office in Minnesota; naming an agent there is optional.
  • New York: The Secretary of State is the agent for service of process for every New York LLC; naming a registered agent is optional.
  • Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania requires a registered office (a Pennsylvania street address or a Commercial Registered Office Provider), not an agent.
  • West Virginia: The statute says an LLC "may" keep an agent; the Articles ask for one "if any".

Where to use this

Next, see how it applies in these guides: LLC formation checklist for all 50 states, Registered agent guide by state, Out-of-state registration checklist.

Verify these facts

  1. October 2026 check of Alabama registered agent statute, via alisondb.legislature.state.al.us
  2. October 2026 check of Alaska registered agent statute, via akleg.gov
  3. October 2026 check of Arizona registered agent statute, via azleg.gov
  4. October 2026 check of Arkansas registered agent statute, via arkleg.state.ar.us
  5. October 2026 check of California registered agent statute, via leginfo.legislature.ca.gov
  6. October 2026 check of Connecticut registered agent statute, via cga.ct.gov
  7. October 2026 check of Delaware registered agent statute, via delcode.delaware.gov
  8. October 2026 check of Florida registered agent statute, via flsenate.gov
  9. October 2026 check of Georgia registered agent statute, via sos.ga.gov
  10. October 2026 check of Hawaii registered agent statute, via capitol.hawaii.gov
  11. October 2026 check of Idaho registered agent statute, via legislature.idaho.gov
  12. October 2026 check of Illinois registered agent statute, via ilga.gov
  13. October 2026 check of Indiana registered agent statute, via faqs.in.gov
  14. October 2026 check of Iowa registered agent statute, via legis.iowa.gov
  15. October 2026 check of Kansas registered agent statute, via ksrevisor.gov
  16. October 2026 check of Kentucky registered agent statute, via apps.legislature.ky.gov
  17. October 2026 check of Louisiana registered agent statute, via legis.la.gov
  18. October 2026 check of Maine registered agent statute, via legislature.maine.gov
  19. October 2026 check of Maryland registered agent statute, via mgaleg.maryland.gov
  20. October 2026 check of Massachusetts registered agent statute, via sec.state.ma.us
  21. October 2026 check of Michigan registered agent statute, via legislature.mi.gov
  22. October 2026 check of Minnesota registered agent statute, via revisor.mn.gov
  23. October 2026 check of Mississippi registered agent statute, via sos.ms.gov
  24. October 2026 check of Missouri registered agent statute, via revisor.mo.gov
  25. October 2026 check of Montana registered agent statute, via mca.legmt.gov
  26. October 2026 check of Nebraska registered agent statute, via nebraskalegislature.gov
  27. October 2026 check of Nevada registered agent statute, via leg.state.nv.us
  28. October 2026 check of New Hampshire registered agent statute, via gc.nh.gov
  29. October 2026 check of New Jersey registered agent statute, via pub.njleg.gov
  30. October 2026 check of New Mexico registered agent statute, via nmonesource.com
  31. October 2026 check of New York registered agent statute, via nysenate.gov
  32. October 2026 check of North Carolina registered agent statute, via sosnc.gov
  33. October 2026 check of North Dakota registered agent statute, via ndlegis.gov
  34. October 2026 check of Ohio registered agent statute, via codes.ohio.gov
  35. October 2026 check of Oklahoma registered agent statute, via sos.ok.gov
  36. October 2026 check of Oregon registered agent statute, via oregonlegislature.gov
  37. October 2026 check of Pennsylvania registered agent statute, via legis.state.pa.us
  38. October 2026 check of Rhode Island registered agent statute, via webserver.rilegislature.gov
  39. October 2026 check of South Carolina registered agent statute, via scstatehouse.gov
  40. October 2026 check of South Dakota registered agent statute, via sdlegislature.gov
  41. October 2026 check of Tennessee registered agent statute, via sos-prod.tnsosgovfiles.com
  42. October 2026 check of Texas registered agent statute, via sos.texas.gov
  43. October 2026 check of Utah registered agent statute, via le.utah.gov
  44. October 2026 check of Vermont registered agent statute, via legislature.vermont.gov
  45. October 2026 check of Virginia registered agent statute, via law.lis.virginia.gov
  46. October 2026 check of Washington registered agent statute, via app.leg.wa.gov
  47. October 2026 check of West Virginia registered agent statute, via code.wvlegislature.gov
  48. October 2026 check of Wisconsin registered agent statute, via docs.legis.wisconsin.gov
  49. October 2026 check of Wyoming registered agent statute, via wyoleg.gov