Arkansas Registered Agent

An Arkansas Registered Agent or Arkansas Registered Agent Service is required by law for every business entity in the state of Arkansas. A registered agent is an individual or business entity that will accept legal papers (documents) on your behalf if it is sued. The registered agent or registered agent service must have a physical street address in Arkansas and be available during regular business hours.

In my Arkansas Registered Agent guide, I’ll walk you through the detailed process of when you should get a registered agent or registered agent service for your Arkansas business, how to pick one, if they are required and how to change one if needed. Typically you’re getting a registered agent when you setup your Arkansas LLC. Check out my guide on how to setup an Arkansas LLC so you can make sure you’re following all the right steps in the process. If you are just looking for the professional service to help you – use Northwest Registered Agent or ZenBusiness.

Best Arkansas Registered Agent Service

ZenBusiness will be the best option for setting up a registered agent service in Arkansas. They can also help you with getting your LLC formed so if you’re looking for the best option, check them out today!

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When you’re looking to start an LLC in Arkansas, you’re going to need to find the best registered agent and that is ZenBusiness or Northwest Registered Agent. Typically you’re going to find these two as the best option for your business to get setup the right way. Both ZenBusiness and Northwest Registered Agent are organizations that have the customer service and support built into their organization to make sure the 1000s of business owners get what they need.

The other options of looking at potential registered agent solutions are finding an Arkansas law firm that has registered agent services associated or being your own registered agent. I recommend to stay away from both of these options because the national providers like ZenBusiness are going to most likely include the first year of the registered agent service when you’re forming your LLC.

What is an Arkansas Registered Agent?

An Arkansas registered agent is no different than any other state’s registered agent. All the states in the United States require that you have a registered agent associated to them. Traditionally that means that a registered agent or registered agent service is going to provide three main things for your business:

A physical address in the state of Arkansas for your LLC to receive official documents like service of process (if you’re sued) and certified mail.
Regular business hours during which time they can be available to accept legal documents on your behalf.
An agreement to forward any legal documents they receive on your behalf to an address you provide

They are also going to make sure you’re in compliance on an annual basis with what’s needed for an Arkansas LLC. If you think that you can get away with just going to get a UPS Box or some type of PO Box the Arkansas Secretary of State’s office will come after you for that. It’s is illegal to go and setup a PO Box and think that is your registered agent. If you elect yourself as the registered agent and use a PO Box / UPS Store box as the registered agent’s address then you’re going to end up in some trouble. Your business will most likely be dissolved and you’re going to have to go through this formation process all over again.

Why do I need an Arkansas Registered Agent?

The biggest reason you’re going to need an Arkansas registered agent is because it’s legally required for you to have one. Each business entity whether you’re setting up a domestic LLC, foreign LLC, Limited Liability Company, C-Corp, S-Corp or any other type is going to require that you have a registered agent by law.

One of the main things you’ll need to also consider is that whatever you decided to do for your registered agent’s name and registered agent’s address will end up in the public record.

The Arkansas Secretary of State’s office has a business name search portal where anyone in the world will have the means to look up a business name and find whatever you’ve elected for your business entity.

Think about the ramifications of that long term as you’re building your business. Do you really want someone coming to your house if you’re acting as your own registered agent? Anyone can legally show up and serve you legal papers during regular business hours and that’s not going to feel good if you’re at home with the fam and thinking that you’re going about your day. The other thing is that you’ll have to have someone available during normal business hours at that address.

When should I obtain an Arkansas Registered Agent?

The best time to obtain an Arkansas registered agent is when you are forming your LLC business. If you don’t do this while you’re forming the LLC in Arkansas, you’re most likely not going to have a business entity. The Arkansas Secretary of State’s office will most likely dissolve your business and you’re going to have to start the formation process all over again.

If you’re just using a service like ZenBusiness or Northwest Registered Agent when you’re forming your business they will typically include the first year of the registered agent service when you’re doing so.

Can I Be My Own Registered Agent In Arkansas?

Technically yes you can be your own registered agent. I always recommend that individuals looking to form an Arkansas registered agent really think about whether they should do this – not if they can. You have to remember all the pieces of what’s required for a registered agent in Arkansas. It’s important to keep track of what you’d have to do on your own if you decided to go this direction.

When I think about all the requirements and the long term challenges I’d have doing this on my own, I always have a registered agent service exist to help with what’s required.

The main things you’ll need to be responsible for are:

Have a physical location in Arkansas
Be available during normal business hours at that location to accept service of process (legal paperwork) on behalf of your business
Keep track of all the annual legal requirements that go along with having a business entity

The best thing to do is find a registered agent service that can handle this for you and focus on building your business – not making sure you’re in compliance of being a registered agent in Arkansas for your business. The cost is not worth it for trying to accomplish this on your own.

How Much Does a Registered Agent Cost?

A registered agent can range from $0 if you’re going to do this on your own up to a few hundred dollars per year (depending on the registered agent service you use). I always recommend going with ZenBusiness or Northwest Registered Agent because they are going to include the first year of the registered agent service during your business formation process.

The three options of potential registered agent options are:

Be your own registered agent (not recommended)
Find a law firm in Arkansas that has registered agent services (not recommended)
Use a national provider like ZenBusiness or Northwest Registered Agent (recommended)

The best thing you can do is #3 and find a service that you like to use because they’re going to help you make sure your business is setup the right way from the beginning when you use their formation services.

How Do I Elect A Registered Agent In Arkansas?

To elect a registered agent in Arkansas is going through the traditional process the Arkansas Secretary of State’s office has which is using the Certificate of Organization which is how the Arkansas Secretary of State’s office looks at LLCs being official or not.

You’ll need to use the Form LL-01 Certificate of Organization for Limited Liability Company (direct PDF link).

How Do I Elect A Registered Agent Online in Arkansas?

If you want to elect your registered agent online you can do so through the formation process on the Arkansas Secretary of State’s website and make sure you’re also including the $45 filing fee that’s required too.

How Do I Elect A Registered Agent by Mail, Fax or In Person in Arkansas?

If you’d prefer to elect the registered agent by mail or in person you can do that too in Arkansas. You’ll need to download the Form LL-01 above and fill out the details. From there you can take this into the Arkansas Secretary of State’s office. Make sure you fill out the registered agent’s information under Article III in the middle of the page.

In Person

Arkansas Secretary of State

1401 W. Capitol Ave.

Suite 250

Little Rock, AR 72201

How Do I Change My Registered Agent In Arkansas?

If you want to change your registered agent for your Arkansas LLC or other business entity, you can do so. You’ll need to download the Notice of Change of Registered Agent form and submit it to the Arkansas Secretary of State. This form will work for whatever type of business entity it is: Corporation, Limited Liability Company, General Partnership or they have a place to plug in ‘Other’ if it’s a non-profit.

If you want to submit this online you can do that here.

If you’d rather mail it in you can use the address below.

Arkansas Secretary of State

1401 W. Capitol Ave.

Suite 250

Little Rock, AR 72201