Who can be your South Dakota registered agent

The Model Registered Agents Act, SDCL chapter 59-11, allows an entity to give a commercial registered agent by name; or, with no commercial agent, a noncommercial registered agent by name and address, or the title of an office whose holder will receive service together with that person's business address. A commercial agent is an individual or entity listed with the Secretary of State as being in the business of serving as a commercial registered agent in the state.

By naming an agent, the entity confirms the agent has agreed to serve. Ask first.

Swapping agents takes a statement of change signed on behalf of the entity, stating the entity name and the information that is to be in effect, which takes effect on filing and needs no vote of the owners or governors. For an LLC the clock matters: once the agent's name or address has changed, 30 days is all the Act allows before a missed statement becomes a ground for revocation.

When an entity has no registered agent, or the agent cannot be served with reasonable diligence, it may be served by registered or certified mail addressed to its governors at its principal office, and service is complete at the earliest of receipt, the date on a signed return receipt, or five days after mailing.

A Minnesota LLC with a Sioux Falls warehouse manager might name that manager as a noncommercial agent, as long as the manager agrees and has a street address in the state. A Delaware corporation with no one in South Dakota might name a commercial agent by its CRA number. An association that wants service to reach whoever is its executive director might name that office.

A commercial agent is identified on the corporation form by a CRA number that the agent supplies, while the LLC application asks for the agent's name. An active entity can file a statement of change online, or print it and mail it with the paper fee. A resignation costs the agent $0 to file.