Indiana Registered Agent Service With a Commercial Agent Listed by Name

Under the Uniform Business Organizations Code, chapter IC 23-0.5-4, Indiana businesses must designate and maintain a registered agent in the state, and the Secretary of State's FAQ says they must continuously maintain a registered agent and a registered office. The Secretary of State's Business Services Division in Indianapolis keeps the record, and filing runs through INBiz, signed in with an Access Indiana account. INBiz got a new interface in September 2026, with a new payment provider, though logins and processes did not change. The Articles cost $95 online or $100 on paper, plus a payment processing fee at checkout.

The Articles of Organization, State Form 49459, split agents into two kinds. A commercial registered agent is registered with the state and is listed by name only, and the form says not to provide its address. A noncommercial agent gives a name and an Indiana street address. Both options come with an optional email address for electronic service, and a checkbox confirming the agent consented to the appointment.

The agent receives lawsuits, and under IC 23-0.5-4-11 its duty is to forward any process, notice or demand it receives to the entity at the address most recently supplied. INBiz also emails Business Entity Report reminders 90 and 30 days before the due date to the business email and the registered agent email, and sends a past-due notice to both. Paper notices are mailed to the principal office, the registered agent address or a governing person's address, depending on what is on record. The rules here are for LLCs, and the same agent service is open to corporations, LPs, LLPs and nonprofits.

The code says a registered agent must be an individual, a general partnership, a domestic filing entity or a registered foreign entity. The Secretary of State's FAQ adds that a business cannot serve as its own registered agent.

An individual with an Indiana street address can serve as a noncommercial agent, and that includes you, a co-owner, an employee or your attorney. The chapter sets no residency or age requirement, only a street address in the state. A business registered with the state as a commercial registered agent can serve too.

So the role always has to point to someone or something other than the LLC itself. The Business Entity Report page says the registered agent address must be an Indiana address, and that if you do not have one you may hire a service company or law firm. That is where a commercial agent fits.

The Secretary of State's FAQ puts it in parentheses: PO boxes are not acceptable. The registered office has to be in Indiana, and the state's form says a P.O. box is not acceptable for a noncommercial agent unless it is accompanied by a Rural Route number.

Whatever you list is public. The agent's name and address appear on the filing.

Indiana added something new on this front. House Bills 1593 and 1666, effective January 1, 2026, define the principal office and let an entity whose business is conducted remotely from a governing person's residence keep that residential address off the public record. Form 49459 now has a checkbox for it, and you include State Form 9900382. The same laws set rules for commercial mail receiving agency addresses and ask filers to identify whom they file for and verify identity. None of that removes the need for a registered office in the state.

With a stable Indiana address where you can be found, being your own agent saves a fee. The costs are exposure and attention. Your address is on the public record, and a summons can arrive when you are on a job site, on the road or busy with a side business.

Using a noncommercial agent such as an employee or an attorney works until that person leaves or stops opening the mail.

With a commercial agent, your filing carries only the agent's name and not your address, because the state keeps the agent's listing. Your registered office does not change when your own life does.

State Form 56367, the Statement of Change of Registered Agent under IC 23-0.5-4-6, does the job, and it says "NO FILING FEE." Online it is called Change of Registered Agent/Office, filed through INBiz. INBiz adds a payment processing charge at checkout, a minimum of $1 and no more than 2.15%, and its fee calculator shows the current amount. The interest holders or governing persons of the entity do not need to approve the filing.

We prepare and file it when you move to Mainstay, so there is no state filing fee to pass along beyond whatever processing charge INBiz shows. The agent has to consent, so the form carries the consent checkbox.

When the change posts, the previous agent comes off the record automatically. You do not file a removal. Indiana does not publish a standard processing time for agent changes, and filing online avoids mail time.

An Indiana agent resigns on State Form 26285, the Statement of Resignation of Registered Agent, which also says "NO FILING FEE" and is signed by the agent. Under IC 23-0.5-4-9 it takes effect on the earlier of the 31st day after it is filed or the designation of a new registered agent, and the agent has to promptly give the entity notice, in a record, of the date it was filed. The same form lets a person who never consented to an appointment ask to be removed from the record.

If the entity ceases to have a registered agent, or its agent cannot with reasonable diligence be served, IC 23-0.5-4-10 allows service by registered or certified mail addressed to the entity at its principal office, as shown in its most recent biennial report.

An empty seat can also end the business. The Secretary of State can begin administrative dissolution if an entity does not have a registered agent in Indiana for 60 consecutive days, or fails to notify the Secretary within 60 days of a change or resignation. A written notice comes first, then 60 days to cure under IC 23-0.5-6. INBiz says plainly that businesses that fail to maintain a registered agent will be administratively dissolved or revoked.

A dissolved business cannot conduct business in Indiana and may not carry on any activity except applying for reinstatement. You may also lose rights to your business name and assumed names, which are protected for only 120 days. When an agent resigns, name a replacement the same week.

The agent role costs $149 a year with Mainstay, and the renewal price does not change. It comes with compliance reminders. The Business Entity Report, due every two years at the end of your anniversary month with a $32 state charge, is not filed as part of this service. That filing comes with the formation package, which is $199 a year and includes the agent and your EIN application along with the Articles of Organization.

Mainstay's Indiana address replaces yours as the registered office. Service of process is scanned and uploaded within the same business day it arrives, free of charge. Government mailings receive three free scans per year and a per-piece scan or shipping fee beyond that. No tier comes with free physical forwarding.