Mississippi Registered Agent Service at a Physical Mississippi Address

Mississippi's agent rules sit in the Mississippi Registered Agents Act, Miss. Code Ann. section 79-35-1 and the sections that follow it, effective January 1, 2013. The Act defines a registered agent as either a commercial registered agent or a noncommercial registered agent. Older summaries still cite section 79-29-113 of the LLC Act, but the 2012 law that created the Registered Agents Act repealed that section effective the same date.

The Business Services Division of the Secretary of State keeps the record. The Certificate of Formation, filing type F0100, costs $50 and has to set forth the information required by section 79-35-5(a): the name of a commercial registered agent, or the name, address and email address of a noncommercial one. The email address requirement was added in 2021.

Under section 79-35-14 the agent's duties include forwarding to the entity, at the address most recently supplied by the entity, any process, notice or demand served on the agent. The Secretary of State's business FAQ describes state mail a different way: notice of any filings for a company is sent to all email addresses associated with the company. These are the LLC provisions, and the same agent service is open to corporations, LPs, LLPs and nonprofits.

The Secretary of State's page on registered agents puts it in one sentence: any individual, corporation or LLC may act as registered agent for any Mississippi company, provided the agent has a physical address in the state of Mississippi. The Act sets no residency or age rule.

There are two classes. A commercial registered agent is any individual or entity that chooses to register with the Secretary of State and hold itself out as a registered agent for hire, and the listing fee is $100. A noncommercial agent is a person not listed as commercial that is an individual, or a domestic or foreign entity that serves in the state as the agent for service of process of an entity.

Naming an agent is an affirmation by the entity that it has notified the agent of the appointment, provided a forwarding address, and that the agent has consented to serve. The Secretary of State says a company using a noncommercial agent must get that agent's permission before listing it, and noncommercial agents are not notified of their selection. A commercial agent that does not want to act has to file a Statement of Non-acceptance within 14 days of selection.

Section 79-35-4 says the filing gives an actual street address in Mississippi, plus a mailing address in the state if it is different. A box on its own does not meet that. The Act and the Secretary of State's guidance set no office hours for the agent. What counts is an actual street address in Mississippi.

What the public sees depends on the kind of agent. A filing that names a commercial registered agent shows only that agent's name. A filing that names a noncommercial agent shows the agent's name, address and email address.

If you live in Mississippi with a physical address, you can name yourself, and it costs nothing extra. Your name, address and email address go on the filing, and papers served on you personally are yours to handle, even when you are on a job site, with a client or on vacation.

A partner, an employee, a Mississippi attorney or a trusted friend can serve if they agree and are reliably reachable.

A commercial registered agent is listed on your filing by name only, and its own listing sits with the Secretary of State.

Mississippi no longer has a separate form to change the registered agent. The Secretary of State's FAQ says changes are handled as an amendment in the portal: log in, choose File an Amendment on an Existing Business and enter the Mississippi business ID. The fee schedule lists the LLC registered agent/office statement of change, F0010, at $10.

Under section 79-35-8 the statement takes effect on filing, and the interest holders or governors of a domestic entity do not need to approve it. Naming the new agent carries the same consent affirmation as at formation. The Secretary of State says some documents paid online are approved immediately and the rest should be handled within about 24 hours.

Moving to Mainstay, we prepare and submit the change through the portal, and the $10 is charged at cost. Then look the company up in the business search to confirm the new agent shows, and keep the filing confirmation.

A Mississippi registered agent resigns with a statement of resignation under section 79-35-11, and the fee is $0. The statement has to certify that at least 30 days before filing, written notice of the resignation was sent to each represented entity, addressed and delivered to its last known principal office. The resignation takes effect on the earlier of the 31st day after it is filed or the appointment of a new registered agent. So the old agent stays in place for about a month, and the $10 change is how you name a replacement.

If an entity no longer has a registered agent, or its agent cannot with reasonable diligence be served, section 79-35-13 treats the governors of the entity as its agent for service of process. If the governors cannot be served with reasonable diligence, service is made on the Secretary of State, and the statute also allows handing a copy to the manager or other individual in charge of any regular place of business.

An empty seat can also end the LLC. Being without a registered agent in Mississippi for 60 days or more, or not telling the Secretary of State within 60 days that the agent changed or resigned, is a ground for administrative dissolution under section 79-29-821. The LLC is dissolved if the problem is not corrected within 60 days after the notice.

A late annual report can lead to the same proceeding: once a report is 60 days late, the Secretary of State can start it. Members are not made personally liable just because the LLC was dissolved, but a dissolved LLC cannot bring a lawsuit in a Mississippi court until it is reinstated. Reinstatement costs $50, and some LLCs also need a tax clearance letter from the Department of Revenue.

The Certificate of Formation under section 79-29-201 states the LLC's name and the agent information required by section 79-35-5(a). A dissolution date appears only if the LLC is not perpetual, and a delayed effective date can be no later than the 90th day after filing.

The annual report under section 79-29-215 repeats the agent. It carries the name and jurisdiction, the registered agent's name, email address and street or physical address, the principal office, the managers if the LLC is manager-managed or at least one member if it is member-managed, any principal officers, whether there is a written operating agreement and a brief description of the business.

Mississippi's annual report is due by April 15 every year, is filed online and carries no state fee.

The agent role is $149 a year with Mainstay, and the same $149 when you renew, with compliance reminders along the way. Your annual report is a separate matter. It is due April 15, carries no state fee, and lists the agent, the principal office, the managers or a member, any principal officers, whether there is a written operating agreement and a brief description of the business. Filing it is not something this service does. The $199 formation package does, together with the agent, the Certificate of Formation and your EIN application.

Mainstay's Mississippi address takes the place of yours on the record. We scan and upload service of process within the same business day and charge nothing for it. Three government mailings a year get scanned free, with a per-piece scan or shipping fee after that, and no tier includes free physical forwarding.