South Dakota Registered Agent Service, Commercial or Noncommercial

South Dakota follows the Model Registered Agents Act, SDCL chapter 59-11, which splits agents into noncommercial and commercial. A noncommercial agent is an individual who resides in South Dakota, or a business entity registered in South Dakota. A commercial registered agent is registered with the Secretary of State and is listed on your Articles by name and CRA number.

The Secretary of State's Business Services office in Pierre keeps the record. Article III of the Articles of Organization is the registered agent, and Article II is the designated office address, which can be in or out of South Dakota. Filing costs $150 online or $165 on paper.

An agent receives service of any process, notice or demand required or permitted by law to be served on the entity, and under SDCL 59-11-20 its duties include forwarding what is served to the entity at the address most recently supplied. This is the LLC provision, and the same agent service is open to corporations, LPs, LLPs and nonprofits.

The Secretary of State's FAQ is blunt: a registered agent must be a resident of South Dakota, with both a physical and a mailing address in South Dakota. A noncommercial agent's filing gives an actual street address or rural route box number in the state and a mailing address in the state if it is different.

The FAQ also says the office holder of the organization option, available to some entities, does not apply to LLCs.

Naming an agent affirms that the agent consented, under SDCL 59-11-6, so ask before you list a co-owner, a spouse, an employee or an attorney.

Whatever address you list for a noncommercial agent is part of the filing, so a home address listed there is a published address.

South Dakota's chapter 59-11 and the Secretary of State's FAQ do not set office hours for an agent.

A commercial agent is listed on the filing by name and CRA number, in place of your address.

If you live in South Dakota with a physical and a mailing address there, you can be your own agent at no extra cost. Papers served on the agent come to you, which is a consideration if you travel, work in the field or run the business from a second location.

Another South Dakota resident with an in-state street address can serve, and their address is part of the filing too.

A commercial agent is listed by name and CRA number. That suits owners who live out of state or do not want their own address on the filing.

The filing is a Statement of Change of Registered Office or Registered Agent or Both, and the fee schedule lists it at $10. A paper filing adds the $15 paper filing fee, so online is the cheaper route. It is signed on behalf of the entity, and the paper form has no agent signature line, because naming the agent is the entity's affirmation that the agent has consented. The interest holders or governors do not need to approve it, and it takes effect on filing.

The Secretary of State's FAQ says online filings of new formations are processed immediately and paper filings average 1 to 3 business days. It does not publish a separate time for a Statement of Change.

When you move to Mainstay we prepare and file the Statement of Change, and the state's fee is charged at cost. If you own more than one South Dakota LLC, each entity is a separate filing, and changing the agent for one does nothing for the others.

A South Dakota agent resigns with a statement of resignation, and there is no filing fee. Under SDCL 59-11-15 it takes effect on the earlier of the 31st day after it is filed or the appointment of a new registered agent, and the agent has to promptly give the entity notice, in a record, of the filing date. An agent may resign whether or not the entity is in good standing. So you have about a month to file the $10 Statement of Change.

If an entity no longer has a registered agent, or the agent cannot with reasonable diligence be served, SDCL 59-11-16 allows service by registered or certified mail, return receipt requested, addressed to the governors of the entity by name at its principal office, using the names and address in the most recent annual report. It is perfected at the earliest of receipt, the return receipt date, or five days after deposit. Failing that, a copy can be handed to the manager, clerk or other person in charge of any regular place of business.

The Secretary of State's FAQ also lists failure to keep a valid South Dakota registered agent on file as a reason for administrative dissolution. SDCL 47-34A-809 itself lists unpaid fees and late annual reports, so the FAQ's statement is the Secretary of State's own guidance.

South Dakota's annual report costs $55 online or $70 on paper, filed through Business Services Online. It states the name, the principal office, the registered agent, the governors' names, which are not required for a member-managed LLC, and whether the entity owns agricultural land.

A change takes effect January 1, 2027. SDCL 59-11-25, as amended by SL 2026, chapter 203, lets an entity file either in the month of the first-year anniversary of formation and each same month afterward, or beginning in the calendar year after formation on or before January 31 each year. The choice is made on the formation document, and an entity in good standing can switch with a change-of-filing-date form. No Secretary of State page describes the change yet.

If an annual report goes unfiled for more than 60 days past its due date, the Secretary of State can start administrative dissolution, and reinstatement costs $150 plus a tax clearance certificate from the Department of Revenue.

Under SDCL 47-34A-203 and 212, the Articles of Organization also ask for an optional purpose, the designated office address, which can be in or out of South Dakota with an optional email, the name and address of each organizer, the duration if it is not perpetual, and whether the LLC is member-managed or manager-managed. Beneficial owners are optional, and the organizers execute the document.

If the Articles authorize series, the filing fee is $200 instead of $150.

South Dakota agent service from Mainstay is $149 a year, renewing at $149, with compliance reminders. Filing the annual report is not part of this service. For a new South Dakota company the $199 formation package files it, covers the agent, and adds the Articles of Organization and your EIN application.

Mainstay's South Dakota address would replace yours on the public record. Service of process is scanned and uploaded the same business day, and no fee applies. Three government mailings a year are scanned free, and each piece after that carries a per-piece scan or shipping fee. No tier includes free physical forwarding.