Secretary of State search

What a Secretary of State does for businesses

Every US company is created by a filing with one state office. In most states that office belongs to the Secretary of State. It accepts the papers that create an LLC or a corporation, keeps the public record of every company on file, and collects the reports that keep a company in good standing.

For a business owner, that office is where you:

• Search for a company by name or file number, and check whether a name is still free.
• Form a new LLC, corporation or nonprofit.
• Register a company from another state before it does business locally.
• File the annual or biennial report, and change your address, managers or registered agent.
• Order a certificate of good standing or certified copies.
• Close the company with a dissolution or withdrawal.

The office does not issue business licenses for trades, collect sales tax or register your federal tax number. Those sit with city, county and state tax offices and with the IRS.

Every state office

Pick a state below for its full guide, or open the official search straight from the table. Phone numbers and links come from each office's own pages.

How to pick the right office

Use the office of the state where your company was formed. That state holds the main record, even if you work somewhere else. An LLC formed in Delaware is searched, reported and dissolved in Delaware.

If your company also does business in other states, it is usually registered there too as a foreign entity. Each of those states keeps its own short record and often wants its own yearly report. Search each state separately: there is no single national database of companies.

Not sure where a company was formed? Search the state where it has its main office first. The record there will say if it is a foreign entity and name its home state.

Reading a search result

Most state databases show the same core facts. The words differ from state to state, so each office page lists that state's own status terms.

• Status. Active, in good standing, inactive, dissolved, revoked or forfeited. Anything other than active usually means a report or fee is overdue, or the company has closed.
• File number. The state's ID for the company. Use it on every filing.
• Registered agent. The person or company that accepts legal papers in that state.
• Formation date and type. When it was created and whether it is an LLC, a corporation or something else.

A name that does not appear in a search is not reserved for you. Only the state decides when it accepts your filing, and most states say their search result is not a final answer on a name.

What else does a Secretary of State office handle?

Beyond the business search, the office takes formation filings such as articles of organization and articles of incorporation. It also keeps UCC records in most states and issues apostilles for documents going abroad. Each state office page lists what that office does and what it charges.