Arizona: Corporation Registered-Agent Change and Resignation Requirements
The short answer
An Arizona corporation changes its statutory agent or known place of business through an officer-executed Commission statement, which may be its annual report; a new agent gives written consent, and regular processing has no fee. An agent may file its own address change after written notice or resign for a $10 fee, with resignation effective on day 31, while an uncured agent or known-place lapse can trigger Commission service and administrative dissolution.
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This is the general rule in Arizona. Ask about your specific facts and see which parts of current Arizona law apply, with citations to the statutes.
| Governing law, entity, agent, and scope | Arizona Business Corporation Act, Title 10 chapters 1-17; ordinary domestic for-profit corporation, known place of business, statutory agent, Commission filing, service, and dissolution—not nonprofit or foreign-corporation tracks (A.R.S. §§ 10-120 to -142, 10-501 to -504, 10-1420 to -1421) |
|---|---|
| Continuous agent and office; eligibility | Continuously maintain Arizona known place and statutory agent; agent is Arizona-resident individual, domestic corporation/LLC, or authorized foreign corporation/LLC; Commission says represented entity cannot be its own agent (§ 10-501; ACC M002i) |
| Corporation change authority and internal approval | Corporation changes agent or known place by officer-executed statement; cited change provisions state no separate board or shareholder approval threshold; chair, president, or another officer may sign under general filing rule (§§ 10-120(F), 10-502(A)-(B)) |
| Statement contents, signer, consent, and filing | State corporation name, new known-place street address and/or new agent name and street address plus written consent; officer signs and delivers to Commission; no seal, attestation, acknowledgment, verification, or proof; current paper route also requires M002 acceptance (§§ 10-120(G)-(J), 10-502; C016/M002) |
| Registered-office and agent-office address rules | Arizona uses a separate known place of business rather than "registered office"; it is an Arizona street address and may, but need not, equal agent's Arizona physical street address; agent may have separate Arizona mailing address on current form (§§ 10-501(1), 10-502(A); C016) |
| Agent-initiated, bulk, and commercial-agent changes | Agent changing its street address gives corporation written notice, signs and files statement, and change is effective on delivery; current C016 also offers existing-agent name-only field. No bulk or commercial-agent listing system in Title 10 corporation scheme (§ 10-502(C); C016) |
| Agent resignation, notice, delay, and successor gap | Agent signs and files original resignation, may discontinue known place, and gives written notice to corporation at a different address; Commission mails copies to known place and principal office; resignation/office discontinuance effective day 31; replacement change may take effect earlier on delivery (§§ 10-502(B), 10-503; C029) |
| Effective time, fee, report, and correction routes | Change effective on delivery and may be the annual report; regular change no fee, resignation $10, annual report $45, optional $35 expedite/$200 same-day/ $100 next-day; correction relates back for nonmaterial error or defective execution subject to reliance (§§ 10-122 to -124, 10-502, 10-1622; ACC fees) |
| Service, default, dissolution, foreign, and contract boundaries | Agent service is personal service; if no maintained agent at record address, Commission accepts duplicate copies, forwards one, and corporation gets 30 extra response days. Sixty-day agent/known-place absence or notice failure supports dissolution notice and 60-day cure; dissolution does not end agent authority (§§ 10-504, 10-1420(3)-(4), 10-1421) |
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Requirements one by one
An officer changes the corporation's agent or known place
A.R.S. § 10-502 lets the corporation use a separate statement or its annual
report. The filing names the corporation, supplies the new known-place street
address when that location changes, and supplies the new statutory agent's name,
street address, and written consent when the appointment changes. An officer
executes the statement; the cited change statute does not name a separate board
or shareholder approval step.
A.R.S. § 10-120 allows the chair, president, or another officer to sign and
requires the signer's name and capacity. The general filing rule does not require
a corporate seal, secretary attestation, acknowledgment, verification, or proof.
The current C016 paper route requires the separate signed M002 acceptance with a
new-agent appointment.
The known place and agent address are separate fields
A.R.S. § 10-501 requires the corporation continuously to maintain both an
Arizona known place of business and statutory agent. The known place may be the
agent's address, but need not be. The current C016 implements both as Arizona
physical street-address fields and permits a separate Arizona mailing address
for the agent.
The statutory agent may be an Arizona-resident individual, domestic corporation
or LLC, or authorized foreign corporation or LLC. The Commission's M002
instructions add that a corporation or LLC cannot appoint itself, although a
separately qualifying individual associated with it may serve.
The agent's own statutory route is an address change
Under A.R.S. § 10-502(C), an agent that changes its street address first gives
the corporation written notice, then signs and files a compliant statement
reciting that notice. The change takes effect on delivery. The current C016 also
offers an agency-administered name-only field for the existing agent.
Arizona's cited business-corporation scheme does not establish a commercial-
agent listing or one-statement bulk update. The current resignation instructions
likewise require a separate resignation for each corporation.
Resignation can also discontinue the known place
A.R.S. § 10-503 requires the agent's signed original resignation and allows it
to state that the known place of business is discontinued. The agent gives
written notice to the corporation at an address other than the agent's address.
After filing, the Commission mails copies to the known place, unless discontinued,
and to the principal office.
The resignation and any stated known-place discontinuance take effect on day 31.
A new-agent statement under § 10-502 takes effect on delivery and therefore can
replace the old appointment earlier. Current C029 charges $10 for regular
processing.
Change, report, correction, and expedited routes differ
The statutory agent and known place appear in the annual report required by
A.R.S. § 10-1622, and § 10-502 expressly permits that report to serve as the
change statement. The ordinary C016 change has no regular fee, while the annual
report itself currently costs $45. A.R.S. § 10-122 sets the statutory $10 agent-
resignation and $45 annual-report charges and authorizes expedited processing.
A.R.S. § 10-124 is narrower: it corrects a nonmaterial incorrect statement or
defective execution and relates back subject to protection for an adversely
affected person who relied on the old record. Under § 10-123 an ordinary filing
otherwise takes effect on delivery, subject to filing compliance; C016's change
rule independently fixes effectiveness on delivery.
The current fee schedule adds $35 expedited, $200 same-day, $100 next-day, or
$400 two-hour service where available. Those are processing choices, not filing-
validity requirements.
What trips people up
The lapse threshold has two branches. A.R.S. § 10-1420 permits a dissolution
proceeding when the corporation has lacked an agent or known place for 60 days or
when it fails for 60 days to notify the Commission of an agent/known-place change
or resignation. A.R.S. § 10-1421 then requires written notice and another 60-day
period to cure or disprove every ground before administrative dissolution. The
dissolution itself does not terminate the agent's authority.
Service continues during an agent failure. A.R.S. § 10-504 makes the Commission
the service agent when the corporation does not appoint or maintain its statutory
agent at the recorded address. The serving party leaves duplicate copies; the
Commission forwards one to the known place, and the corporation receives 30 days
to respond in addition to the otherwise applicable time.
Common questions
Can the known place of business be the statutory agent's address?
Yes. Section 10-501 expressly permits the same address, but the corporation still
maintains both statutory items and C016 asks whether the two addresses match.
Does the agent's acceptance itself appoint the agent?
No. The Commission's M002 instructions distinguish acceptance from appointment.
The corporation appoints through C016 or its online change filing; the agent then
accepts through the signed M002 or the corresponding online step.
Does administrative dissolution end the statutory agent appointment?
No. Section 10-1421(D) expressly preserves the agent's authority after
administrative dissolution.
Statutes and sources
- A.R.S. §§ 10-120 to -124. Execution, filing, fees, effective time, and
correction. Official current text accessed August 23, 2026. - A.R.S. §§ 10-501 to -504. Continuous known place and agent, eligibility,
change, consent, resignation, notice, and service. Official current text
accessed August 23, 2026. - A.R.S. §§ 10-1420 to -1421 and 10-1622. Administrative-dissolution grounds,
notice and cure, continuing agent authority, and annual-report content.
Official current text accessed August 23, 2026. - Arizona Corporation Commission C016, M002, C029, instructions, and fee
schedule. Current paper fields, acceptance, signer, filing, and fee guidance,
accessed August 23, 2026.
Source links
Every statute quoted above, linked, with the date we checked it.
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