Arkansas: LLC Registered-Agent and Registered-Office Requirements

Requirements one by one

Governing law and terminology

Arkansas divides the subject between the Uniform Limited Liability Company Act,
Arkansas Code § 4-38-101 et seq., and the Model Registered Agents Act in
§§ 4-20-101 to 4-20-117. The LLC statute uses registered agent and requires
the agent to have an Arkansas place of business. It does not impose a separate
LLC registered-office location in addition to that agent address.

Continuous designation duty

Arkansas Code § 4-38-115 requires each LLC to designate and maintain a
registered agent in Arkansas under Chapter 20. The agent must have a place of
business in the state. Section 4-38-201(b) makes the initial § 4-20-105(a)
appointment information part of the certificate of organization.

Eligible individual

Arkansas Code § 4-20-102 allows an individual to serve as either a commercial or
noncommercial registered agent. The LLC-specific qualification is the Arkansas
place of business in § 4-38-115(c). The cited sections do not add a residence,
minimum-age, citizenship, or stated daily-hours condition.

Eligible entity and self-service

Domestic and foreign entities may serve as commercial or noncommercial agents.
Arkansas Code § 4-20-106 lets an individual or entity elect commercial listing
by filing the prescribed statement. Unlike states that impose commercial
registration at a numerical client threshold, the cited Arkansas provision
states no number of represented entities that triggers listing.

Section 4-20-105 also permits the filing to designate an office or other
position within the LLC and give the business-office address of the person who
holds it. That is the express entity self-service route. A member or manager
may instead be named personally when the person independently has the required
Arkansas business place.

Registered office, address, and hours

Under § 4-20-104, the appointment filing states an actual Arkansas street
address or rural-route box and also an Arkansas mailing address when different.
The street or rural-route field cannot be replaced by a mailing-only P.O. box.
Section 4-38-115 separately requires the agent's Arkansas place of business.

The cited agent statutes state no numbered business-hours window or daily
availability schedule. The Secretary of State's current LL-01 paper form labels
the agent field “Physical Street Address.”

Consent and initial filing

Section 4-20-105 offers three appointment formats: the commercial agent's name;
the noncommercial agent's name and address; or an office or position and its
holder's business-office address. The LLC's designation itself is an
affirmation that the agent consented. No separate agent acceptance or signature
is required by the cited provisions.

The current LL-01 form asks for the agent's name and Arkansas physical street
address. The organizer—not the agent—signs the certificate under penalty of
perjury.

Change, resignation, and replacement

Under § 4-20-108, the LLC files a signed statement with the new appointment
information. The new designation again affirms consent and takes effect on
filing; members or managers need not separately approve the filing. The LLC may
also amend its most recent registered-agent filing through the otherwise
applicable amendment procedure.

Section 4-38-118 makes an agent's own name or address change effective on
filing. A noncommercial agent files by represented entity, while a commercial
agent's filing changes its information across represented entities. Both must
give the represented LLC prompt notice of the filed change.

Under § 4-38-117, resignation takes effect on the earlier of a replacement
designation or the 31st day after filing. The agent promptly tells the LLC the
filing date. The statute does not give the LLC an additional grace period after
day 31 before it is without an agent.

Agent duties and service

Arkansas Code § 4-20-114 requires a compliant agent to forward received
process, notices, and demands to the address most recently supplied by the LLC;
send Chapter 20 notices to that address; and keep the applicable appointment or
commercial-listing information current. It states no numbered forwarding
deadline.

Arkansas Code § 4-38-119 permits service by serving the registered agent and requires
service on the agent to be in a written record. Other service methods allowed
by law remain available.

Lapse consequences and fallback service

Under § 4-38-708, 60 consecutive days without an Arkansas registered agent is
a ground for the Secretary of State to begin administrative dissolution. The
Secretary serves notice of the determination, and the LLC then has 60 days to
cure or show the ground does not exist. If it does neither, the Secretary files
administrative dissolution. The company continues only for winding up,
liquidation, or reinstatement, and dissolution does not terminate an agent that
still has authority.

An absent or unservable agent does not block service. Section 4-38-119 first
allows registered or certified mail, return receipt requested, or similar
commercial delivery to the principal office in the latest annual report.
Service is effective at the earliest of actual receipt, the date on a signed
return receipt, or day five after a correctly addressed and sufficiently paid
deposit. If that route also fails, a copy may be handed to the individual in
charge of a regular company business place or activity, unless that individual
is the plaintiff.

What trips people up

The statute asks for a mailing address that the paper form does not show.
Section 4-20-104 requires an Arkansas mailing address when it differs from the
street or rural-route address. LL-01 displays only the physical agent-address
field, so a filer with different addresses should confirm the current filing
method and how the Secretary of State wants the additional statutory
information supplied.

“Commercial” is an elective filing status. Section 4-20-106 does not state
a 10-client or other numerical threshold. An individual or entity becomes a
commercial agent by filing the commercial listing statement.

Day 31 is the end of resignation, not the start of a cure period. Once the
resignation becomes effective, the LLC is without an agent unless it already
appointed the replacement. The 60-consecutive-day dissolution ground then
measures the continuing lapse.

Common questions

Can an Arkansas LLC owner be the registered agent? Yes, personally, if the
owner has the required Arkansas place of business and is properly named. The
LLC may also designate an office or position within the company.

Must the agent sign the certificate of organization? No. The appointment
itself affirms the agent's consent, and the current LL-01 signature belongs to
the organizer.

Can I use only a P.O. box? No. Chapter 20 requires the actual Arkansas
street address or rural-route box. A different Arkansas mailing address is
additional information, not a substitute for that location.

Does the LLC get notice before administrative dissolution? Yes. After the
60-day agent lapse creates a ground, the Secretary of State serves a notice,
and § 4-38-708 provides another 60 days to cure or disprove the ground.

Statutes and sources

• Arkansas Code §§ 4-38-115 to 4-38-119 and § 4-38-201. Continuous
  appointment, consent, place of business, change, resignation, service, and
  formation information. Official 2021 Act 1041
  (accessed July 27, 2026).
• Arkansas Code §§ 4-20-102 and 4-20-104 to 4-20-114. Agent types,
  eligibility, address, appointment, commercial listing, changes, resignation,
  service authority, and duties. Official 2007 Act 638
  (accessed July 27, 2026).
• Arkansas Code § 4-38-708. Agent-lapse ground, notice, cure, and
  administrative dissolution. Official 2021 Act 1041
  (accessed July 27, 2026).
• Arkansas Secretary of State Form LL-01. Current certificate fields and
  organizer execution. Official form
  (accessed July 27, 2026).