LLC Registered-Agent and Registered-Office Requirements in Kentucky

At a glance

Requirements one by one

Governing law and terminology

Kentucky's domestic LLC rules are in KRS Chapter 275, with common entity filing, registered-agent, service, and administrative-dissolution rules in KRS Chapter 14A. Both chapters use registered agent and registered office.

Continuous designation duty

KRS 275.025(1)(b) requires the articles of organization to state the registered office and initial registered agent satisfying KRS 14A.4-010. KRS 275.115 then requires every domestic LLC to continuously maintain both in Kentucky.

Eligible individual

Under KRS 14A.4-010(1)(b)1., an individual agent must reside in Kentucky and have a business address identical to the registered office. The statute states no separate age, citizenship, ownership, or fixed daily-hours requirement.

A member, manager, organizer, owner, or employee may serve personally only by independently meeting the Kentucky-residency and matching-address conditions and accepting the appointment.

Eligible entity and self-service

KRS 14A.4-010(1)(b)2. permits an entity or a foreign entity qualified to transact business in Kentucky. Its business address must be identical to the registered office. The text does not expressly exclude the appointing LLC from the entity category.

An entity agent accepts through an authorized individual. The Secretary of State's current Form KLC instructions expressly require that person's signature on behalf of the entity agent.

Registered office, address, and hours

The registered office must be in Kentucky and may be the same as any of the LLC's places of business. The agent's business address and registered office must be identical. KRS 14A.4-020 requires street addresses in a change filing, and the current official formation form likewise calls for a Kentucky street address and says “No Post Office Box Numbers.”

Neither KRS 14A.4-010 nor the cited formation provision states a numbered daily availability window. The 8 a.m.–4:30 p.m. hours printed on Form KLC are the Secretary of State office's operating hours, not registered-agent hours.

Consent and initial filing

The articles identify the initial agent and office under KRS 275.025(1)(b). KRS 14A.4-010(2) makes the appointment ineffective unless the agent signs the appointment document or delivers a written acceptance to the Secretary of State. Form KLC uses the first route: it includes a registered-agent consent and signature block in the articles package.

Change, resignation, and replacement

KRS 14A.4-020 requires an LLC change statement to give the current registered- office street address and agent, any new office street address and agent, the new agent's written consent, and a statement that the office and agent business office will remain identical. The change and new appointment are effective on filing by the Secretary of State.

If an agent changes its own business address, it must notify the LLC in writing, sign and file the compliant statement, and recite that notice. Because the addresses must match, that filing also changes the LLC's registered-office street address.

Under KRS 14A.4-030, the agent resigns by signing and delivering a statement to the Secretary of State and may state that the registered office is discontinued. The Secretary of State mails copies to the registered office, if continuing, and the principal office. Agency ends on the earlier of a successor appointment or day 31 after the resignation filing.

Agent duties and service

KRS 14A.4-040(1) makes the agent the LLC's agent for service of process, notices, and demands. KRS 14A.4-010(3) adds a recordkeeping arrangement: the LLC must provide and update a natural person's name, business address, and business telephone number as its communications contact, and the registered agent must retain that current information in paper or electronic form. Failure to supply a current contact lets the agent resign.

The cited provisions state no general deadline for the private agent to forward a received document and no separate damages rule for delayed forwarding.

Lapse consequences and fallback service

KRS 14A.7-010 permits an administrative-dissolution proceeding after the LLC has been without an office or agent for 60 days or has failed for 60 days to notify the Secretary of State of a change, office discontinuance, or agent resignation. Under KRS 14A.7-020, the Secretary of State then advises the LLC of the ground; failure to cure or disprove it within another 60 days results in administrative dissolution. The LLC continues only for winding up, and dissolution itself does not end a still-existing registered agent's authority.

Loss or unavailability of the agent does not block service. KRS 14A.4-040(2) permits registered or certified mail, return receipt requested, to the principal office and appropriate person or office. Service is perfected at the earliest of actual receipt, the date on a receipt signed for the LLC, or five days after a correctly addressed, postage-paid mailing evidenced by the postmark. The section expressly says this is not necessarily the only or required service method.

What trips people up

The addresses must match. Kentucky ties the agent's business address to the registered office and preserves that identity in every change statement.

The agent actually accepts. Naming an unwilling person is not an effective appointment. The agent signs the appointment document or sends written acceptance to the Secretary of State.

The communications contact is separate from the registered agent. The LLC must keep a natural person's name, business address, and telephone number current with its agent; the agent retains that information and may resign if it is not provided.

The fallback is mail to the principal office, not automatic Secretary-of-State service. KRS 14A.4-040 supplies its own receipt-or-day-five perfection rule.

Common questions

Can a Kentucky member be the registered agent? Yes, if the member is an individual Kentucky resident, uses a business address identical to the Kentucky registered office, and signs or separately files the required acceptance.

Can the registered office be a P.O. box? The current official formation form requires a Kentucky street address and says no P.O. box numbers. The statute also uses street addresses for later office-change filings.

When does a resignation take effect? On the earlier of the successor's appointment or the 31st day after the statement of resignation was filed.

How long before an agent lapse can dissolve the LLC? Sixty days without the agent or office creates a statutory ground. After the Secretary of State's notice, the LLC receives another 60 days to cure or disprove the ground before administrative dissolution.

Statutes and sources

• KRS 275.025, 275.115 — articles fields and continuous office/agent duty. https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=39663 and https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=36704 (accessed 2026-07-27)
• KRS 14A.4-010 to -040 — eligibility, matching address, acceptance, communications contact, changes, resignation, effective dates, and service. https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=36549, https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=36550, https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=36551, and https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=36553 (accessed 2026-07-27)
• KRS 14A.7-010 to -020 — 60-day lapse grounds, notice, cure, dissolution, winding-up status, and continuing agent authority. https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=36556 and https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=36557 (accessed 2026-07-27)
• Kentucky Secretary of State Form KLC (rev. 7/25) — street-only registered- office field, no-P.O.-box instruction, and registered-agent consent signature. https://web.sos.ky.gov/forms/corp/KLC-Articles%20of%20Organization-Profit%20Limited%20Liability%20Company.pdf (accessed 2026-07-27)