LLC Registered-Agent and Registered-Office Requirements in Missouri

At a glance

Requirements one by one

Governing law and terminology

Mo. Rev. Stat. § 347.010 names the chapter the Missouri Limited Liability Company Act. Missouri uses registered agent for service and registered office.

Continuous designation duty

Mo. Rev. Stat. § 347.030 requires every LLC to continuously maintain both a Missouri registered office and registered agent. The articles repeat the office's street address and the agent's name under § 347.039.

The office may be a company business place, but it does not have to be one.

Eligible individual

An individual agent must be a Missouri resident. The person's business office must be identical to the LLC's registered office. The Act states no separate minimum age, citizenship, professional-license, or exact-hours threshold.

A member, manager, owner, or employee may serve only by independently meeting the resident-individual and matching-office requirements.

Eligible entity and self-service

The only entity-agent route is a domestic or foreign corporation authorized to do business in Missouri, with its business office identical to the registered office. Section 347.030 does not list an LLC, partnership, or trust.

The represented LLC and another LLC therefore cannot serve as the entity agent. An owner or manager may still serve as an individual Missouri resident.

Registered office, address, and hours

The registered office must be a Missouri physical location where process can be served, and the agent's business office must be identical. Form LLC-1 says a P.O. box may appear only when a street address is also provided. The Secretary also says a retail mailing store such as a UPS Store cannot be the registered office.

Neither § 347.030 nor the current forms state a fixed 9-to-5 or other daily- hours requirement.

Consent and initial filing

The initial articles name the agent and give the registered-office street address. The organizer or organizers sign under § 347.037 and § 347.047. The Act and current LLC-1 form do not require a separate initial agent acceptance or consent attachment.

The rule changes for a replacement. Mo. Rev. Stat. § 347.030.2(5) requires the successor's written consent either on the statement of change or attached to it. Current Corp. 59 provides an agent-signature line and permits a separate originally executed consent instead.

Change, resignation, and replacement

An LLC changes the agent or office by filing the statutory statement. It must give the new information, confirm the office addresses will match, and state that the LLC authorized the change. The change becomes effective on filing.

If the agent moves its own business office, it may file the corresponding registered-office change after written notice to the LLC. Under Mo. Rev. Stat. § 347.030.6, an agent resignation states that written notice and a copy of the filing were given to the LLC. It ends 30 days after the Secretary receives the statement or when a new agent is appointed, whichever occurs first.

Agent duties and service

Mo. Rev. Stat. §§ 347.030 and 347.033 make the agent the LLC's statutory recipient for process, notices, and demands. Service on the agent is lawful personal service on the LLC.

The Act states no separate general deadline, damages rule, or other express duty for forwarding ordinary process after the agent receives it. Contractual duties with a commercial provider may go further.

Lapse consequences and fallback service

Missouri uses a layered service route. Process may go to the registered agent or an authorized person. If neither can be located with due diligence, it may go to an organizer. If the LLC has no agent, or due diligence cannot locate the agent, an authorized person, or an organizer, § 347.033 automatically appoints the Secretary as agent while the default exists. The Secretary forwards a copy by registered mail to an organizer's address from the articles.

Chapter 347 states no standalone administrative-dissolution or penalty ground for losing the agent. Current § 347.143's court-ordered dissolution grounds do not include an agent lapse. Its August 28, 2026 amendment expands the member- invoked court grounds but still does not add an agent-lapse ground.

What trips people up

An LLC cannot be the entity agent. Missouri lists only an authorized corporation for the entity route. A resident natural person remains available.

Initial and replacement consent are different. LLC-1 has no separate agent-acceptance signature. Corp. 59 requires the new agent's signature or an attached written consent when the LLC later changes agents.

Secretary service comes last in the diligence chain. Having an agent who is momentarily unavailable does not automatically skip the authorized-person and organizer routes stated in § 347.033.

Common questions

Can a Missouri member serve as registered agent? Yes, if the member is a Missouri-resident individual whose business office matches the registered office.

Can the registered office be a P.O. box? Not by itself. A physical street address in the same city must also be listed, and a retail mailing-store address is not accepted as the registered office.

When does an agent change take effect? The LLC's filed change takes effect on filing. An agent's resignation instead ends after 30 days or earlier when a new agent is appointed.

Does losing the agent prevent a lawsuit? No. Section 347.033 preserves service on other company-linked people and ultimately makes the Secretary the automatic fallback agent after the required conditions are met.

Statutes and sources

• Mo. Rev. Stat. §§ 347.010, 347.030, 347.033, 347.037, 347.039, 347.047, and 347.143. Current official Revisor text and version history. Accessed July 27, 2026.
• Missouri Secretary of State Form LLC-1, Corp. 59, and registered-agent FAQ. Current formation, successor-consent, address, and office guidance. Accessed July 27, 2026.