Plate Nº 44 of 51 — TX
Texas
Texas keeps the national pattern with its own hand on the chart: the role here is called the registered agent, and the filings live with the Secretary of State — Statutory Filings Division.
The requirement in Texas
Every LLC, corporation, and — in most cases — limited partnership or registered nonprofit formed in Texas must continuously maintain a registered agent and a registered office in Texas, from the day the formation is filed until the day the entity is dissolved. The duty also attaches to out-of-state companies that qualify to do business in Texas: foreign qualification and the appointment of a registered agent are filed together, and neither works without the other.
The registered office must be a physical street address in Texas where the agent can be found during normal business hours. It is published in the state's business record — which is why whose address it is becomes a privacy decision as much as a legal one.
Who may serve in Texas
Two kinds of agent are recognized: an individual — an adult resident of Texas — and a business entity authorized to do business in Texas. Texas adds a condition many states skip: the agent must have consented to the appointment. You cannot volunteer someone; a filing naming an agent who never agreed is defective.
Changing course in Texas
Agents are changed by filing a change of registered agent / registered office with the Secretary of State — Statutory Filings Division — the office publishes the current form and any fee on its own schedule. The safe sequence never changes: the new appointment takes effect first, the old agent's resignation follows, and you confirm the change in the public record before you consider it done.
An agent may also resign on their own initiative. How a resignation takes effect, and how long you then have to name a successor, are set by Texas law and differ from state to state — what does not differ is that the seat cannot sit empty on paper while the company trades. Treat a resignation letter as a deadline, and file the change immediately.
Reports and the agent in Texas
Texas has no Secretary of State annual report. The Comptroller's franchise-tax Public Information Report is the yearly filing where agent details surface — keep it consistent with the Secretary of State record.
Verify the agent of record
Do not take any plate's word for your own record — check it. Search your entity by name in the Secretary of State — Statutory Filings Division's official business database and read the agent and address exactly as filed: the official entity search. If what is filed is not who would actually be standing there on a Tuesday, file the change before anything else on your list.
Plate verified against the Secretary of State — Statutory Filings Division's published rules — October 2026.
Before you appoint anyone in Texas
- Price the renewal year, not the advertised year.
- Decide whose address goes on the public record — the DIY ledger is honest about the trade.
- Run your facts through the Navigator, set to Texas.