For most business entities in South Dakota, a registered agent isn’t just a smart business investment, it’s a legal requirement.
South Dakota registered agents are so intertwined with the formation process that it’s nearly impossible to file your formation documents without listing one. And they’re handy for compliance, as well, because many of the best registered agents provide compliance alerts.
Stick around and I’ll tell you all about what a South Dakota registered agent is, what it does, and why your South Dakota business needs one.
What Is a Registered Agent in South Dakota?
A registered agent is an individual or business entity that agrees to receive service of process, legal mail, and business documents on your company’s behalf at your registered office address during regular business hours.
It may seem silly to send your business’s mail to someone at a different address because it’s important. That’s where the second half of a registered agent’s services comes into play: document delivery. Your South Dakota registered agent will use mail forwarding services or online document management portals to make sure you’re able to view your service of process and mail, as well as keeping you informed about upcoming compliance filing deadlines.
Some people also refer to a South Carolina registered agent as a resident agent or statutory agent. No matter which term is used, they all refer to the same service.
What Is the Purpose of a Registered Agent in South Dakota?
People sometimes get the idea that they can establish a PO box for their business and check it with some degree of regularity. But you’ll find out the hard way that this scheme won’t work according to plan.
Your South Dakota registered agent has to be physically present at your principal office address during normal business hours in order to accept service of process, mail, and important legal notices for your business entity. The important takeaway here is that your registered agent in South Dakota must be physically present at your business address—your physical street address. This makes a PO box impossible.
But your South Dakota registered agent can help you out in lots of ways!
Compliance
It can be difficult for a South Carolina business owner to remember their compliance filing deadlines, mainly because they only happen once a year. But your South Dakota registered agent will take a lot of the work out of remembering these dates.
A registered agent in South Dakota functions as an intermediary between government agencies such as the South Dakota Secretary of State and your business. Because of this, some of the best registered agents provide compliance alerts or annual report reminders so that you don’t miss important filing deadlines and land in legal hot water with the Secretary of State.
Management of Important Documents
A lot of the best South Dakota registered agent services supply online document management systems. They scan and upload mail and legal notices when they receive them and you can view them the same day. You’re able to view your mail and documents a lot faster with online document management systems than mail forwarding allows for.
It also provides you with a way to store your files digitally, which means you won’t be bothered to set aside space for filing cabinets and stacks of folders that reach your ceiling.
Who Can Be a Registered Agent in South Dakota?
Several of the requirements for registered agents are the same throughout the United States. Here are a few of the requirements that your registered agent in South Dakota will be obligated to fulfill:
- State laws. Some states have taken some extra initiative and created regulations for registered agents. To make sure your South Dakota registered agent meets all of its legal requirements, you’ll need to read up on South Dakota’s laws about registered agents.
- 18+ years of age. Every registered agent in South Dakota is required to be at least 18 years old.
- Physical address. Your registered agent address must be a physical street address according to state law, which means that PO boxes can’t be used.
- Who you can designate. You’re allowed to designate any person of your choosing as your South Dakota registered agent as long as they meet all the other legal requirements for registered agents in your state. A family member, friend, employee or lawyer can be your registered agent in South Dakota. Keep in mind that whomever you choose as your South Dakota registered agent should be someone who can be available during business hours to perform registered agent services, and someone that you can trust to reliably carry out their duties and keep your company out of legal trouble.
What Happens If My Business Operates Without a Registered Agent?
If your South Carolina registered agent isn’t at your business address when a process server attempts to deliver a service of process, the process server will deliver it to the South Dakota Secretary of State instead.
This isn’t an ideal scenario for your company because if you don’t get your legal notices then you can’t be aware of any legal actions being taken against it, be present in court, or defend your company against these actions. Furthermore, a judge could issue a default judgment against your company, which could deal a real legal or financial blow.
Aside from the prospect of default judgments issued against your company, the South Carolina Secretary of State may revoke your good-standing status because it failed to maintain a registered agent. Once this happens, your company may become ineligible for business loans, be barred from expanding to other states, or be completely banned from business transactions in South Dakota.
Without your company’s good-standing status, your business name reservation is no longer active. In the meantime, other businesses can reserve your business name and use it for themselves. The worst part about this is that even if you’re able to quickly get this legal situation sorted, it’s possible that you’ll never be able to use your chosen business name again.
Another consequence of failing to maintain a registered agent in South Dakota is that the Secretary of State can initiate what’s known as “administrative dissolution.”. This is when a government agency removes the authority of a South Dakota LLC to conduct business due to negligence to meet its legal requirements, like maintaining a South Dakota registered agent or meeting compliance filing deadlines (for things like annual reports).
Without legal recognition of your South Dakota LLC, you’ll no longer benefit from limited liability protection. Without limited liability protection, the business owner of a South Dakota LLC becomes personally and financially responsible for the company, which means that their personal assets and money are fair game in litigation.
The consequences of failing to maintain a South Dakota registered agent extends beyond just South Dakota LLCs to include all business entities, such as corporations, sole proprietorships, and limited liability partnerships.
Can I Be My Own Registered Agent in South Dakota?
There’s no legal reason that prevents you from being your own registered agent in South Dakota. But before you do, you should know the pros and cons of being your own agent instead of hiring a professional registered agent service.
Cons of Being Your Own Registered Agent
Liability
If you miss a service of process, there are a number of catastrophic consequences, such as the revocation of your good-standing status and default judgments against your company.
Lack of Privacy
As your own registered agent, you can expect your personal information to be listed on the public record, including your name, phone number, and in the case of businesses without a physical address, your home address.
The unfortunate thing about something being listed on the public record is that everyone has access to it, even people who may use the information for nefarious reasons, like hackers and cybercriminals. Identity theft can be committed rather quickly using seemingly insignificant bits of personal information.
Plus, it’s just disconcerting to think that anyone can learn your private address or phone number on a whim and use it for their own means.
Time
Many business owners give up on the idea of being their own registered agent once they learn about the time commitment it involves. It’s a full-time job! As a South Dakota registered agent, you’re required to stay posted at your company’s office address during normal business hours so that you don’t miss service of process, or other important official mail or legal documents.
The unfortunate thing is that most businesses are also in operation during normal business hours, which makes being your own agent and properly managing your business nearly impossible jobs to perform simultaneously—unless you figure out a way to be in two places at once.
Pros of Being Your Own Registered Agent
One good thing about being your own registered agent is that you won’t have to pay any South Dakota registered agent service fees. But many business owners agree that the low fees of most registered agent services are worth it to avoid the legal pitfalls of missing a service of process and stretch themselves thin working two jobs.
Should I Use a Registered Agent Service?
Business owners have several different reasons for choosing to use South Dakota registered agent services:
- You can rest easy knowing that your business won’t miss a service of process thanks to your South Dakota registered agent service.
- Since most of the top registered agent services supply compliance alerts to remind you to file annual reports, you’re certain not to miss any important filing deadlines with the South Dakota Secretary of State.
- Since you aren’t weighed down by wearing the hats of both a South Dakota registered agent and business owner, you’re freed up to be the best manager you can be.
- If you have a foreign company that operates in multiple states, you can use one national registered agent service to cover all your legal requirements instead of designating multiple registered agents in different states and amassing a whole crew of agents.
- If you have the sort of business that’s open after what’s considered normal business hours, a South Dakota registered agent service can prevent you from pulling double-duty and allow you to get some sleep.
- If you own a business without a physical street address, you can prevent your home address and other personal information from being listed on the public record by choosing a registered agent service. This allows you to list your registered agent’s name and information, rather than your own.
- Many new business owners are surprised (and maybe a little alarmed) by the insane amount of junk mail that businesses are sent. A South Dakota registered agent service can make short work of this nuisance for you.
- There is a wide selection of registered agent providers to choose from that offer premium registered agent services, like covering state fees, or supplying special types of business insurance (like identity theft protection).
- If you haven’t formally established your business entity in South Dakota, then you can take this opportunity to choose a registered agent service that also supplies business formation services and cash in on promotions like free registered agent service for your first year.
As the owner of your South Dakota business, you’re the only one that knows whether a registered agent service is the best move for your company. But I always recommend that new businesses choose a registered agent service.
What Is the Best Registered Agent Service?
Choosing the best South Dakota registered agent service is complicated business, and it involves several different factors. Here are some of the things you should keep in mind when choosing your company’s registered agent service.
Service Features
With the number of registered agent providers in South Dakota with comprehensive service lists, no one should choose a registered agent company that doesn’t do everything you need it to.
Some registered agent services only offer basic mail forwarding, which means you’ll be left to the mercy of snail mail and have to deal with loads of physical mail. Then there are other registered agent providers that supply online document management systems that give you a space to store and organize your mail and legal documents, view them, and quickly deal with any pressing business in a timely fashion.
Some registered agent providers only supply customers with a compliance calendar that comes pre-filled with deadline dates, while other registered agent companies send out compliance alerts so that you don’t miss important deadlines with the South Dakota Secretary of State.
So do some research, figure out what you need, and don’t settle for a registered agent service that doesn’t meet your needs.
Value
One good metric to test the mettle of a registered agent in South Dakota is to consider both its list of services and its price. If the registered agent company offers a complete list of quality services and an affordable rate, then you’ve probably found a registered agent in South Dakota that provides a great value.
But when searching for a South Dakota registered agent that provides value, make sure you avoid “budget agents.” These registered agent companies use misleading advertising and prices as low as $39–$59 to attract new clients, before ambushing them with loads of additional fees for essential services, like compliance alerts or online document management systems. So, in your haste to choose a registered agent in South Dakota with value, don’t choose a “budget” registered agent.
Easy Sign-Up
Some registered agent companies not only make you fill out tons of paperwork, they make you jump through lots of hoops and even when you get through all of that it can take weeks or even months to complete. To make sure you choose a South Dakota registered agent that doesn’t waste your time in the sign-up process, pick one with a quick and automated process instead.
User-Friendly Interface
You’re going to use your registered agent’s system frequently, so you don’t want to choose one with a system that causes you headaches. Some registered agent companies have systems with antique servers, confusing navigation, and bugs and technical problems throughout the system that cause it to be slow or freeze up periodically. Choose instead a South Dakota registered agent that has a simple and straightforward interface.
Customer Service
Even if you choose the best registered agent service in the world, you’ll still eventually have a question about your service or run into a technical problem that requires you to call in and get answers. And because your registered agent is largely responsible for keeping your company in the good graces of the South Dakota Secretary of State, it’s absolutely vital that you choose a registered agent with quality customer service.
I used these rating factors, as well as my four-stage research process to determine the best registered agent service: Northwest Registered Agent. For more information about registered agent services, or how to choose the best registered agent service for your South Dakota business, read my guide on the Best Registered Agent Services.
Conclusion
When you become a new business owner, you’ll have to learn tons of new information. On top of that, you’re charged with remembering compliance filing deadlines so you don’t run into legal trouble with the South Dakota Secretary of State. But South Dakota registered agent providers are here to make the lives of business owners a little easier.
If you’re still choosing a business structure for your new business entity and would like to learn more about the LLC formation process, read How to Start an LLC. If you’d like professional guidance through the complex business formation process, check out my guide on the Best LLC Formation Services.
South Dakota Registered Agent FAQs
What’s the Difference Between a Commercial and a Noncommercial Registered Agent?
A commercial registered agent is one that has registered with the South Dakota Secretary of State as a commercial agent. Some states require all professional registered agent service providers to register as commercial registered agents.
A noncommercial registered agent service is any individual or business entity that is designated as a registered agent but hasn’t registered with the South Dakota Secretary of State as a commercial agent. So, if you’ve designated your best friend as your registered agent, then they’re official designation is a noncommercial registered agent.
How Do I Change the Registered Agent for My LLC?
Changing your registered agent is a relatively painless process in South Dakota. All you have to do is fill out a Statement of Change of Registered Agent form. You’ll be required to include some registered agent information, such as your new registered agent’s name and address. Once you’ve completed the form, submit it to the South Dakota Secretary of State. Unfortunately, you can’t file this form online. It has to be filed by mail or in person. The filing fee is $10.
How Much Does a Registered Agent Cost?
The cost of a resident agent, statutory agent, or registered agent in South Dakota is based on lots of different criteria, like which company you hire and which services you need. Typically speaking, registered agents can cost anywhere from $39–$299 per state, per year (plus state fees). That’s a wide range of prices! If you’d like to learn more about registered agent pricing, read my guide on the Best Registered Agent Services.
