South Dakota Registered Agent
When You Want More
A South Dakota registered agent is a resident or corporation that maintains a registered office address in South Dakota and is willing to accept service of process and official mail on behalf of a business. The registered agent must be able to accept any notice, demand, or service of process required by law to be served on the business.
With our South Dakota registered agent service, get Privacy by Default®, business address, free mail forwarding, free Phone Service for 60 days, and local Corporate Guides®—only at Northwest.
Everything You Need To Know About South Dakota Registered Agents:
- Get South Dakota Registered Agent Service
- What Do South Dakota Registered Agents Do?
- Legal Requirements for South Dakota Registered Agents
- How Do I Change My South Dakota Registered Agent?
- What Makes Northwest Different From Other Services?
- South Dakota Registered Agent FAQs
- How To Order Registered Agent Service

What Do South Dakota Registered Agents Do?
At minimum, your South Dakota registered agent accepts legal documents (service of process) and official mail on behalf of your business at a physical address (no P.O. boxes) in the state. This location is called a registered office.
In other words, your registered agent’s address acts as the official place where any service of process and official mail for your South Dakota LLC, South Dakota corporation or South Dakota nonprofit will be sent.
However, the right registered agent service can do much more. At Northwest, we go above and beyond the minimum to ensure top speed, security, privacy and support.
What Are the Legal Requirements for South Dakota Registered Agents?
According to the South Dakota state statute (§ 59-11-6), whether your business is a limited liability company (LLC) or corporation, the state requires the following from a South Dakota registered agent:
- Must be a state resident or company that provides registered agent services.
- Must maintain a registered office (a physical address in South Dakota).
- Must accept legal documents (service of process) during normal business hours.
How Do I Change My South Dakota Registered Agent?
There are two ways to change your registered agent in South Dakota.
- Hire us and we’ll complete the change of agent form for you for free.
- Do it yourself and file a Statement of Change of Registered Agent form with the South Dakota Secretary of State. There is a $10 fee to file this form.
What Makes Northwest Different From Other Services?
At Northwest, we do business the right way. We’re dedicated to getting you your docs fast, protecting your privacy and offering you support. Here’s how:
- Same-Day Scans, Instant Notifications: We accept and scan your docs at our local office the same day. We notify you instantly and reach out to you if your essential mail goes unread.
- Privacy by Default®: We automatically minimize the exposure of and access to your personal data. If we can put our address on a public doc instead of yours, we do. If we don’t have to list your personal info, we don’t. We have tough privacy policies to keep your data safe and private. And we never sell your data.
- Free Limited Mail Forwarding: Of course we’ll get you your state and legal mail. That’s our job. But what if we get some of your regular business mail? It happens a lot—clients and businesses trying to connect with you via your registered agent. We scan 5 documents per year for FREE. We can also scan additional mail at a per document rate of $15.
- Corporate Guides®: Have questions? We have answers. Our guides are business experts whose sole job is to provide phone and email support for all your toughest business questions.
South Dakota Registered Agent FAQs
Why Do I Need A South Dakota Registered Agent?
South Dakota requires all registered businesses to appoint a registered agent. The secretary of state will reject your business filing if you don’t appoint a registered agent. The registered agent requirement exists so the general public and the have a reliable way to contact your business.
Can I Be My Own Registered Agent In South Dakota?
Yes, you can be your own registered agent in South Dakota. However, after considering the registered agent requirements most business owners elect to hire a registered agent service instead. Why? Well although being your own registered agent will cost you $0, a South Dakota registered agent’s name and address becomes part of the public record. Additionally, the registered agent is required to be available to accept service of process during normal business hours 5 days a week.
Where Is Northwest’s Registered Office In South Dakota?
We accept and scan all of our South Dakota clients’ documents on-site at our registered office in Sioux Falls, SD.
Can I Use Your South Dakota Registered Office Address For Everything On My Business Filing?
Please do! We’re the only national registered agent service that allows our clients to list our address for everything when you’re doing a filing to keep your private address off public records.
Can I Have My Business’s Mail Delivered To Your South Dakota Office?
We don’t want ALL of your business mail. It’s not what we do. And it wouldn’t serve you well. You wouldn’t have unique address or suite number. Any mail we receive on your behalf would come to to Northwest Registered Agent, care of you.
But we understand that businesses and clients sometimes reach out to you through your registered agent. Through us. That’s why we give you 5 FREE scans of regular business mail a year. You can request any additional documents to be forwarded at a per document rate of $15.
Do I Hire A Registered Agent Before Or After I Start My Business In South Dakota?
You should hire us first and then form your LLC or corporation because the secretary of state will reject your business registration filing if you don’t. You’ll find all the forms and instructions you need to complete your filing instantly after you place an order.
How Do South Dakota Registered Agents Get Served?
Serving a registered agent is legal proof that you were notified. Regardless of whether you receive the documents your South Dakota registered agent signs for on your business’ behalf, once they accept the documents, you’ve been notified. This is a serious responsibility that we do not take lightly. This is how it works:
- A process server, the county sheriff, or any third party will walk into our office and hand us the documents (service of process), which we sign for.
- The process server then gives an affidavit (a receipt of service) to the court as confirmation that they “served” us.
Note: If you’ve hired us, long before the server hands in their affidavit to the court, you’ve received your documents because we scanned them to your online account within minute of having been served.
How Do I Search For A South Dakota Registered Agent?
- Perform a South Dakota business name search via the SD Secretary of State.
- Type in the name of the company you’re searching for.
- Find the registered agent’s name and registered office street address in the search results.
If you want to legally notify a business through their South Dakota registered agent service, just send a letter through certified mail directly to the registered agent at their registered office address.
How Do I Resign From Being A Registered Agent In South Dakota?
In South Dakota, to resign as a registered agent, you need to submit a Statement of Resignation of Registered Agent form to the South Dakota Secretary of State. For a more detailed walkthrough, you can refer to our guide on how to resign as a registered agent in South Dakota.
How To Order South Dakota Registered Agent Service:
You sign up online, clicking on one of the buttons or links that says “HIRE US.”
We collect the first year of the registered agent service fee up front.
For new businesses, we’ll become your South Dakota registered agent service once your business registration filing with the state is complete.
About a year later, we’ll send you an invoice for another year of South Dakota registered agent service. If you want to keep using us, great; if you don’t, you can easily cancel.
With offices in every state, we make it easy to add registered agent services anywhere in the country. We don’t farm out work (or your info) to other companies—wherever you are, WE are your registered agent.
We make your account a real go-to resource for you, not just for South Dakota registered agent service or paying a bill but for keeping up with South Dakota corporate compliance.
Information Your SD Registered Agent Should Help You Understand:
- Business documents are submitted to the South Dakota Secretary of State.
- Domestic LLCs and corporations cost $150 to file.
- Foreign (out-of-state) LLCs and corporations are significantly more expensive at $750 online ($765 by mail).
- Domestic nonprofits are $30, and foreign nonprofits are $125.
- These businesses are also required to file annual reports each year. The filing fee is $50 ($10 for nonprofits).
At Northwest, we can also form your LLC or form your corporation in South Dakota for $100 plus state fees. As part of our commitment to Privacy by Default®, we put our business address on your filings to better protect your privacy. And you always have the support of our Corporate Guides®.