Last updated
A Wyoming registered agent is the person or business at a Wyoming street address who accepts legal papers for your company. Wyoming spells out the rules in its Registered Offices and Agents Act, chapter 28 of title 17, which the Secretary of State publishes as a PDF of W.S. 17-28. For the filing search, fees and annual report, see our Wyoming business guide.
Who can be your agent
Under W.S. 17-28-101(a)(ii) the agent must be one of four kinds:
- An individual who is at least 18, lives in Wyoming, and whose business office is the registered office.
- A Wyoming business entity at the registered office that has a written agreement with an individual to accept service for it.
- A foreign entity authorized to do business in Wyoming, on the same terms.
- A registered commercial registered agent, covered below.
So an owner who lives in Wyoming can serve. An owner who lives elsewhere cannot serve personally and needs an agent who is in Wyoming.
The address and the email
The registered office must be at a street address in Wyoming. The act describes it as a physical location where the agent, or a person who has an agency relationship with the agent, can accept service and is physically present.
Wyoming also has an email rule. Under W.S. 17-28-101(e), the company and its agent must each keep an email address that the Secretary of State may use to serve documents. A statement changing your agent must list the new agent's email.
What the agent has to do
W.S. 17-28-107 lists the duties. The agent accepts service of process, keeps the delivery address for each company, and keeps records at the registered office in a form it can produce on demand:
- names and addresses of the directors, officers, managers or similar people;
- the name, address and phone of a contact person the company has named;
- a copy of the agency agreement used to accept service.
Your company must give its agent that contact person. Under W.S. 17-28-104(d), the contact cannot be the agent or the agent's employee unless the agent is also an officer, member or manager. The Secretary of State keeps these records confidential, with exceptions such as a court subpoena.
Naming a new agent
To switch, file a statement of change under W.S. 17-28-102. It names the company, the current agent and office, and the new agent, and it includes the new agent's written consent and email. The Business Division's fee schedule lists:
- $5 for the appointment of a new registered agent and office;
- $5 per entity for a registered agent information update;
- $5 per entity for a resignation of registered agent.
When the agent resigns or is missing
An agent who wants out must send you notice at least 30 days before filing the resignation (W.S. 17-28-103(a)). Once you receive it, you have 30 days to file a statement of change. Until a new agent is on file, the Secretary of State classifies the company as delinquent awaiting administrative dissolution, and papers against the company are served on the Secretary of State.
A creditor who cannot reach your agent has another route. W.S. 17-28-104(b) lets them send process by registered or certified mail to your principal office.
If the company is dissolved for lack of an agent, getting it back costs money. The fee schedule lists $350 to reinstate an LLC dissolved for no registered agent.
Commercial registered agents
Wyoming has its own rules for agent businesses. Anyone who acts as agent for more than ten entities must register as a commercial registered agent (W.S. 17-28-105). The annual registration fee is $50 (fee schedule), and renewal is due by November 30 each year. A commercial agent cannot have a felony conviction. The Secretary of State can fine an agent up to $500 per violation for each entity, and can refuse filings from companies it serves (W.S. 17-28-109).
Finding the current agent of a company
Search the company by name in the WyoBiz filing search and open its record. The agent's name and address appear there, and any change of agent shows in the filing history. Our registered agent lookup guide covers what to do when the agent on file no longer answers. For the rules in other states, start with our registered agent overview.
Forming a new company? See how to start an LLC in Wyoming.