Arkansas’s agent files under the Model Registered Agents Act — and the $150 May 1 franchise-tax paper is not that job

What Arkansas actually requires

Ark. Code § 4-38-115 is the Arkansas LLC office-and-agent statute. Each limited liability company, and each registered foreign limited liability company, shall designate and maintain a registered agent in this state in compliance with the Model Registered Agents Act, § 4-20-101 et seq. The designation of a registered agent is an affirmation of fact by the company that the agent has consented to serve. A registered agent for a limited liability company must have a place of business in this state. The only duties under the LLC chapter of an agent that has complied are the duties in Ark. Code § 4-20-114. That is the LLC sentence. We print it. We do not invent a shorter one.

Ark. Code § 4-20-104 is the street rule. Whenever the Model Registered Agents Act requires that a filing state an address, the filing must state an actual street address or rural route box number in this state, and a mailing address in this state if that mailing line is different. That is the street rule. We print it. We do not invent a shorter one. The Business Services FAQ adds the office line for a corporation: the registered agent’s address must be a street address in Arkansas, and the agent must be located at that address. A post office box or “mail drop” may not be used as the registered agent address. The FAQ cites Ark. Code § 4-27-501 for a profit corporation. The LLC path we retrieved is § 4-38-115 and Chapter 20. We print both. We do not invent a third street rule that makes them disagree.

Ark. Code § 4-20-105 is how the appointment is written. A registered-agent filing must state the name of the represented entity’s commercial registered agent, or, if the entity does not have a commercial registered agent, the name and address of the noncommercial registered agent. The Secretary of State shall make available a daily list of filings that contain the name of a registered agent. That list must be kept available for at least 14 calendar days. It is a daily list. It is not a Nevada-style ten-company commercial-agent register.

Ark. Code § 4-20-106 is how a commercial registered agent lists. An individual or a domestic or foreign entity may become listed as a commercial registered agent by filing a commercial registered agent listing statement. The statement says the person is in the business of serving as a commercial registered agent in this state, and it lists a place of business in this state where service of process and other papers may be delivered. The listing takes effect on filing. The live Commercial Registered Agents page says those filings are a result of the Model Registered Agents Act of 2007. Form CRA-R, Commercial Registered Agent Registration, is $50.00 paper. There is no online fee row. Notice of Change of Commercial Registered Agent Information, CRA-CF, is no fee. Commercial Registered Agent Termination Statement, CRA-TS, is $50.00. The CRA-R form asks for a street address of the registered agent for service of process in Arkansas, and a mailing address. Arkansas’s commercial bar is that listing. It is not a ten-company count. Delaware’s commercial bar is more than 50. Nevada’s bar is ten.

Ark. Code § 4-38-201 is what the certificate of organization must say. The live LLC forms table prices Certificate of Organization, form LL-01, at $45.00 online and $50.00 paper. Bizee’s Arkansas page names the same $45 online / $50 paper pair. Those two numbers match. Leaving the agent off is a defect. Franchise Tax Registration used with form LL-01 is no fee. Name reservation, form RN-06, is $22.50 online and $25.00 paper. That name reservation is a first paper. It is not the registered-agent job.

The Notice of Change of Registered Agent for LLC is the live change paper. The form number is DO-03. The live LLC table prices that paper at no fee online and no fee paper. Ark. Code § 4-20-108 is how the company changes the line under the Model Registered Agents Act. The company files a statement of change that names the entity and the information that is to be in effect. The statement takes effect on filing. The interest holders or governors need not approve that filing. A represented entity may also change the line by amending its most recent registered-agent filing in the manner other Arkansas law provides for amending that filing. Listing a new name on a later franchise-tax paper can do that job when the name or address differs. Ark. Code § 4-38-212 (e) says so: if an annual report contains a registered-agent name or address that differs from the Secretary of State’s record, that differing information is considered a statement of change under Ark. Code § 4-38-116. Putting a new name on a $150 paper is still not the registered-agent job. The job is taking court papers at the Arkansas street.

Ark. Code § 4-20-111 is how an agent steps down. The agent files a statement of resignation. The statement takes effect on the earlier of the 31st day after the day it is filed or the appointment of a new registered agent. The agent shall promptly furnish the company with notice of the date the statement was filed. A commercial agent who ends the listing uses CRA-TS. The live commercial-agent table prices that paper at $50.00. ZenBusiness’s Arkansas page, last updated August 27, 2025, prints the same 31st-day end and the same $50 commercial termination. Those vendor sentences match the statute and the table we retrieved. Northwest’s Arkansas page talks about a Statement of Registered Agent Resignation. We print the vendor name. The live statute we opened is § 4-20-111.

Ark. Code § 4-38-212 is the yearly Secretary of State paper this page will not confuse with the agent job. A limited liability company, and a registered foreign limited liability company, shall deliver an annual report that states the name of the company, the name and street and mailing addresses of its registered agent in this state, the street and mailing addresses of its principal office, and the name of at least one governor. The first annual report must be delivered after January 1 and before April 1 of the year following the calendar year in which the certificate of organization became effective. Later reports use that same January-to-April window. Then subsection (f) says a limited liability company has satisfied the annual report requirements under this section if the requirements under the Arkansas Corporate Franchise Tax Act of 1979, Ark. Code § 26-54-101 et seq., have been met. The live Franchise Tax / Annual Report Forms page prices a Limited Liability Company LLC or PLLC report at $150 online and $150 paper. The same page says all corporations, LLCs, banks, and insurance companies registered in Arkansas must pay an annual franchise tax. The 2026 Annual LLC Franchise Tax Report says all companies must comply with the May 1 due date, and that all reports are due on or before May 1. Extensions were eliminated. Postage-meter dates are not acceptable. Online franchise-tax filing adds a $5.00 processing fee. Bizee’s Arkansas page says the annual franchise tax report is due May 1. That vendor sentence matches the live form. We print the statute’s January-to-April window, the form’s May 1 line, and subsection (f). We do not invent a fourth date that makes them agree. That $150 paper can list a new agent. It is still not the registered-agent job.

The Business Services FAQ asks, “What is franchise tax?” The answer is a privilege tax imposed on corporations, including banking corporations and limited liability companies that are incorporated in Arkansas, and on foreign corporations and limited liability companies that transact business here. Franchise taxes are paid to the Secretary of State. They can be filed online at ark.org/sos/franchise, by mail, or in person at the Little Rock or Fayetteville office. Failure to pay can bring extra fees, penalties, and interest, or revocation. The live franchise-tax page says additional BCS filings are prohibited for persons or entities that fail to pay the franchise tax. The FAQ says the most common reason a corporation is revoked, or administratively dissolved, is failure to pay the annual franchise tax. Bizee’s Arkansas page says the state can administratively dissolve an LLC that does not have a registered agent. That is Bizee copy. We print the franchise-tax revocation path we opened. We do not invent a missing-agent LLC clock the franchise-tax pages did not print.

The public lookup sits at sos-corp-search.ark.org. The search form says Search Incorporations, Cooperatives, Banks and Insurance Companies. You may search by name, fictitious name, or registered agent. Confirm the live line on the Business Entity Search before you treat a marketing city as current. Headquarters is not the registered office. The Secretary of State’s Little Rock and Fayetteville contacts are not a vendor suite.

Paper filings go to Business and Commercial Services, Victory Building, 1401 W. Capitol Avenue, Suite 250, Little Rock, AR 72201. The BCS phone is 501-682-3409 or 888-233-0325. The request line is corprequest@sos.arkansas.gov. The Executive Office is at the State Capitol, 500 Woodlane Avenue, Suite 256, Little Rock, AR 72201, telephone 501-682-1010. There is also a Northwest Arkansas office at Today’s Bank Building, 300 North College, Suite 201F, Fayetteville, AR 72701. The FAQ posts BCS hours Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Central. Those hours are the Secretary of State’s hours. They are not a registered-office clock. Arkansas does not post Florida-style 10–noon / 2–4 windows. We do not treat a company 9-to-5 line as the statute. ZenBusiness’s Arkansas page prints the State Capitol, Suite 256 line and corporations@sos.arkansas.gov. Those are published Executive Office contacts. They are not the Victory Building suite on the live BCS pages.

Cited prices, retrieved September 16, 2026

We print what the company’s official registered-agent page said on the retrieval date. No company publishes a different Arkansas registered-agent price from the national card, except where we note an Arkansas-page sentence. We do not invent a renewal.

• Northwest Registered Agent: official page: “$125 Per Year.” Same price in year two on the national card. Five or more states is $100 a year per state. Retrieved September 16, 2026 from northwestregisteredagent.com/registered-agent and the Arkansas product page. First year free only if you form through them; we do not treat that bundle as the standalone price. The Arkansas page says they accept and scan documents on-site at their registered office in Mountain Home, AR. The same page also sells five free scans of regular business mail a year, with extra scans at $15 a document. Those extras are a different product. We do not grade those extras as the registered-agent job. The same page talks about the Arkansas Annual Franchise Tax Report. That report is a different paper.
• Bizee: official registered-agent page: free first year with formation; standalone $149/year; year two $149/year. Retrieved September 16, 2026 from bizee.com/business-management/registered-agent. A bizee.com/llc/arkansas-registered-agent URL returned 404 the same day. The live Arkansas page is bizee.com/llc/arkansas/registered-agent. That page names a $45 online / $50 paper Certificate of Organization and an annual franchise tax report due May 1. The live LLC table we retrieved is $45.00 / $50.00. The live franchise-tax form we retrieved is May 1 and $150. After a free first year with formation, the official card says the agent service is $149 a year. The same page talks about a physical street during normal business hours. That is Bizee copy. We print those vendor sentences. We do not invent an Arkansas-only price from a missing hyphenated URL.
• LegalZoom: official overview retrieved September 16, 2026: “Get registered agent services for $249/year.” Product card: $249/year. Retrieved from legalzoom.com/…/registered-agent-overview.html. The live Arkansas article is legalzoom.com/articles/registered-agent-in-arkansas, updated April 30, 2026. That article says LegalZoom’s registered-agent service has an office in Rogers. No street is published. A legalzoom.com/articles/arkansas-registered-agent URL returned 404 the same day. The article talks about typically Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. That clock is LegalZoom copy. The same article says a business entity can’t serve as its own registered agent, and that a commercial registered agent must file a Commercial Registered Agent Listing Statement. We print those vendor sentences. We do not invent a suite or a higher year-two number.
• ZenBusiness: official Arkansas page: first-year and renewal dollars are the national card. The national page says $99 + state fees for the first year and renews at $199/yr, subject to change. The Arkansas page, last updated August 27, 2025, talks about $100 to a few hundred dollars a year as a market range. That range is not a ZenBusiness price. We keep the national card. A zenbusiness.com/arkansas-resident-agent/ URL returned 404 the same day. The live Arkansas page is /arkansas-registered-agent/. That page names commercial and noncommercial registered agents, says P.O. boxes and mailbox services are not allowed, prices the Notice of Change of Registered Agent Information at no fee, prints a 31-day resignation, and prices commercial termination at $50. Those four lines match the live table and Ark. Code § 4-20-111. The national page says they currently do not offer registered-agent service to PLLCs or nonprofits. That is their national exclusion, not an Arkansas statute. Retrieved September 16, 2026 from zenbusiness.com/registered-agent and the Arkansas registered-agent page.

A change of registered agent is a separate Secretary of State filing unless you put the new line on the franchise-tax report and that report’s agent line differs from the record. We cite Ark. Code § 4-20-108, the $0 DO-03 row, and the $150 LLC franchise-tax paper. The $150 paper can list the agent. It is still not the registered-agent job.

Who publishes an Arkansas street

A city is not a registered office. We print only the streets the companies publish for registered-agent use. We do not invent the rest. Confirm the live name and street on the Business Entity Search before you file. Headquarters is not the registered office. The Secretary of State’s Little Rock and Fayetteville contacts are not vendor suites.

• Northwest. The Arkansas product page says they accept and scan documents on-site at their registered office in Mountain Home, AR. The office-locations page lists Mountain Home, AR 72653 Baxter County, and says they leave the street off this list. No street is published. The two city lines match on Mountain Home. We have not been to a Mountain Home office. Northwest also sells extra mail scans from that location. Those extras are a different product.
• Bizee. Claims owned offices in all 50 states. The official registered-agent page names no Arkansas street. The live Arkansas product page names no Arkansas street. The hyphenated Arkansas URL we tried returned 404 on September 16, 2026. The contact page lists 17350 State Highway 249, Suite 220, Houston, TX 77064 as headquarters. That address is not an Arkansas registered-agent street.
• LegalZoom. The official registered-agent overview does not publish an Arkansas street. The live Arkansas article names a Rogers office and no street. The second Arkansas article URL we tried returned 404 the same day. We do not invent a suite. We do not treat a LegalZoom virtual-mail street as the registered-agent street.
• ZenBusiness. The Arkansas registered-agent page publishes no ZenBusiness street or city. It prints Secretary of State contacts at State Capitol, Suite 256, 500 Woodlane Street, Little Rock, AR 72201, telephone 501-682-3409, and corporations@sos.arkansas.gov. Those lines are the Executive Office and a published phone. They are not ZenBusiness. The live BCS filing desk we retrieved is 1401 W. Capitol Avenue, Suite 250. We do not treat the Capitol suite as their office.

If you are your own registered agent, the street on the public record is often your home. If you hire a commercial registered agent, the agent line is that organization’s name. Northwest names Mountain Home on the product page and Mountain Home, AR 72653 Baxter County on the office list, and no street on either. LegalZoom names Rogers and no street. Bizee publishes no Arkansas street. ZenBusiness publishes the Secretary of State’s State Capitol suite. We label every published city vendor-claimed. Use the Business Entity Search.

In-state office, the commercial listing, and the $150 May 1 paper

Arkansas wants a registered agent with a place of business in this state. A filing that must state an address must state an actual street or a rural-route box. A P.O. Box or a mail drop is not that street. A commercial registered agent lists on form CRA-R. The live table prints $50.00. Change the agent on Notice of Change of Registered Agent, form DO-03, $0 on the live table, or put the new line on the franchise-tax report if that report’s agent line differs from the record. The LLC franchise-tax paper is $150. The live form says May 1. The annual-report statute also says before April 1, and then says the franchise-tax filing satisfies that report. Resignation ends on the earlier of the 31st day or a successor. Commercial termination is $50.00. Stay without paying the franchise tax and the Secretary of State may revoke or dissolve for that tax paper. Arkansas does not post a Florida-style 10–noon / 2–4 clock, and it does not run a Nevada-style ten-company commercial-agent register. The commercial listing is the Arkansas bar. Northwest claims Mountain Home, ZIP 72653, Baxter County. LegalZoom names Rogers. ZenBusiness publishes State Capitol, Suite 256 — the Secretary of State. Bizee names no Arkansas street. Process Score has not been to those offices. We do not treat a company 9-to-5 line as Ark. Code § 4-38-115.

Service of process, not marketing mail

We grade scan-and-forward of service of process and official notices:

• Bizee: notifications by text and email; court papers mailed via FedEx with tracking; portal upload by employees. The Arkansas page talks about a physical street during normal business hours. That is Bizee copy. Contact-page support hours are Monday–Friday 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. CST. Those are support hours, not registered-office hours.
• Northwest: “We scan every document you receive right where you receive it—in our office.” The Arkansas page adds on-site scans at the Mountain Home office. Their extra mail-scan product is a different product. We do not grade those extras as a mailbox.
• LegalZoom: upload, email, and a postcard for urgent legal mail; they say they shred junk mail. The live Arkansas article names a Rogers office and a typical 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. line. Junk-mail shredding is not the job we score. That clock is not the statute.
• ZenBusiness: scan and upload to a dashboard; email; overnight the original for urgent legal notices. Their own FAQ says you cannot use the agent address as your business address. Their national product currently excludes PLLCs and nonprofits; that is their exclusion, not an Arkansas statute. The Arkansas page prints Secretary of State contacts at State Capitol, Suite 256. That suite is office copy for the Executive Office. It is not Ark. Code § 4-38-115.

Home-address privacy

A commercial registered agent is how most Arkansas owners keep a home off the agent line. The Secretary of State still publishes whatever other addresses you put on a formation filing or a franchise-tax report. Privacy of the agent line is not privacy of every field. An Arkansas LLC must name an agent. It cannot leave that line blank. Confirm the live line on the Business Entity Search.

Scorecards

What this page does not do

• It does not rank mailbox networks or virtual offices.
• It does not publish combined star ratings or a fake 4.8.
• It does not treat a company 9-to-5 line as Ark. Code § 4-38-115.
• It does not treat the $150 May 1 franchise-tax report as the registered-agent job. That report can still list a new agent if the name or address differs.
• It does not treat a Houston headquarters as an Arkansas street.
• It does not treat 1401 W. Capitol Avenue, Suite 250, or State Capitol, Suite 256, as a vendor suite. Those contacts are the Secretary of State.
• It does not invent an Arkansas-only price a company did not print.
• It does not invent a LegalZoom Arkansas street the live Rogers sentence did not print.
• It does not treat a P.O. Box or a mail drop as the street.
• It does not invent a ten-company commercial-agent bar. Arkansas’s commercial bar is the CRA-R listing.
• It does not pretend an Arkansas LLC may skip the agent. Ark. Code § 4-38-115 says the company shall designate and maintain one.
• It does not invent a winner between the annual-report statute’s January-to-April window and the live May 1 franchise-tax form.
• It does not invent a missing-agent LLC dissolution clock. The franchise-tax pages we opened name unpaid franchise tax.
• It does not treat the Secretary of State FAQ’s “mailbox” sentence as the job. A registered agent is not a mailbox.
• It does not treat Northwest’s extra mail-scan product as the registered-agent job.

Choosing among being the agent yourself, asking a lawyer, or hiring a commercial agent: DIY vs lawyer vs commercial. California’s scorecard is a different statute: California scorecard. Texas keeps the written consent with the company: Texas scorecard. Florida files the acceptance and posts a 10–noon / 2–4 clock: Florida scorecard. Delaware bans a virtual-only agent and sets the commercial bar above 50: Delaware scorecard. New York starts with the Secretary of State already on the agent line: New York scorecard. Nevada makes a commercial agent register at ten companies: Nevada scorecard. Wyoming bans UPS stores and virtual addresses as the registered office: Wyoming scorecard. Arizona makes the statutory-agent appointment wait on a signed acceptance: Arizona scorecard. Illinois gives you 60 days after your agent resigns, then you are not in good standing: Illinois scorecard. Ohio cancels the articles if you miss the 30-day statutory-agent notice: Ohio scorecard. Georgia wants the registered office at the same street as the agent: Georgia scorecard. Pennsylvania files a registered office, not a registered agent: Pennsylvania scorecard. New Jersey wants a street for your registered agent and will not take a P.O. Box alone: New Jersey scorecard. Colorado will not take a commercial mailbox or a P.O. Box as the registered-agent street: Colorado scorecard. North Carolina’s LLC annual report is $200 paper or $203 online by April 15. That filing is not the registered-agent job: North Carolina scorecard. Virginia’s LLC pays a $50 annual registration fee and files no annual report: Virginia scorecard. Washington files the agent’s prior consent and will not take a P.O. Box or a PMB as the street: Washington scorecard. Michigan’s statute names a resident agent and sends the filing to LARA: Michigan scorecard. Indiana’s live statute names a registered agent. Older Indiana law called the same job resident agent: Indiana scorecard. Massachusetts’s LLC statute names a resident agent. The $500 annual report cannot change that line: Massachusetts scorecard. Maryland’s statute names a resident agent and sends the filing to SDAT, not the Secretary of State: Maryland scorecard. Tennessee wants a registered office and a registered agent at the same street. The $300 LLC annual report is not that job: Tennessee scorecard. Minnesota wants a registered office. A Minnesota-formed company may name an agent. The free December 31 renewal is not that job: Minnesota scorecard. Wisconsin files the agent at DFI, not the Secretary of State. A P.O. Box, a mailbox service, or a telephone answering service is not the office: Wisconsin scorecard. Oregon’s street cannot be a commercial mail receiving agency, a mail-forwarding shop, or a virtual office. The $100 anniversary renewal is not the registered-agent job: Oregon scorecard. Missouri LLCs file no annual report with the Secretary of State. They still must keep a registered office and a registered agent: Missouri scorecard. Alabama’s street cannot be solely a mailbox service or a telephone answering service. The Business Privilege Tax return is a Department of Revenue paper: Alabama scorecard. South Carolina’s LLC statute names a designated office and an agent for service of process. Typical pass-through LLCs file no annual report with the Secretary of State: South Carolina scorecard.