South Dakota’s registered agent follows the Model Registered Agents Act. The filing needs a street or a rural route box in this state. A commercial listing is $100. The annual report is not one date.

What South Dakota actually requires

SDCL chapter 59-11 is the short title. This chapter may be cited as the Model Registered Agents Act. SDCL 59-11-2 is the definition section. A commercial registered agent is an individual or a domestic or foreign entity listed under SDCL 59-11-7. A noncommercial registered agent is a person that is not on that list and that is an individual or a domestic or foreign entity that serves in this state as the agent for service of process, or the individual who holds the office or other position designated under subsection SDCL 59-11-6(2)(b). A registered agent means either kind. The section does not print the word “resident.” It does not print an age of 18. It does not print “normal business hours.” It does not say the company cannot be its own agent. SDCL 59-11-6 is the appointment. A registered agent filing must state the name of the represented entity’s commercial registered agent, or, if the entity does not have one, the name and address of the noncommercial registered agent, or the title of an office or other position with the entity if service of process is to be sent to the person holding that office or position, and the address of the business office of that person. The appointment under the commercial line or the noncommercial name-and-address line is an affirmation by the represented entity that the agent has consented to serve. The office-title line is not inside that affirmation sentence.

The business FAQ, read September 26, 2026, uses one label for the job and then splits it three ways. It says a registered agent must be a resident of South Dakota, with both a physical and a mailing address in South Dakota. It then says South Dakota law permits a noncommercial registered agent, which may be an individual who resides in South Dakota or a business entity that is registered in South Dakota, or a commercial registered agent that has paid a registration fee and registered with the Secretary of State, or an office holder of the organization. It says the office-holder option does not apply to LLCs. It says that option is an officer of the organization, and it names President, Vice President, Secretary, or Treasurer. It says that type of agent does not have a specific individual’s name on the agent file and therefore does not require a statement of change when the officers change. SDCL 59-11-6 prints an office or other position. It does not name those four titles. It does not say the option is off for an LLC. SDCL 59-11-2 does not print “resides in South Dakota.” We print the statute’s silence and the FAQ’s resident rule and the FAQ’s LLC ban. We do not invent a winner.

Domestic LLC articles of organization, revised November 2021 on the footer we read, retrieved September 26, 2026, cites SDCL 47-34A-203 and 47-34A-212. The filing fee on the face is $165 and the form says that fee includes the $15 paper filing fee. Article III cites SDCL 59-11-6. The form says South Dakota law permits the registered agent to be either a noncommercial registered agent, which may be an individual, or a commercial registered agent. It says complete only one, (a) or (b). It does not print an office-holder line. The commercial line says: when listing a commercial registered agent, state their CRA number. That number can be obtained from the commercial registered agent. The noncommercial lines ask for an actual street address in this state and a mailing address in this state if different. They do not print the words “rural route box number.” The form is signed by the organizers. It cites SDCL 22-39-36 for a criminal penalty if a person executes the paper knowing it is false in any material respect. We did not reprint the elements of that crime. The letterhead is Secretary of State Office, 500 E Capitol Ave, Pierre, SD 57501, phone (605) 773-4845, email corpinfo@state.sd.us. The form does not print a suite. SDCL 47-34A-203 says the articles of organization must set forth the information required by SDCL 59-11-6, along with the name, the address of the initial designated office, the organizers, and the other listed facts. The designated office may be in or out of South Dakota. That office is not the agent line.

SDCL 59-11-5 is the address rule. Whenever a provision of this chapter other than subdivision SDCL 59-11-15(4) 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 different from that street or rural route. The carve-out is the resignation notice. SDCL 59-11-15(4) is the name and address of the person to which the agent will send the resignation notice. That notice address is the one address in the chapter that this section does not force into the street-or-rural-route rule. SDCL 59-11-7 is how a person becomes a commercial registered agent. An individual or a domestic or foreign entity files a commercial registered agent listing statement. The statement states the name, or the name, type, and jurisdiction of organization of the entity, that the person is in the business of serving as a commercial registered agent in this state, and the address of a place of business of the person in this state where service of process and other notice and documents may be delivered. The listing takes effect on filing. SDCL 59-11-3 prices that listing statement at $100, a commercial registered agent termination statement at $10, a statement of change at $10 per filing entity, a statement of resignation at no charge, and a statement appointing an agent for service of process at $10. The fee schedule, read September 26, 2026, and headed effective July 1, 2016, prints Commercial Registered Agent Registration at $100, Commercial Registered Agent Statement of Change at $10 per entity represented, Commercial Registered Agent Termination at $10, Commercial Registered Agent Courtesy Change at no fee, and Commercial Registered Agent Statement of Resignation at no fee. The statute does not use the words “courtesy change.” We print the no-fee line. We do not invent what a courtesy change is. For an LLC and for a business corporation, the same schedule prints Statement of Change of Registered Agent and/or Address at $10. It also prints a paper filing fee of $15 for documents able to be filed online. The statement-of-change instructions say a customer may print the statement and mail it for an additional $15 paper processing fee.

SDCL 59-11-11 is the entity’s change. A represented entity may change the information currently on file under SDCL 59-11-6 by filing a statement of change signed on behalf of the entity. The statement states the name of the entity and the information that is to be in effect as a result of the filing. Interest holders or governors need not approve it. The appointment is an affirmation that the agent has consented to serve. The statement takes effect on filing. As an alternative, the entity may change that information by amending its most recent registered agent filing in the manner provided by the other laws of this state. The LLC statement of change, footer February 2018, retrieved September 26, 2026, is titled Statement of Change of Registered Office or Registered Agent or Both. It cites SDCL 59-11-11. The filing fee on the face is $25. It does not say that $25 includes a $15 paper fee. The old-agent line asks for an actual street address or rural route box number. The new-agent instructions say complete either a noncommercial agent or a commercial agent, and the commercial line again asks for a CRA number. The new noncommercial line says “actual street address in this state.” It does not repeat “rural route box number.” The signer is an authorized officer. The form does not have a signature line for the new agent. It cites SDCL 22-39-36. We print $10 on the statute and the fee schedule, $15 as the paper add-on, and $25 on the form. Ten dollars plus fifteen dollars is twenty-five dollars. The form does not print that sentence. We do not invent a winner. A noncommercial agent who changes its own name or address files under SDCL 59-11-12, one statement for each entity, effective on filing, and must promptly notify the entity. A commercial agent who changes its name, its listed address, or its type or jurisdiction of organization files one statement under SDCL 59-11-13. That one filing changes the information for each entity the agent represents. The fee schedule still prices the commercial statement of change at $10 per entity represented.

Resignation is not the $10 change. SDCL 59-11-15 says a registered agent may resign at any time by filing a statement of resignation. The statement states the name of the entity, the name of the agent, that the agent resigns, and the name and address of the person to which the agent will send notice. It takes effect on the earlier of the thirty-first day after the day on which it is filed or the appointment of a new registered agent. The agent must promptly furnish that notice. The agent may resign whether or not the entity is in good standing. SDCL 59-11-3 prices that statement at no charge. The resignation form, footer December 2016, retrieved September 26, 2026, says “NO FILING FEE.” It is for a noncommercial or a commercial registered agent. It cites SDCL 59-11-15. It says the resignation takes effect on the thirty-first day after the day it is filed or upon appointment of a new registered agent, whichever occurs first. The notice line is a mailing address. It does not say “in this state.” That matches the SDCL 59-11-5 carve-out for subdivision SDCL 59-11-15(4). The form cites SDCL 59-11-27 for a civil penalty. SDCL 59-11-27 says no person may execute an annual report, a statement of change, or an annual farm report knowing it is false in any material respect, and that a violation is subject to a civil penalty not to exceed $500. The resignation form cites that section. The section’s list is an annual report, a statement of change, and an annual farm report. We print the form’s cite and the section’s list. We do not invent a winner.

The annual report is a different paper. Say it once so the dollars do not get mixed up with the agent’s job. SDCL 47-34A-211 says a limited liability company, and a foreign limited liability company authorized here, except a bank organized under § 51A-3-1.1, shall deliver an annual report pursuant to §§ 59-11-24 to 59-11-26, inclusive. SDCL 59-11-24 says each filing entity or qualified foreign entity, except that bank, a limited partnership organized under chapter 48-7, or a series of a limited liability company established under §§ 47-34A-701 to 47-34A-707, shall deliver an annual report. The report sets forth the name, the jurisdiction, the address of the principal office wherever located, the information required by SDCL 59-11-6, the names and business addresses of its governors with two exceptions, and whether the entity owns agricultural land and whether it has any foreign beneficial owners. If the company is member-managed, the names and business addresses of its governors need not be set forth. The information must be current as of the date the report is executed. Any authorized person may execute it. The FAQ says limited partnerships and business trusts are not required to file annual reports. SDCL 59-11-24 names a limited partnership under chapter 48-7 and a series of an LLC. It does not print the words “business trust.” The FAQ does not print the series exception. We print both lists. We do not invent a winner. The domestic LLC annual report, footer dated 2025 on the file we read, retrieved September 26, 2026, cites SDCL 47-34A-211 and SDCL 59-11-24. The filing fee on the face is $70. It adds $55 for delinquent reports. Item 5 asks for the registered agent and uses the same LLC split as the articles: noncommercial or commercial, with a CRA number, and no office-holder line. The domestic business corporation annual report prints a third choice, an office holder, with the title of the office or other position and the business office’s actual street address in this state. Both forms print $70 and a $55 delinquent add-on. SDCL 47-34A-212 prices a reporting fee of $55, due and payable with each annual report, and a penalty of $55 if the entity does not file or refuses to file its annual report within the time prescribed. The fee schedule prints an LLC or business-corporation annual report at $55 online and $70 on paper, and a late fee for delinquent annual reports at $55. The FAQ says annual reports filed after their delinquency date incur a $55 late fee, and that nonprofit corporations are exempt from that late fee and are still required to file. The nonprofit annual report on the fee schedule is $10. That $10 is not the LLC report. SDCL 59-11-26 says that if the report does not contain what SDCL 59-11-24 requires, the secretary of state notifies the entity and returns the report, and that a corrected report delivered within thirty days after the effective date of notice is deemed timely.

SDCL 59-11-25 is the clock now on the books, read September 26, 2026. The first annual report shall be delivered before the first day of the second month of the year following the year in which the entity was authorized to transact business. The later reports are delivered by that same date each subsequent year. The exception line in that section names the bank and a limited partnership under chapter 48-7. It does not repeat the series exception from SDCL 59-11-24. The same statute page then prints a version effective January 1, 2027, source SL 2026, ch 203, § 1. That version says an entity required to file an annual report must do so in the month of the first-year anniversary of formation and in that same month each year after, or, beginning in the calendar year after formation, on or before January thirty-first and each January thirty-first after that. At formation, the entity indicates which date it selected. An entity in good standing may switch by filing a change-of-filing-date form. The FAQ does not print either of those statute clocks. It says annual reports are due every year on the first day of the anniversary month of the initial filing. Its example: if the entity was filed June 11, 2026, the first annual report is due June 1, 2027, and every June 1 after that. It says you may file starting two months prior. Its example: if the report is due June 1, you may file starting April 2. It says the entity becomes delinquent, and late fees begin, if the report is not filed two months after the due date. Its example: due June 1, delinquent on August 1, with a $55 late fee. SDCL 47-34A-809 says the secretary of state may start an administrative dissolution if the LLC does not deliver its annual report within sixty days after it is due. Sixty days and two months are not the same count. We print “before the first day of the second month,” the January 1, 2027 choice of anniversary month or January 31, the FAQ’s first day of the anniversary month, April 2, August 1, and sixty days. We do not invent a winner. Filing the report is the company’s job. It is not the job of taking the lawsuit. SDCL 59-11-24 says the report sets forth the information required by SDCL 59-11-6. The LLC form asks for the agent. SDCL 59-11-11 is still the statement of change. The statute does not say that a different name on the annual report, by itself, is that statement. We do not invent a winner.

SDCL 47-34A-809 is the LLC administrative-dissolution list. The secretary of state may commence a proceeding if the company does not pay any fees, taxes, or penalties imposed by that chapter or other law within sixty days after they are due, or does not deliver its annual report within sixty days after it is due. A missing registered agent is not on that list. SDCL 47-34A-810 says the secretary serves the company, and if the company does not correct each ground within sixty days after service of the notice, the secretary administratively dissolves the company. The company continues its existence but may carry on only what it needs to wind up. The administrative dissolution does not terminate the authority of its agent for service of process. SDCL 47-34A-811 prices reinstatement at the delinquent annual-report fees plus $150. The fee schedule prints the same $150 plus delinquent reports and fees. A corporation is a different list. SDCL 47-1A-1420 lets the Office of the Secretary of State start a dissolution if the corporation does not pay fees or penalties within sixty days after they are due, does not deliver its annual report within sixty days after it is due, is without a registered agent in this state for sixty days or more, does not notify the office within sixty days that its registered agent has been changed or has resigned, or its stated period of duration expires. SDCL 47-1A-1421 is the corporation notice, then sixty days, and it also says the dissolution does not terminate the authority of the registered agent. The fee schedule prices corporation reinstatement at $300 plus fees. The FAQ says a business entity can be administratively dissolved or revoked for failure to file the annual report, for failure to keep a valid South Dakota registered agent on file, or because a required payment was declined and the fees remain unpaid. It does not split the LLC list from the corporation list. We print the LLC list, the corporation list, and the FAQ. We do not invent a winner. We do not move the corporation’s sixty-day missing-agent ground onto SDCL 47-34A-809.

SDCL 59-11-16 is what happens when the agent cannot be found. A registered agent is an agent of the represented entity authorized to receive service of any process, notice, or demand required or permitted by law to be served on the entity. If an entity that previously filed a registered agent filing no longer has a registered agent, or if its registered agent cannot with reasonable diligence be served, the entity may be served by registered or certified mail, return receipt requested, addressed to the governors of the entity by name at its principal office, in accordance with any applicable judicial rules and procedures. The names of the governors and the address of the principal office may be as shown in the most recent annual report. Service is perfected at the earliest of the date the entity receives the mail, the date shown on the return receipt if signed on behalf of the entity, or five days after its deposit with the United States Postal Service if correctly addressed and with sufficient postage. SDCL 59-11-17 is the next step. If process, notice, or demand cannot be served under SDCL 59-11-16, service may be made by handing a copy to the manager, clerk, or other person in charge of any regular place of business or activity of the entity if the person served is not a plaintiff in the action. SDCL 59-11-20 says the only duties under this chapter of a registered agent that has complied with the chapter are to forward to the represented entity, at the address most recently supplied to the agent by the entity, any process, notice, or demand that is served on the agent; to provide the notices required by the chapter; and to keep the filed information current. Those are court papers and official notices. They are not a mailbox. The section does not name the Secretary of State as a substitute agent. SDCL 47-34A-1008 is a different case. A foreign limited liability company that transacts business here without a certificate of authority, or that cancels its certificate, appoints the secretary of state as its agent for service of process for rights of action arising out of that business. That sentence is for a company that was not authorized, or that gave up the certificate. It is not the domestic missing-agent path in SDCL 59-11-16.

Northwest’s South Dakota page cites “South Dakota state statute 2008, ch 275, § 6” for the duty. That source line is the session law behind SDCL 59-11-6. The codified section is SDCL 59-11-6. The page says the agent must list a physical address on the public record and be present during business hours, including five days a week if you serve yourself. SDCL 59-11-5 prints a street or a rural route box. It does not print a clock. SDCL 59-11-20 does not print a clock. The page says the Secretary of State will reject a filing with no agent. SDCL 47-34A-203 says the articles shall set forth the information required by SDCL 59-11-6. It does not print “reject.” The page says Northwest will pay and file the change, and that there is generally a $10 charge. SDCL 59-11-3 and the fee schedule match $10. The paper form prints $25. The page says the office is in Sioux Falls, SD, and that scans happen there. It does not print a street number. It says you can list their office for every address on the filing. The articles keep a designated office that may sit in or out of the state, and that line is not the agent line. We print both. The page calls the resignation paper a Statement of Resignation of Registered Agent and does not print a dollar. The form we read says no filing fee.

Bizee’s South Dakota page says every LLC must designate a registered agent with a physical street address, and that a P.O. box does not satisfy the requirement. SDCL 59-11-5 prints a street or a rural route box, plus a mailing address if different. It does not print the words “P.O. box.” The page gives three choices: you or another member, another South Dakota resident, or a commercial service authorized to conduct business here. It does not print the office-holder line. The FAQ says that line does not apply to an LLC. SDCL 59-11-6 still prints it. The quick facts print a filing fee of $150 online and $165 on paper, a processing time of “Typically 3–5 business days” for online filings, an annual report due on the “First day of the second month following the LLC’s anniversary month,” and a state tax rate of “No state income tax on LLCs.” SDCL 47-34A-212 prices articles at $150. The fee schedule and the articles form print $150 online and $165 on paper, and the form says the $165 includes the $15 paper fee. The FAQ says online filings are processed immediately and that paper filings are processed within 1 to 3 business days on average. We print $150, $165, “3–5 business days,” and “immediately.” We do not treat Bizee’s anniversary sentence as SDCL 59-11-25 or as the FAQ. We do not grade the tax sentence. The page says a missing or unreachable agent can put the LLC out of good standing and that the state can administratively dissolve it. SDCL 47-34A-809 does not name a missing agent. SDCL 47-1A-1420 does, after sixty days, for a corporation. The FAQ names a missing agent and does not say LLC. The page says the state charges a fee for the change and does not print $10 or $25. The page names no South Dakota address. It talks about no South Dakota-only registered-agent price.

ZenBusiness’s South Dakota registered-agent page, last updated August 27, 2025, and retrieved September 26, 2026, says the agent must be present at the registered office during all normal business hours, and that the office must be an actual street address or rural route box number, and that P.O. boxes don’t count. SDCL 59-11-5 prints the street or rural route, and a separate mailing address if different. It does not print “P.O. boxes don’t count.” SDCL 59-11-20 does not print a clock. The page then says the agent may be an individual resident whose business office is identical to the registered office, or a domestic or foreign entity authorized here with a business office identical to the registered office. SDCL 59-11-6 does not print “identical.” The page says online the change is $10 and paper is $25 because of a $15 paper surcharge. That pair matches the fee schedule’s $10 and $15. The February 2018 form prints $25 and does not spell out the split. The page says a resignation stays on file for 31 days unless a replacement is appointed sooner, that the resignation is paper only, and that there is no filing fee. SDCL 59-11-15 says the earlier of the thirty-first day after the day on which it is filed or the appointment of a new agent. The form says no filing fee. We did not find a resignation button on the business-portal home page we read. We print “31 days,” “the thirty-first day,” and ZenBusiness’s paper-only sentence. We do not invent a winner. The page prints a Secretary of State contact at 500 East Capitol Avenue, Suite 204, Pierre, SD 57501-5070, and office hours of 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Central Time, Monday through Friday. The FAQ prints Suite 112 at the same street and ZIP, and the same hours. The forms print 500 E Capitol Ave, Pierre, SD 57501, and no suite. We print Suite 204, Suite 112, and no suite. We do not invent a winner. Those hours are office contacts. They are not a statutory agent clock. The page publishes no ZenBusiness address. It talks about $100 to a few hundred dollars a year as a market range. That range is not a ZenBusiness price.

LegalZoom’s South Dakota article, updated May 18, 2026, and retrieved September 26, 2026, prints the commercial listing at $100, articles at $150 online and $165 by mail, a foreign certificate of authority at $750 online and $765 by mail, an expedited fee of $50, and a change of $10 online or $25 by mail, and it says the $25 includes a $15 paper processing fee. SDCL 59-11-3 matches the $100 listing and the $10 change. SDCL 47-34A-212 matches $150 for domestic articles and $750 for a foreign limited liability company’s articles filing. The fee schedule matches $150 / $165, $750 / $765, the $50 expedited line, the $10 change, and the $15 paper fee. The article says standard processing is approximately two business days. The FAQ says online filings are immediate and paper filings are 1 to 3 business days on average. We print both. The article says the new agent’s consent may be captured by a signature on the change form. The form we read is signed by an authorized officer. SDCL 59-11-11 says the filing is an affirmation of consent. It does not print a signature line for the new agent. The article says an individual must be available during normal business hours. It does not, on the South Dakota page, print an age of 18. The national overview does print 18 and a Monday-through-Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. example. SDCL 59-11-2 and SDCL 59-11-6 do not print 18 or that clock. The article says going without a registered agent for sixty days or more can trigger administrative dissolution of the LLC. SDCL 47-1A-1420 prints sixty days for a corporation. SDCL 47-34A-809 does not print that ground for an LLC. The article says the annual report is due by the last day of the entity’s anniversary month. SDCL 59-11-25 does not say that. The FAQ says the first day of the anniversary month, not the last day. The comparison table on the article says “Vermont” in the privacy and availability rows of a South Dakota page. We print that word. We do not treat it as a South Dakota address. The article publishes no LegalZoom city and no LegalZoom address. It talks about $49 to $300 a year, and $99 to $300 in one table, as a market range. That range is not a LegalZoom price. The article also says a home-state certificate of existence dated within 90 days is required for a certificate of authority. We did not confirm that 90-day sentence on the SOS pages we read. We print it as LegalZoom’s sentence.

The public lookup is the business search on the Secretary of State business portal. The portal home also points to a search for a registered agent and the businesses that agent represents. Confirm the live line on the business search before you treat a marketing city as current. The FAQ puts the office at the Capitol Building, 500 East Capitol Avenue, Suite 112, Pierre, SD 57501-5070. The forms put 500 E Capitol Ave, Pierre, SD 57501, with no suite. ZenBusiness puts Suite 204. We print all three. We do not invent a winner. Those lines are office contacts. They are not a vendor’s registered office. The FAQ’s 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Central Time line is a counter window. It is not a statutory agent clock. South Dakota does not run a Nevada-style ten-company commercial-agent register. The commercial path here is the listing under SDCL 59-11-7. The dollar is $100. We did not print a company’s CRA number. A number on a public list is still not a street we visited.

Cited prices, retrieved September 26, 2026

We print what the company’s official registered-agent page said on the retrieval date. No company publishes a different South Dakota registered-agent price from the national card, except where we note a South Dakota-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 26, 2026 from northwestregisteredagent.com/registered-agent and the South Dakota product page. The South Dakota page does not print $125. It says they collect the first year’s fee up front and send an invoice about a year later. We do not treat a formation bundle as the standalone price. The page says the office is in Sioux Falls, SD, and that they scan documents there. It does not print a street number. The same company also sells extra mail scans: five free scans of regular business mail a year, then $15 a document. Those extras are a different product. We do not grade those extras as the registered-agent job. The page says the change is generally $10 and that they will pay it. SDCL 59-11-3 and the fee schedule match $10. The paper form prints $25. The page cites 2008, ch 275, § 6. The codified section is SDCL 59-11-6. It talks about business hours five days a week. SDCL 59-11-6 does not print a clock.
• Bizee: official registered-agent page: free first year with formation; standalone $149/year; year two $149/year. Retrieved September 26, 2026 from bizee.com/business-management/registered-agent and the South Dakota product page. That page names the Secretary of State. It says a P.O. box does not work and that the agent must be available during normal business hours. SDCL 59-11-5 prints a street or a rural route box and does not print those sentences. The quick facts print $150 online and $165 on paper, “Typically 3–5 business days” for online filings, and an annual report due on the first day of the second month following the anniversary month. SDCL 47-34A-212 prices articles at $150 and the reporting fee at $55. The FAQ says online filings are immediate. The page says the state can administratively dissolve the LLC if the agent cannot be reached. SDCL 47-34A-809 does not name a missing agent. The page says the change has a fee and does not print $10 or $25. The page names no South Dakota address. We print those vendor sentences. We do not invent a South Dakota-only price from a missing dollar.
• LegalZoom: official overview: “$249/year.” The footnote says the service auto-renews at the purchase rate until you cancel, the renewal rate is subject to change, and the purchase price is for a first-time registered-agent customer. We do not invent a year-two number LegalZoom did not print. Retrieved September 26, 2026 from legalzoom.com/…/registered-agent-overview.html and the South Dakota article, updated May 18, 2026. The article prints a $10 online change and a $25 paper change, and it says the $25 includes $15. The fee schedule matches that split. The February 2018 form prints $25 and does not spell it out. The article says the new agent may sign the form. The form we read is signed by an authorized officer. It prints a sixty-day dissolution path for an LLC. SDCL 47-34A-809 does not. The comparison table says Vermont on a South Dakota page. It publishes no LegalZoom city and no LegalZoom address. The overview talks about documents scanned and uploaded, and about alerts when important mail arrives. That is the court-paper path on the national card. It is not a South Dakota address.
• ZenBusiness: the South Dakota registered-agent page, retrieved September 26, 2026, and last updated August 27, 2025, does not print $99 or $199. The national registered-agent page and the pricing help say the service starts at $99 plus state fees for the first year, and renews at $199 a year. We keep that national card. We do not invent a South Dakota-only price. The South Dakota page talks about $100 to a few hundred dollars a year as a market range. That range is not a ZenBusiness price. It prints the change at $10 online and $25 on paper. That pair matches the fee schedule. It prints a resignation with no fee. The form and SDCL 59-11-3 match the no-fee line. It says the agent’s business office must be identical to the registered office. SDCL 59-11-6 does not print that sentence. It publishes no ZenBusiness address. Its contact block prints 500 East Capitol Avenue, Suite 204. That line is the office as ZenBusiness prints it. The FAQ prints Suite 112.

A change of agent is a separate Secretary of State filing. SDCL 59-11-11 and SDCL 59-11-3 price it at $10 per filing entity. The fee schedule prices the LLC and corporation statement at $10 and adds $15 when the document could have been filed online. The February 2018 LLC form prints $25. Northwest’s product page prints $10. Bizee’s product page does not print a dollar. LegalZoom’s article and ZenBusiness’s page print $10 online and $25 on paper. The annual report can sit next to the agent on the public record. The LLC form asks for the agent. The report is still not the job of taking the lawsuit. The $55 reporting fee, the $70 paper report, and the $55 late fee are not this change.

Who publishes a South Dakota address

A city is not a registered office. We print only the addresses the companies publish for registered-agent use. We do not invent the rest. Confirm the live name and address on the business search before you file. Headquarters is not the registered-agent address. The Pierre counter is not a vendor suite. We did not pull a live search row on September 26, 2026. A city on a marketing page is still vendor-claimed until that search shows it.

• Northwest. The South Dakota product page says the office is in Sioux Falls, SD, and that scans happen there. It does not print a street number or a suite. We will not invent a Sioux Falls number, and we do not treat 500 East Capitol Avenue as their office. Northwest also sells extra mail scans. Those extras are a different product. The city is vendor-claimed. Use the business search for the name on your own filing.
• Bizee. Claims owned offices in all 50 states. The official registered-agent page names no South Dakota address. The live South Dakota product page names no South Dakota address. The contact page lists 17350 State Highway 249, Suite 220, Houston, TX 77064 as headquarters. That address is not a South Dakota registered-agent address.
• LegalZoom. The South Dakota article is a live page, updated May 18, 2026. It publishes no LegalZoom city and no LegalZoom address. The comparison table says Vermont. That word is not a South Dakota street. The official overview publishes no LegalZoom city and no LegalZoom address. We do not invent a Pierre suite or a Sioux Falls suite. We do not treat a LegalZoom virtual-mail address as the registered-agent address.
• ZenBusiness. The South Dakota registered-agent page publishes no ZenBusiness address or city. It prints a department contact at 500 East Capitol Avenue, Suite 204, Pierre, SD 57501-5070. That line is the office as ZenBusiness prints it. It is not ZenBusiness. The FAQ prints Suite 112. The forms print no suite. We do not treat any of those lines as their registered office.

If you are your own agent, the address on the public record is often your home. SDCL 59-11-2 lets an individual who is not on the commercial list serve as a noncommercial agent. The FAQ says that individual resides in South Dakota. The statute does not print “resides.” SDCL 59-11-5 still wants a street or a rural route box in this state, and a mailing address in this state if it differs. Northwest, Bizee, ZenBusiness, and LegalZoom say you can serve yourself. A commercial mailbox is a sentence we found on vendor pages. The statute prints a street or a rural route, not a ban written as “no P.O. box.” If you hire a company, the agent line has to fit SDCL 59-11-6 or the commercial list. Northwest’s product page names Sioux Falls and prints no street number. Bizee publishes no South Dakota address. LegalZoom publishes no city and no address, and its table says Vermont. ZenBusiness publishes a department contact, not a ZenBusiness suite. We label every published city vendor-claimed. Use the business search. Process Score has not been to those offices.

The $10 change and the annual report

A South Dakota filing entity keeps a registered agent under the Model Registered Agents Act. The filing states a commercial agent’s name, or a noncommercial agent’s name and address, or the title of an office. The FAQ and the LLC articles say the office-title choice does not apply to an LLC. The corporation annual-report form still prints it. The address is a street or a rural route box in this state, plus a mailing address in this state if different. The commercial listing is $100. The statement of change is $10 per filing entity, effective on filing, and it is an affirmation that the agent consented. The paper LLC form prints $25. The fee schedule adds $15 for a paper filing that could have been online. The annual report lists the agent information SDCL 59-11-6 requires, and it is still not the job of taking the lawsuit. The reporting fee is $55. The fee schedule prints $55 online and $70 on paper. The late fee is $55. The clock now in SDCL 59-11-25 is before the first day of the second month of the next year, then that same date each year. The FAQ uses the first day of the anniversary month, a two-month early window, and a two-month delinquency window. The January 1, 2027 text lets the company choose the anniversary month or January 31. If the LLC misses the report or a fee, SDCL 47-34A-809 can start a dissolution after sixty days. A missing agent is not on that LLC list. It is on the corporation list, after sixty days, and it is on the FAQ. If no agent is kept, or the agent cannot be served with reasonable diligence, service is registered or certified mail to the governors at the principal office, perfected at the earliest of receipt, the signed return receipt, or five days after deposit. The Secretary of State is not that substitute. A foreign LLC with no certificate of authority is a different sentence, and that sentence does appoint the secretary of state. Northwest’s product page claims Sioux Falls and prints no street number. LegalZoom’s article prints $10 and $25 and no LegalZoom address, and its table says Vermont. ZenBusiness publishes Suite 204, not a ZenBusiness suite. Bizee names no South Dakota address and prints an anniversary sentence the statute does not print. We do not treat a company hours line as SDCL 59-11-20.

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 South Dakota page talks about a physical address and does not print a South Dakota address. Contact-page support hours are Monday–Friday 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. CST. Those are support hours, not registered-office hours. The “3–5 business days” line sits next to Bizee’s filing-time fact. It is not the FAQ’s “immediately.”
• Northwest: “We scan every document you receive right where you receive it—in our office.” The South Dakota page adds scans at the Sioux Falls office. Their extra mail-scan product is a different product. We do not grade those extras as a mailbox.
• LegalZoom: upload, email, and alerts for important mail on the national overview. The South Dakota article is a live page and still publishes no LegalZoom address. Junk-mail handling on the overview is not the job we score. An age of 18 on the national overview is not SDCL 59-11-2.
• 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 a South Dakota statute. The South Dakota page prints a department contact. That line is not SDCL 59-11-6.

Home-address privacy

Naming a commercial agent is how many South Dakota owners keep a home off the agent line. The Secretary of State still publishes the agent name and address. The FAQ says filings are public record. Privacy of the agent line is not privacy of every field. The annual report still asks for a principal office, and that office may be wherever it is located. The articles still ask for a designated office that may sit in or out of the state. A blank line is not the same thing as a private line. Confirm the live line on the business 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 hours line as SDCL 59-11-20.
• It does not treat the annual report, or the $55 reporting fee, as the registered-agent job. The job is taking court papers.
• It does not use one name for the Model Act’s two agents. SDCL 59-11-2 says commercial registered agent and noncommercial registered agent. The FAQ also says office holder, and it says that choice does not apply to an LLC.
• It does not move the corporation annual-report form’s office-holder line onto the LLC articles. The LLC form does not print it. SDCL 59-11-6 does.
• It does not treat the FAQ’s “must be a resident” sentence as a sentence in SDCL 59-11-2. The FAQ prints it. The definition section does not.
• It does not treat a rural route box as a banned address. SDCL 59-11-5 allows an actual street address or a rural route box number in this state.
• It does not treat a P.O. box sentence on a vendor page as a sentence in SDCL 59-11-5.
• It does not invent a winner between the $10 on SDCL 59-11-3 and the fee schedule, the $15 paper add-on, and the $25 on the February 2018 form.
• It does not invent what “Commercial Registered Agent Courtesy Change: No Fee” means. The fee schedule prints it. SDCL 59-11-3 does not use those words.
• It does not invent a CRA number. The articles form asks for one. We did not print one.
• It does not invent a winner between SDCL 59-11-15, which says the thirty-first day after the day of filing or a new agent, whichever is earlier, and ZenBusiness, which says 31 days unless a replacement is appointed sooner.
• It does not invent a winner between the form’s “paper only” resignation sentence and a portal button we did not find.
• It does not invent a winner between SDCL 59-11-25, the January 1, 2027 text, and the FAQ’s anniversary-month examples.
• It does not treat Bizee’s “first day of the second month following the LLC’s anniversary month” as SDCL 59-11-25.
• It does not treat LegalZoom’s “last day of the anniversary month” as the FAQ’s first day of the anniversary month.
• It does not collapse sixty days in SDCL 47-34A-809 and two months on the FAQ.
• It does not treat a missed annual report as the same ground as a missing agent. The LLC list names the report and unpaid fees. The corporation list also names a missing agent. The FAQ names both.
• It does not move SDCL 47-1A-1420’s sixty-day missing-agent ground onto an LLC.
• It does not call the Secretary of State the agent for a domestic company that lost its agent. SDCL 59-11-16 uses mail to the governors. SDCL 47-34A-1008 appoints the secretary of state only for a foreign LLC that has no certificate of authority or that canceled it.
• It does not invent an age of 18. The national LegalZoom overview prints 18. SDCL 59-11-2 does not.
• It does not treat LegalZoom’s “the agent may sign” sentence as the statement-of-change form. The form is signed by an authorized officer.
• It does not treat Northwest’s session-law cite as a different statute from SDCL 59-11-6.
• It does not treat ZenBusiness’s “identical business office” sentence as SDCL 59-11-6.
• It does not treat LegalZoom’s Vermont rows as a South Dakota address.
• It does not treat Bizee’s “3–5 business days” line as the FAQ’s statement that online filings are processed immediately.
• It does not invent a Bizee change dollar. The product page does not print $10 or $25.
• It does not treat a Houston headquarters as a South Dakota address.
• It does not treat 500 East Capitol Avenue as a vendor suite. That contact is the Secretary of State, as the FAQ, the forms, and ZenBusiness print it.
• It does not invent a winner between Suite 112, Suite 204, and the forms’ line with no suite.
• It does not invent a South Dakota-only price a company did not print.
• It does not invent a Sioux Falls street number, a Pierre vendor suite, or a LegalZoom address the pages did not print.
• It does not pretend a South Dakota limited liability company may skip the agent. SDCL 47-34A-203 says the articles must set forth the information required by SDCL 59-11-6.
• It does not treat Northwest’s extra mail-scan product as the registered-agent job.
• It does not treat ZenBusiness’s exclusion of PLLCs and nonprofits as a South Dakota statute.
• It does not treat ZenBusiness’s, Bizee’s, or LegalZoom’s market ranges as those companies’ South Dakota prices.
• It does not treat the $150 articles fee, or the $750 foreign fee, as the agent’s job.
• It does not score South Dakota tax filings. Bizee’s “no state income tax” sentence is not this filing, and the annual report is not this filing.

Choosing among being the agent yourself, asking a lawyer, or hiring a commercial agent: DIY vs lawyer vs commercial. Utah’s filing also wants a street or a rural-route box, under the same model act: Utah scorecard. North Dakota’s commercial listing is a different dollar: North Dakota scorecard. Maine’s LLC says registered agent and its corporation says clerk: Maine scorecard. Rhode Island’s LLC says resident agent and the address-only filing has no fee: Rhode Island scorecard.