AL registered agent
Alabama registered agent service, $3.50 a year
Alabama requires every corporation and LLC on its books to keep a registered agent at a real address in the state. Here is what Alabama law says about who that agent has to be and where it has to be.
What Alabama requires of a registered agent
The requirement
An individual Alabama resident, or a domestic entity or foreign entity registered to transact business in Alabama, may serve. The agent must maintain a business office at the same street address as the registered office, and (per Act 2026-495, effective 2026-08-01) may not perform its duties solely through a virtual office or a mail forwarding service. The registered office must be an in-state street address where the agent can be personally served and may not be solely a mailbox service or telephone answering service.
(b) A registered agent: (1) is an agent of the entity on which may be served any process, notice, or demand required or permitted by law to be served on the entity; (2) may be: (A) an individual who is a resident of this state; or (B) a domestic entity or a foreign entity that is registered to transact business in this state; (3) must maintain a business office at the same address as the entity’s registered office; and (4) may not perform its duties or functions solely through the use of a virtual office, the retention by the agent of a mail forwarding service, or both.
Source: state statute, via incFACTS: Ala. Code § 10A-1-5.31(b)-(c) (as amended by Act 2026-495, effective Aug. 1, 2026)
How we comply
We don't.
What Alabama does to your company when we don't
Here is what the state does to an entity that has no agent, or whose agent is us.
Revocation (foreign entities)
The Secretary of State may revoke a foreign entity's registration if it is without a registered agent or registered office for 60 days or more, or fails to file a statement of change within 60 days; authority to transact business ceases on the date shown on the certificate of revocation (10A-1-7.13(c)).
The Secretary of State may commence a proceeding under Section 10A-1-7.13 to revoke the registration of a foreign entity authorized to transact business in this state if: ... (2) the foreign entity is without a registered agent or registered office in this state for 60 days or more; (3) the foreign entity does not file a statement of change of registered agent or registered office with the Secretary of State under Section 10A-1-5.32 within 60 days of the change ...
Source: state statute, via incFACTS: Ala. Code § 10A-1-7.12(2)-(3)
No access to the courts
A foreign filing entity that fails to register (the same sentence pairs this with failure to appoint and maintain a registered agent) cannot maintain any action or proceeding in Alabama courts until it registers; validity of contracts and the right to defend are unaffected.
The failure of a foreign filing entity to register to transact business in this state or to appoint and maintain a registered agent in this state shall not impair the validity of any contract or act of the foreign entity and shall not prevent the foreign entity from defending any action or proceeding in any court of this state, but the foreign entity shall not maintain any action or proceeding in any court of this state until it has delivered to the Secretary of State for filing an application for registration or a statement of foreign limited liability partnership, as applicable ...
Source: state statute, via incFACTS: Ala. Code § 10A-1-7.22(a)
The bill to come back
We couldn't be bothered to look this up. incFACTS carries no human-verified reinstatement fee for Alabama in the registered agent dataset, and we are not the kind of company that checks.
What happens to the lawsuit you never saw
Substituted service
If an entity fails to designate and maintain a registered agent, or the agent cannot with reasonable diligence be served, the entity may be served under the Alabama Rules of Civil Procedure. Alabama has no Secretary-of-State-as-agent mechanism for registered entities; the fallback is the civil procedure rules (and 10A-1-5.36 makes the statutory methods non-exclusive).
If an entity required by Section 10A-1-5.31 to designate and maintain a registered agent fails to do so, or the registered agent cannot with reasonable diligence be served, the entity may be served with process as provided by the Alabama Rules of Civil Procedure and may be served with any other notice or demand required or permitted by law to be served on the entity in a manner similar to the procedure provided by the Alabama Rules of Civil Procedure for the service of process.
Source: state statute, via incFACTS: Ala. Code § 10A-1-5.35
Statutory text as captured by incFACTS (retrieved 2026-08-01, verified word-for-word against the state code 2026-08-10). Laws change. The statute governs; this page does not.