Statutory requirements, filing fees, and recommended services for Mississippi businesses.
Verified against Mississippi Secretary of State · Updated 2026-04-30
Choosing a registered agent in Mississippi is governed by Miss. Code §79-35-15, which places three concrete requirements on the agent: a physical street address inside Mississippi, availability during normal business hours, and consent on file with the Mississippi Secretary of State. This page documents how Mississippi treats the registered agent designation under Miss. Code §79-35-15, the fees the Mississippi Secretary of State charges to file, and the practical mistakes that trip up first-time filers.
A Mississippi registered agent is the individual or business entity that Miss. Code §79-35-15 requires every LLC and corporation to maintain as the official recipient of service of process, state tax notices, and Mississippi Secretary of State correspondence. The agent must keep a physical Mississippi street address — P.O. boxes alone do not satisfy the statute — and must be reliably available during normal business hours. The Mississippi Secretary of State, Business Services Division files the agent’s name and street address as part of the public business record, searchable by any member of the public through the agency’s online entity database.
The registered agent designation in Mississippi is filed as part of the Certificate of Formation, submitted to the Mississippi Secretary of State’s business filings division. Most filers use the Mississippi Secretary of State Business Services online portal, which accepts the formation document, the agent designation, and the $50 filing fee in a single transaction. Online submissions typically clear in two to seven business days; paper filings can take two to four weeks depending on agency workload.
Mississippi requires an annual report by April 15 but charges $0 for domestic LLCs — the only state with both a filing requirement and a zero fee. Foreign LLCs pay $250.
Once the entity is on file, the registered agent’s role continues for as long as the LLC or corporation exists. Mississippi’s ongoing maintenance is handled through an annual report at $0, due annually by April 15 (no fee for domestic LLCs), and any subsequent change of registered agent is filed with the Mississippi Secretary of State via a Statement of Change at a $25 fee. The agent must file a written consent or, where the agency requires, sign the formation document itself — the Mississippi Secretary of State rejects designations that lack agent consent.
National registered agent services — Northwest Registered Agent, Mainstay Filing, ZenBusiness, and LegalZoom — operate in Mississippi with the same pricing and feature set they offer in every other state. For most Mississippi LLCs and corporations, a national provider is the right choice: consistent pricing, an online dashboard with scanned mail, and same-day acceptance of service of process. Northwest’s $125/year tier and Mainstay Filing’s $99/year tier are the two most common picks for Mississippi businesses that want privacy and reliability without paying premium prices.
A Mississippi-specific provider like Mississippi Registered Agent.co makes sense in narrower cases. State-focused agents tend to specialize in Mississippi filings only, which can mean faster local turnaround on Statements of Change, deeper familiarity with the Mississippi Secretary of State’s portal, and a single jurisdiction to worry about. For business owners who plan to operate exclusively in Mississippi and value a local-only operator, a state-specific provider is often a better cultural fit than a multi-state brand. The tradeoff is interface polish: state-specific services usually lack the dashboard depth and mail-forwarding automation of the national services.
Five state-specific gotchas account for most of the registered agent problems we see in Mississippi filings.
Listing a P.O. box or commercial mailbox. Miss. Code §79-35-15 requires a physical street address, and the Mississippi Secretary of State returns filings that list anything other than a real Mississippi street. Commercial mailbox services without a registered street component (typical UPS Store-style addresses) are routinely rejected.
Using a non-Mississippi address. The agent’s address must be physically inside Mississippi. Out-of-state owners cannot list their own home address; they must either hire a commercial agent or designate a Mississippi-resident individual.
Letting the agent designation lapse without filing a Statement of Change. When a commercial agent service is terminated and a replacement is not filed with the Mississippi Secretary of State, the LLC enters a compliance gap. The $25 change fee is trivial compared with the cost of administrative dissolution and reinstatement.
Missing the annual report deadline. Mississippi’s annual report is due annually by April 15 (no fee for domestic LLCs), and the registered agent is the only party who receives mailed reminders from the Mississippi Secretary of State. If the agent is unreliable, the entity can miss the deadline silently.
Mississippi’s zero-fee report is still mandatory. Owners assume ‘no fee’ means ‘no filing’ and miss the April 15 deadline, which still triggers administrative dissolution.
| # | Service | Price/yr | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Northwest Registered Agent | $125 | privacy-focused customers |
| 2 | Mainstay Filing Best Value | $99 | balanced value |
| 3 | ZenBusiness | $199 | new businesses bundling formation |
| 4 | LegalZoom | $249 | customers wanting brand-name support |
Mississippi-specific option: Mississippi Registered Agent.co operates exclusively in Mississippi and specializes in same-state filings. Best for businesses that want a state-focused provider with local-only operations.
| Physical address required | Yes — must be a street address in Mississippi |
|---|---|
| P.O. box allowed | No |
| Business hours availability | Required during normal business hours |
| Resident requirement | Mississippi resident OR authorized business entity |
| Listed in public record | Yes — searchable via Mississippi Secretary of State |
| Statute reference | Miss. Code §79-35-15 |
| Filing Type | Fee | Renewal | Renewal Fee |
|---|---|---|---|
| LLC formation (Articles of Organization) | $50 | annually by April 15 (no fee for domestic LLCs) | $0 |
| DBA / Fictitious Name | $25 | Every 5 years | $25 |
| Registered Agent change | $25 | — | — |
| Annual Report | $0 | annually by April 15 (no fee for domestic LLCs) | $0 |
Yes — if you are a Mississippi resident with a physical street address and are available during business hours.
Yes. Mississippi law requires every LLC to maintain a Mississippi-based registered agent regardless of where the owner lives.
The Mississippi Secretary of State can administratively dissolve your business after approximately 60 days of non-compliance.
Yes — file a Statement of Change of Registered Agent with the Mississippi Secretary of State for $25.
$50–$150 per year for commercial services; free if you self-serve.
Yes. The agent's name and address are searchable via the Mississippi Secretary of State business records.
Same-day with most commercial services; same-business-day filing if submitted online before the daily cutoff.
This page provides general information about Mississippi registered agent requirements, not legal advice. Filing fees and procedures may change; verify current details with the Mississippi Secretary of State before filing. We may receive compensation from services listed in our comparisons; this does not influence our editorial selections.