Utah: LLC Registered-Agent and Registered-Office Requirements

Requirements one by one

Governing law and terminology

Through September 30, 2026, Utah's domestic LLC rules are in the Utah Revised
Uniform Limited Liability Company Act, with registered-agent mechanics in the
Model Registered Agents Act. Utah Code § 48-3a-111 requires the LLC to
designate and maintain a registered agent in Utah. The scheme does not
create a separate registered-office duty for an ordinary LLC; it regulates the
agent and the address stated in the filing.

The current chapters expressly say they are repealed October 1, 2026. On that
date, 2026 Utah Laws chapter 93 moves the common entity rules to Title 16,
Chapter 1a and the LLC act to Title 16, Chapter 20. The registered-agent duty
then appears in § 16-1a-402.

Continuous designation duty

Utah Code § 48-3a-201 makes the agent information part of the certificate of
organization by incorporating § 16-17-203(1). The maintenance duty continues
after formation under § 48-3a-111; it is not satisfied only once at filing.

Eligible individual

Utah Code § 16-17-102 defines a noncommercial registered agent to include an
individual serving in Utah and a commercial registered agent to include an
individual listed with the Division. The cited provisions do not state a
minimum age, Utah-residency, citizenship, ownership, or office-hours condition.
The filing-address rule still requires the Utah physical address described
below.

A member, manager, organizer, owner, or employee may serve personally if that
individual supplies the required address and has consented. That is the person's
appointment, not the LLC appointing itself.

Eligible entity and self-service

Section 16-17-102 permits a domestic or foreign entity to serve as a
noncommercial agent or to become a listed commercial agent. Section 16-17-204
requires a commercial agent to list a Utah place of business where process and
other documents may be delivered.

The Division's current domestic-LLC instructions add two filing rules for an
entity agent: the business must be registered with the Division and in good
standing, and “A company CANNOT serve as its own Registered Agent.” An owner or
manager may still be named as an individual agent when the person independently
meets the applicable rules.

Registered office, address, and hours

Utah Code § 16-17-202 requires an actual Utah street address or rural-route box
number and, if different, a Utah mailing address whenever Chapter 17 requires
an address. A noncommercial-agent appointment therefore states the agent's name
and that address. Under § 16-17-204, a commercial agent instead lists a Utah
business address where service and other documents can be delivered.

The cited statutes do not impose a numbered daily availability window. A vendor
practice of advertising “business-hours availability” is not a separate hours
rule in these provisions.

Consent and initial filing

Under § 16-17-203, the certificate supplies one of three alternatives: the name
of a commercial agent; the name and address of a noncommercial agent; or an
office or position within the LLC and the business-office address of its holder.
Naming a commercial or noncommercial agent affirms that the agent consented to
serve. The statute does not require the agent to sign the certificate or file a
separate acceptance.

Change, resignation, and replacement

An LLC change under § 16-17-206 takes effect on filing and again affirms the
new agent's consent. A noncommercial agent's name or address change under
§ 16-17-207 also takes effect on filing, followed by prompt notice to the LLC.
A commercial agent's change under § 16-17-208 is filing-effective across its
represented entities; failure to file an address change can cause the Division
to cancel the commercial listing.

A commercial agent's termination under § 16-17-205 takes effect on day 31 and
requires prompt notice to every represented entity. An individual resignation
under § 16-17-209 ends on the earlier of a replacement appointment or day 31
after filing, and the resigning agent must promptly tell the LLC when the
statement was filed.

Agent duties and service

Utah Code § 16-17-301 authorizes the registered agent to receive process,
notices, and demands. Section 16-17-302 states the agent's chapter duties: send
received documents to the LLC at its latest supplied address, give the notices
the chapter requires, and keep the applicable filed or listed agent information
current. The section does not give a numbered forwarding period.

Lapse consequences and fallback service

Under § 48-3a-708, 60 consecutive days without a Utah registered agent permits
the Division to begin administrative dissolution. The Division first serves a
notice. The LLC then has 60 days to cure or disprove the ground before the
Division dissolves it. A dissolved LLC continues only for winding up or seeking
reinstatement, and dissolution does not terminate a registered agent that still
exists.

If there is no agent or reasonable diligence cannot reach the agent,
§ 16-17-301 allows registered or certified mail, return receipt requested, to
the LLC's named governors at its principal office. Service is perfected at the
earliest of receipt, the date on a signed return receipt, or five days after a
correctly addressed and sufficiently posted deposit. If that route also fails,
process may be handed to the manager, clerk, or other person in charge of a
regular place of business or activity, provided that person is not the
plaintiff. Other lawful service methods remain available.

What trips people up

The LLC and its owner are different possible appointees. The Division says
the company cannot be its own agent, but an owner, member, or manager may be
named personally when the individual supplies the required Utah address and
consents.

There is no separate LLC registered-office field in this scheme. The
required physical location is the registered agent's filed Utah address. Do not
confuse it with the principal office, which § 48-3a-201 requires separately.

A signed recodification is approaching. Chapter 93 is already enacted, not
a pending bill, but does not take effect until October 1, 2026. It preserves the
core agent, consent, day-31 resignation, forwarding, and 60-day-lapse structure.
It changes some service details: § 16-1a-412 permits registered/certified mail
or a similar commercial delivery service to the principal office without the
current named-governors wording. Section 16-1a-406 also permits delivery of
process to a former commercial agent after its listing ends until the entity
designates a new commercial agent.

Common questions

Can I personally be my Utah LLC's registered agent? Yes. The current
statute permits an individual agent and does not state that the person must be a
Utah resident, but the filing must supply the required Utah physical address and
the appointment affirms consent.

Can the LLC name itself as agent? The Division's current filing
instructions say no. Name a qualifying individual or a different qualifying
business instead.

Does the registered agent need to sign the certificate? Not under the cited
statutes. The LLC's designation affirms that the agent consented.

Does a resignation immediately end the appointment? Usually no. It ends on
the earlier of a replacement appointment or the 31st day after the Division
files the resignation.

Statutes and sources

• Utah Code § 48-3a-111. “Each limited liability company ... shall
  designate ... and maintain a registered agent in this state.” Official
  current whole-chapter PDF
  (accessed July 27, 2026).
• Utah Code § 48-3a-201. The certificate of organization must include the
  information required by § 16-17-203(1). Official current whole-chapter
  PDF
  (accessed July 27, 2026).
• Utah Code §§ 16-17-102, -202 to -209, -301 to -302. Current definitions,
  address, appointment, consent, change, resignation, service, and agent-duty
  rules. Official current whole-chapter
  PDF
  (accessed July 27, 2026).
• Utah Code § 48-3a-708. Sixty-day agent lapse and administrative-
  dissolution procedure. Official current whole-chapter
  PDF
  (accessed July 27, 2026).
• Utah Division of Corporations, Domestic LLC Certificate of Organization
  Instructions. Entity-agent registration/good-standing and no-company-self-
  service instructions. Official Division
  instructions
  (accessed July 27, 2026).
• 2026 Utah Laws chapter 93. New §§ 16-1a-402, -406, and -412, effective
  October 1, 2026. Official enrolled S.B. 40
  PDF (accessed July 27,
  2026).