What is a Wyoming Registered Agent?
When you form a business in Wyoming, you are legally required to appoint a Wyoming registered agent. This is done on the Articles of Incorporation (or Articles of Organization, if you are forming an LLC). Most people are entirely unaware of registered agents until they start their own business, so it is fair to ask just what a registered agent is anyway.
A registered agent is an individual or business entity that maintains a physical location within the state. This location is known as a registered office. The purpose of the registered office is to have a location where service of process can be reliably hand-delivered.
Service of process is a notification of a lawsuit. When a business is sued, the court will issue a notification to inform the defendant (the business) that they are party to the lawsuit. This notice will be delivered by a process server. The state ensures that every business can be reliably contacted by legally requiring businesses to appoint a registered agent.
Imagine for a moment that registered agents didn’t exist. A business is sued, and the service of process is sent in the mail instead of to a physical location. What if the business never checks its mail? Or what if the business has no mailing address? The company may never even know it has been sued.
Thus, we have registered agents.
Wyoming Registered Agent Law
Wyoming has very specific laws regarding registered agents. You can read the state statute regarding registered agents and registered offices: WY Stat ยง 17-28-101.
A Wyoming registered agent must be one of the following:
- An individual 18 years of age who resides in the state
- A domestic business entity with a physical office location within the state
- A foreign business entity registered in Wyoming with a physical office location within the state
Wyoming registered agents must provide the following services:
- Maintain a physical street location within the state
- Remain open during regular business hours
- Accept service of process on behalf of clients
- Forward all documents to clients in a timely manner
Wyoming Commercial Registered Agents
If a Wyoming registered agent service represents more than 10 entities, it is required to register with the Secretary of State as a commercial registered agent. In order to represent any client, the Wyoming registered agent must provide written consent as evidence that they have agreed to represent the client.
A commercial registered agent must register with the Secretary of State and pay an annual fee to maintain registration. The Secretary of State keeps a current Roster of Agents of all commercial registered agents on their website.
A commercial registered agent cannot:
- Have been convicted of a felony
- Have any officer, director, partner, manager or other authorized person who has been convicted of a felony
- Engage in conduct that is likely to deceive or defraud the public
- Have any officer, director, partner, manager or other authorized person whose ability to act as a registered agent has been previously revoked by a government agency in another state
Records Maintained by a Wyoming Registered Agent
Wyoming state law also requires every registered agent to maintain certain information about the clients they represent. A Wyoming registered agent must keep on file an address of record for every client, which is a current address at which a client can be contacted and service of process forwarded.
The agent must also keep a list of the names and addresses of the client’s directors, officers, LLC managers, managing partners, trustees or persons serving in a similar capacity, as well as the name, address and business telephone number of at least one natural person who is designated and authorized to receive communications from the agent.
The records kept by all Wyoming registered agents are subject to examination by the Secretary of State’s office as deemed necessary or appropriate in pursuing an investigation.