Secretary of State Business Search Guide for All 50 States and DC

What a state business search tells you

When a corporation, LLC or limited partnership is formed, its founders file formation documents with a state office. That office keeps a public record of the entity and updates it as annual reports, amendments and dissolutions are filed. A typical record includes the legal name, the entity type, the date of formation, the current status, the registered agent and the agent's address for service of process, and a list of filed documents. Some states also show officers, managers or organizers, and the principal office address the business reported.

For anyone about to do paid work for a company, three fields matter most. The exact legal name tells you who you are actually contracting with. The status tells you whether the entity is active or has been dissolved, suspended or forfeited. The formation date tells you how long the company has existed, which you can compare with what the client said about its history. Our broader business entity search page covers how these fields fit into a full client check.

How to run the search well

Registry search tools are simple, but small mistakes produce empty results or the wrong company.

• Ask the client for the exact legal name and the state of formation, not just the brand name on the website.
• Search with fewer words first. Leave out punctuation, "Inc.", "LLC" and "The" if the first try returns nothing.
• Check for similar names. Many states allow names that differ only by a word or an entity suffix.
• Open the full record, not just the search results list, and read the status and document history.
• Note the entity number. It stays the same if the name changes and helps you find the company again.

If the company was formed in one state and operates in another, it often has two records: a domestic record in the state of formation and a foreign registration in the state where it does business. Both should show an active status.

Reading status labels correctly

Each state uses its own vocabulary. Active, good standing, current and existing generally mean the entity is up to date with its filings. Delinquent, past due or not in good standing usually mean a missed annual report or unpaid fee, which can often be fixed. Suspended, forfeited, revoked and administratively dissolved are more serious: the entity may lose the right to do business or to sue in that state until it is reinstated. Voluntarily dissolved, cancelled, merged and withdrawn mean the entity has ended or moved. The llc lookup page goes into these labels for limited liability companies in more detail. Status rules differ by state, so read the definitions on the registry site itself, and treat this as general guidance rather than legal advice.

Filing offices for all 50 states and DC

In most states the Secretary of State keeps business entity records, but several states use a different agency. The table lists the office to search in each state.

Agency and division names change from time to time when states reorganize. If a name in the table no longer matches, the official state website will point you to the current business search.

States that work a little differently

A few registries are worth knowing about before you search. In Arizona, corporations and LLCs are filed with the Arizona Corporation Commission rather than the Secretary of State. In Maryland, the State Department of Assessments and Taxation keeps entity records and good standing. New Jersey runs business records through its Treasury department, and Wisconsin through its Department of Financial Institutions. In Virginia the State Corporation Commission handles filings, and in Michigan and Utah a commerce or licensing department does. In the District of Columbia the corporations division sits inside the consumer protection department.

Texas deserves a separate note. An entity can look active on the Secretary of State record while its right to do business is forfeited for unpaid franchise tax, which shows on the state Comptroller's records. Delaware, where many startups form, shows basic entity details for free but charges for some status and history information. In California an entity can be suspended by the state tax agency as well as by the Secretary of State, so a clean filing record does not always mean a clean tax record.

What the registry does not tell you

A registry record proves that an entity was formed and is current with its state filings. It does not tell you whether the business has customers, whether it pays vendors on time, or whether the person emailing you actually works there. Registered agents are often commercial services, so the agent address is rarely the place of business. Officer and member details are optional in many states, and some states let owners stay private entirely.

That is why a registry search is the first step of a company background verification, not the whole check. Domain age, a working website and mail setup, public reviews, court records and sanctions screening fill the gaps the registry leaves open.