KY registered agent
Kentucky registered agent service, $2.50 a year
Kentucky requires every corporation and LLC on its books to keep a registered agent at a real address in the state. Here is what Kentucky law says about who that agent has to be and where it has to be.
What Kentucky requires of a registered agent
The requirement
Under the Kentucky Business Entity Filing Act (KRS ch. 14A, which governs registered agents for all entity types), the registered agent must be either an individual who resides in Kentucky whose business address is identical with the registered office, or an entity or foreign entity qualified to transact business in Kentucky whose business address is identical with the registered office. The requirement does not apply to general partnerships that are not LLPs, old-act limited partnerships, or rural electric/telephone cooperatives (KRS 14A.4-010(4)-(7)).
(b) A registered agent, who may be: 1. An individual who resides in this Commonwealth and whose business address is identical with the registered office; or 2. An entity or foreign entity qualified to transact business in this Commonwealth whose business address is identical with the registered office.
Source: state statute, via FACTS: KRS 14A.4-010(1)(b)
How we comply
We don't.
What Kentucky 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.
Administrative dissolution
The Secretary of State may administratively dissolve an entity that is without a registered office or registered agent for 60 days or more, or that fails to notify the Secretary of State within 60 days of an agent/office change, discontinuance, or resignation. The entity gets 60 days after notice to cure before dissolution (KRS 14A.7-020(2)).
(b) If the entity is without a registered office or registered agent in this state for sixty (60) days or more; (c) If the entity does not notify the Secretary of State within sixty (60) days that its registered office or registered agent has been changed, that its registered office has been discontinued or that its registered agent has resigned;
Source: state statute, via FACTS: KRS 14A.7-010(1)(b)-(c)
Revocation (foreign entities)
The Secretary of State may revoke a foreign entity's certificate of authority if it is without a registered office or registered agent for 60 days or more or fails to comply with the change-of-agent statute; 60-day notice-and-cure applies (KRS 14A.9-080(2)).
(2) The foreign entity is without a registered office or registered agent in this Commonwealth for sixty (60) days or more; (3) The foreign entity does comply with KRS 14A.4-020;
Source: state statute, via FACTS: KRS 14A.9-070(2)-(3)
No access to the courts
A foreign entity transacting business in Kentucky without a certificate of authority (e.g. after revocation for failure to maintain an agent) may not maintain a proceeding in any Kentucky court until it obtains a certificate of authority.
A foreign entity transacting business in this Commonwealth without a certificate of authority may not maintain a proceeding in any court in this Commonwealth until it obtains a certificate of authority.
Source: state statute, via FACTS: KRS 14A.9-020(1)
Civil penalty
A foreign entity transacting business without a certificate of authority is liable for a civil penalty of $2 for each day of unauthorized business.
A foreign entity is liable for a civil penalty of two dollars ($2) for each day it transacts business in this Commonwealth without a certificate of authority. The Secretary of State may collect all penalties due under this subsection.
Source: state statute, via FACTS: KRS 14A.9-020(4)
And also
Revocation of a foreign entity's certificate of authority appoints the Secretary of State as the foreign entity's registered agent for proceedings on causes of action that arose while it was authorized.
The Secretary of State's revocation of a foreign entity's certificate of authority shall be considered to appoint the Secretary of State the foreign entity's registered agent in any proceeding based on a cause of action which arose during the time the foreign entity was authorized to transact business in this Commonwealth.
Source: state statute, via FACTS: KRS 14A.9-080(4)
The bill to come back
Reinstatement fee
Reinstatement after administrative dissolution requires payment of the reinstatement penalty ($100 under KRS 14A.2-060(1)(j)) plus the current fee for filing each delinquent annual report ($15 each under KRS 14A.2-060(2)(a)), a Department of Revenue tax-clearance certificate, and (for business corporations) an unemployment-insurance clearance.
(g) Be accompanied by the reinstatement penalty and the current fee for filing each delinquent annual report as provided for in this chapter.
Source: state statute, via FACTS: KRS 14A.7-030(1)(g)
What happens to the lawsuit you never saw
Substituted service
If an entity has no registered agent, or the agent cannot with reasonable diligence be served, the entity may be served by registered or certified mail, return receipt requested, addressed to the entity at its principal office. Service is perfected on receipt, the return-receipt date, or 5 days after deposit in the U.S. mail, whichever is earliest.
If an entity or foreign entity has no registered agent, or the agent cannot with reasonable diligence be served, the entity or foreign entity may be served with process, or any notice or demand may be served by registered or certified mail, return receipt requested, addressed to the entity or foreign entity at its principal office and to the attention of the person or office appropriate for giving notice to the entity or foreign entity.
Source: state statute, via FACTS: KRS 14A.4-040(2)
Statutory text as captured by FACTS (retrieved 2026-08-01, verified word-for-word against the state code 2026-08-10). Laws change. The statute governs; this page does not.