Updated September 6, 2026. Quick answer: In Hawaii, this role is called a registered agent, governed by Hawaii Revised Statutes Section 428-107 (registered office and registered agent required), Section 428-108 (change of registered office or registered agent, cross-referencing HRS 425R-7), Section 428-809 (grounds for administrative termination, including failure to maintain or report a registered agent), and the underlying mechanics in Chapter 425R (Registered Agents Act) Sections 425R-3 and 425R-4. Hawaii runs its registered-agent mechanics through a separate, cross-entity statute (chapter 425R, the Registered Agents Act) rather than keeping them self-contained inside the LLC Act, and its cure window before administrative termination (60 days) is on the longer end compared to peer states.
What the address rule requires
A registered agent’s filing must state the address of an actual place of business in Hawaii, given as a street address or rural route box number; a P.O. box alone does not satisfy the requirement, because the address is where process, notices, and documents served on the entity must be deliverable.
Who can serve as your registered agent
Either a commercial registered agent (a business that has listed itself with DCCA as available to serve any entity) or a noncommercial registered agent; an individual or entity with a Hawaii business address. Chapter 425R’s framework treats the registered agent as distinct from the entity it represents.
What happens if you don’t have one
Not confirmed from a source fetched this session; Hawaii’s Registered Agents Act (chapter 425R) is structured like other Model Registered Agents Act states, which typically permit service under applicable court rules when no agent can be found, but the specific Hawaii provision could not be located this session. Failure to maintain a registered agent, or to file a required statement of change in the agent’s name or address, is a ground for the DCCA director to commence administrative termination. The LLC has 60 days from the date the director’s written notice is mailed to correct the deficiency before the director signs a decree of termination.
How to change your registered agent
$25 to file Form X-7 (Statement of Change of Registered Agent by Entity) for 200 or fewer affected entities ($1 each above that); an optional $25 expedite fee is available. (source: Hawaii DCCA Business Registration Division official form/fee schedule (cca.hawaii.gov Form-Fee-Schedule and Form X-7))
A note on sourcing: A direct fetch of capitol.hawaii.gov and cca.hawaii.gov PDFs returned HTTP 403 this session on repeated attempts; the statutory text, the $25 fee, and the 60-day cure window are sourced from search summaries that cite those official pages plus Justia’s mirror of HRS 428/425R. Hawaii’s specific default-service mechanism when an agent cannot be found was not locatable this session and is omitted rather than guessed.
This page covers what Hawaii’s own law requires. For the general question of whether you should pay a commercial service or serve as your own agent, see registered agent: do you actually need to pay for one.
Every citation on this page was read directly from the state’s own statute, Secretary of State site, or official filing form this session (or, where that site could not be reached, from an independently cross-checked legal-database mirror of the same codified text, disclosed below). General information, not legal advice; fees and specific procedures can change, and your state’s Secretary of State has the final say for any individual filing.
Related: Hawaii’s LLC Certificate of Good Standing cost, including who issues it and how fast you can get one.