Updated September 6, 2026. Quick answer: In District of Columbia, this role is called a registered agent, governed by D.C. Code Section 29-104.02 (entities required to maintain a registered agent), Section 29-104.04 (designation of registered agent), Section 29-104.07 (change of registered agent by entity), Section 29-106.01 (administrative dissolution; no registered agent in the District for 60 days is a ground). DC layers two consequences that most states keep separate: the Mayor stands in almost immediately as a default agent for service (once a diligent-search declaration is filed), while a sustained 60-day lapse independently exposes the LLC to administrative dissolution; a much shorter tolerance than Wisconsin’s one-year window, in a jurisdiction that (unlike West Virginia) does treat lack of an agent as a dissolution trigger.
What the address rule requires
Any address required in a registered-agent filing must be ‘a street address in the District’ (plus a separate District mailing address if different), per D.C. Code Section 29-104.03.
Who can serve as your registered agent
A commercial registered agent listed under Section 29-104.05, a noncommercial registered agent (an individual), or an officer or employee of the entity designated to accept service at the entity’s business address; the entity may not designate itself, as such, as its own registered agent.
What happens if you don’t have one
Two mechanisms run in parallel: (1) the Mayor becomes the entity’s agent for service of process once a person seeking to serve the LLC files a declaration under penalty of perjury that the registered agent cannot be located or was never maintained; service on the Mayor is then forwarded by registered/certified mail to the entity’s principal office (Section 29-104.12); and (2) going without a registered agent for 60 days is itself a ground the Mayor can use to begin administrative dissolution (Section 29-106.01). If a domestic LLC has no registered agent in the District for 60 days, the Mayor may commence administrative dissolution; after notice, the entity has 60 days to cure before the Mayor dissolves it by signing a statement of dissolution (Sections 29-106.01-.02). Dissolution does not terminate a registered agent’s authority, but the entity may thereafter only wind up its affairs.
How to change your registered agent
DLCP’s official Corporations Division fee page lists $50.00 for ‘Change of registered agent by entity’ for both domestic and foreign LLCs; the RA-3 form itself prints no dollar figure and instead directs filers to the posted Corporate Fee Schedule. (source: DC Department of Licensing and Consumer Protection, Corporations Division Fees: Limited Liability Company (dlcp.dc.gov))
This page covers what District of Columbia’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: District of Columbia’s LLC Certificate of Good Standing cost, including who issues it and how fast you can get one.