Updated September 6, 2026. Quick answer: In Colorado, this role is called a registered agent, governed by C.R.S. Section 7-90-102(56) (definitions), Section 7-90-701 (eligibility), Section 7-90-704 (service on entities), Section 7-90-901 (delinquency). Colorado explicitly bars the Secretary of State from ever serving as a registered agent, and (new in 2024-2025 law) individual agents must verify their Colorado residency with the state; an identity-verification requirement not found elsewhere among the states compared here.
What the address rule requires
Colorado’s statute defines a qualifying address as a place customarily open during business hours where the agent is commonly present, and states directly that this “does not include a United States or commercial post office box.”
Who can serve as your registered agent
An individual who is 18 or older and a Colorado resident (or has a Colorado usual place of business), or a domestic or foreign entity in good standing with a Colorado usual place of business. An LLC can serve as its own registered agent, though Colorado’s own guidance describes this as a two-step process: appoint someone else first, then file a change to self-appoint. The Secretary of State itself cannot be appointed as a registered agent.
What happens if you don’t have one
If the LLC has no registered agent, or the agent cannot be located or served with reasonable diligence, Colorado allows service by registered or certified mail to the entity’s principal address; there is no Secretary-of-State-as-default-agent mechanism. Failing to maintain a registered agent moves the entity’s status first to ‘Noncompliant,’ then to ‘Delinquent’ if uncured; the entity’s name is then held for 400 days from delinquency before being released to the public on day 401 with ‘delinquent’ appended to it.
How to change your registered agent
A standalone statement of change is filed online with the Secretary of State (approximately $10, per the process pages; the fee-schedule page itself returned an access error this session). (source: Colorado Secretary of State, registered agent FAQ)
| Citation | C.R.S. Section 7-90-102(56) (definitions), Section 7-90-701 (eligibility), Section 7-90-704 (service on entities), Section 7-90-901 (delinquency) |
| Confidence | High |
This page covers what Colorado’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: Colorado’s LLC Certificate of Good Standing cost, including who issues it and how fast you can get one.