Service of Process for Your Missouri Business

Service of process is how a court gets legal papers — a lawsuit, a subpoena, a summons — into the hands of a business. Missouri requires every LLC, corporation, and limited partnership on file with the Secretary of State to keep a registered agent in place specifically so there's a dependable address for that delivery.

What Counts as Service of Process

Not every piece of mail is service of process. The category covers documents tied to an active or opening court matter:

• Summons and complaints that open a lawsuit against the business
• Subpoenas compelling records or witness testimony
• Garnishment and attachment orders connected to a judgment
• Any other court filing carrying a response deadline

Routine correspondence from the Secretary of State or Department of Revenue is a separate category — we handle both, but the two are tracked differently under our mail policy below.

Why Missouri Requires a Named Recipient

A court needs proof a business was properly notified before a case can proceed. That's the reason Missouri Secretary of State requires a registered agent with a real Missouri street address, reachable during ordinary business hours, whose sole job includes accepting this kind of delivery. Skip the requirement, or let the appointment lapse, and a business risks a default judgment — losing before it even knew there was a case.

What Happens When We're Served

Here's the sequence when a process server hands papers to our Missouri office on your behalf:

• We accept the delivery in person, during business hours, as Missouri law requires of any registered agent
• The document gets scanned that same business day and posted to your online portal
• You get an email the moment it's uploaded, so there's no delay finding out
• There's no charge per delivery — unlimited service-of-process scanning is built into the $99/year fee, with no annual cap

Need an actual paper copy mailed to you instead of (or alongside) the scan? That's available as a paid per-piece add-on — just ask; it isn't part of the standard scanning service.

Once You've Been Served

Timing is the whole game after that. Court response windows in Missouri are often short, and missing one can cost a case regardless of its merits. We're not able to give legal advice, but getting the document in front of you the same day it's delivered gives you and your attorney the maximum runway to respond.

Who This Applies To

Every entity registered with Missouri Secretary of State — LLCs, corporations, limited partnerships, and out-of-state entities qualified to do business here — has to keep an agent capable of accepting service of process for as long as the entity exists. An agent who's unreachable, or missing altogether, puts the business at real risk.

Get Missouri Registered Agent Service — $99/year

Have a question we didn't cover here? Check the FAQ or reach out directly.