Business search · North Dakota
North Dakota business search
The North Dakota Secretary of State keeps the official record of every company, LLC and corporation registered in North Dakota. Look one up by name and see status, entity type, formation date and registered agent. Clerkfield reads the state's own search directly, each time you search, and every result shows the source and the date of the data.
What North Dakota's records include
The fields a Clerkfield result returns for North Dakota, taken from the state's own record.
- SOS Control ID#
- Legal name
- Filing type, such as LLC, corporation or trade name
- Status and standing, as two separate state values
- Filing date
- Principal or mailing address (from the record's detail panel)
- Registered agent with address (from the record's detail panel)
- Other detail-panel facts, such as formed-in state and annual report due date
Not in North Dakota's free records
Nothing we know of: the free records carry every field listed here.
Types of business North Dakota registers
- Limited Liability Company - Business - Domestic
- Limited Liability Company - Business - Foreign
- Corporation - Business - Domestic
- Corporation - Business - Foreign
- Corporation - Nonprofit - Foreign
- Trade Name
- Fictitious Partnership Name
What North Dakota's statuses mean
North Dakota uses its own words for a business's standing. Clerkfield keeps the state's wording in every result and marks each one active or inactive.
| Status | What it means |
|---|---|
| Active | The business is registered and has not been closed. Check the separate Standing value too. |
| Good Standing | The business is up to date on its annual reports with the Secretary of State. |
| Not Good Standing | An annual report is overdue. The business still exists but has about a year to catch up before the state ends it. |
How to search North Dakota records by hand
The state's own search is at firststop.sos.nd.gov.
- Open the FirstStop business search.
- Type the business name and choose whether results should start with or contain your words.
- Leave "active only" unticked if you also want closed businesses.
- Click a result to open its detail panel.
- Read Status and Standing together, then check the registered agent and annual report due date.
Fees and how current the data is
Fees
LLC registration $135 (domestic or foreign); LLC annual report $50; Certificate of Good Standing $20 through FirstStop; Certificate of Fact $15 for trade names and $20 for other businesses.
How current it is
Live search of the Secretary of State's FirstStop portal at the moment of each check.
Good to know about North Dakota records
01
Status and Standing are separate. A business can be Active but Not Good Standing; Clerkfield flags those for a person to review instead of passing them.
02
Trade names and fictitious partnership names appear in the same search as companies. A trade name is a registered name, not a separate company, and it expires every five years unless renewed.
03
Annual report deadlines depend on the type: LLCs November 15, domestic corporations August 1, foreign corporations May 15, partnerships March 31, farming entities April 15. Sole proprietorships and general partnerships file none.
04
Farming and ranching LLCs must list their managers and members in their articles; ordinary business LLCs are not described as having to.
Liens on North Dakota businesses
North Dakota UCC filings are kept by the North Dakota Secretary of State, Central Indexing System (NDCIS) and searched at cis.sos.nd.gov. Public search by debtor name or filing number: no fee. UCC and UCC-11 searches need a login and have no fee. Secured party search: $500. Clerkfield doesn't search North Dakota liens yet.
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Status says whether the business still exists, such as Active. Standing says whether its annual reports are current: Good Standing or Not Good Standing. Read both before funding.
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It moves to Not Good Standing. If the report is still missing after about a year, the state dissolves or terminates a local business, or revokes an out-of-state business's authority.
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It depends on the type. LLCs file by November 15, domestic corporations by August 1, foreign corporations by May 15, and limited partnerships and LLPs by March 31.
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North Dakota keeps trade names in the same FirstStop records as companies. A trade name shows who registered a name, not a separate company, so match it back to the LLC or corporation that owns it.
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It costs $20 and is requested through the FirstStop portal.
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Clerkfield searches the Secretary of State's FirstStop portal live each time you run a check, so results match what the state shows at that moment.