Business and Registered Agent Service in Georgia

01The statute first

Who Can Accept Papers for a Georgia Corporation

A company cannot open its own front door, so Georgia law names the human beings who receive process on its behalf. O.C.G.A. § 9-11-4(e)(1)(A) lists the president or other officer, a managing agent, and the registered agent. Subsection (e)(1)(B) defines a managing agent as a person employed at a Georgia office or facility who holds managerial or supervisory authority. A receptionist who happens to be at the desk is not automatically one of these people, which is why our servers ask for a name and title before handing anything over. The step-by-step guide to serving papers in Georgia covers the individual-defendant side of the same statute.

Delator Field Services is the process serving division of Delator Group, a Tennessee firm with its headquarters in Nashville and no office in Georgia. For each business serve, we assign a server authorized for that court and county and confirm the court's rule before the first attempt. If a county routes certain papers only through the sheriff, we tell you so in writing rather than accepting a job that could be challenged later. You can read how we decide who may serve process in Georgia before you send anything.

• President or other corporate officer
• Managing agent at a Georgia office or facility
• Registered agent at the registered office
• Secretary of State, only after the statutory steps fail

02Limited liability companies

Registered Agents and Registered Offices for Georgia LLCs

O.C.G.A. § 14-11-209 requires every Georgia LLC to keep a registered office and a registered agent continuously. The agent may be an individual who lives in Georgia, a corporation, another LLC, or a foreign entity authorized to do business in the state. In practice, many small LLCs list a member's home, while larger ones list a commercial agent company in an office park. Our servers treat those as different jobs, because a home address calls for evening attempts and a commercial agent usually keeps business hours and a front counter.

The registered agent named on the Secretary of State's records is only as current as the company's last filing. Under § 14-11-209(d), a resigning agent's appointment generally ends on the earliest of the LLC's next annual registration, a new agent designation, or the thirty-first day after the resignation is filed. That gap matters, so we compare the address on your papers with the public record before the first trip, and a Lawrenceville process server can check a Gwinnett registered office the same week. Firms that send recurring business serves often pair this page with our service options for Georgia law firms.

03When the agent cannot be served

The Secretary of State Route After Failed Attempts

Georgia gives plaintiffs a fallback when a business has effectively disappeared from its registered office. For corporations, § 9-11-4(e)(1)(A) says that if the officer, managing agent and registered agent cannot be served, the Secretary of State shall be an agent of the corporation. The plaintiff or attorney delivers the process, with a copy of the affidavit to be filed with the court, and certifies in writing that the papers were sent by registered or certified mail or statutory overnight delivery to the last registered office or agent and could not be served there. Your attorney can confirm the current filing details.

LLCs have a parallel provision in § 14-11-209(f), which applies when the company fails to maintain an agent or the agent cannot be found with reasonable diligence at the registered office. In both cases, the court will want proof that someone actually tried. Our affidavits record each visit to the registered office, what was there, and who said what, which gives counsel the factual record behind the certification. If the trail runs out of state, our page on serving out-of-state papers explains how foreign entities are handled, and the statewide Georgia service page lists the courts involved.

Under the corporate provision, the defendant is answerable not more than 30 days from the date the Secretary of State receives the certification. If an officer is known to have an address outside Georgia, the statute also calls for a copy to be mailed there. We do not file anything with the Secretary of State ourselves; the certification belongs to the plaintiff or the attorney.

04Where companies actually sit

Serving Office Towers, Office Parks and Storefronts

Business addresses in Georgia range from glass towers with a staffed lobby to a strip-mall suite with a handwritten sign. In a tower, the security desk may refuse to call upstairs, and the server has to ask for the registered agent or an officer by name. In a suburban office park, the suite on the filing may have changed tenants twice, a pattern our Gwinnett County servers see often. We note the building, suite, floor and the name of anyone who declined to accept, so counsel can judge the next step. Companies headquartered in the Perimeter area are often handled through our Sandy Springs process serving page.

Retail and restaurant defendants raise a different question: is the shift manager a managing agent for § 9-11-4 purposes? Sometimes yes, sometimes no, and that call belongs to your attorney. We report the title the person gave and what authority they described, rather than guessing. Franchise and chain defendants with a commercial registered agent are usually simpler. North Fulton technology and office parks along the GA 400 corridor come up often, and our Alpharetta process servers handle that area routinely.

05Businesses as garnishees and witnesses

Garnishment Packages and Records Subpoenas for Companies

A company is often served not as the defendant but as the garnishee: the employer holding wages or the bank holding an account. Under O.C.G.A. § 18-4-8, the plaintiff serves the garnishee with the affidavit, the summons of garnishment, the Notice to Defendant of Right Against Garnishment and the Defendant's Claim Form, using § 9-11-4. In magistrate court, the plaintiff may instead use the court's constable. We serve the complete package and list every document delivered in the affidavit, which our magistrate court service page covers in more detail.

Notice to the judgment debtor follows within three business days after the garnishee is served, and personal delivery is one of the methods the statute allows. Records subpoenas to businesses work under a different law. O.C.G.A. § 24-13-24 lets any person at least 18 years old serve a subpoena, and witness fees under § 24-13-25 can apply. Our Georgia subpoena delivery service explains the tender rule for out-of-county witnesses.

• Affidavit and summons of garnishment
• Notice to Defendant of Right Against Garnishment
• Defendant's Claim Form
• Each document listed in the affidavit

06Other entity types

Foreign Entities, Counties and Municipalities

Section 9-11-4(e)(2) covers certain foreign and nonresident entities doing business in Georgia, which are generally served through a managing agent or registered agent. A Delaware or Tennessee company with a Georgia warehouse can therefore often be served at its Georgia registered office, without any work in its home state. Subsection (e)(5) sets out separate officials to serve when the defendant is a Georgia county or municipality. Those rules are specific, so we ask counsel which official the papers should name before a server goes out. Coastal logistics and port-related companies frequently come through our Savannah process serving team.

Consolidated governments such as Athens-Clarke, Augusta-Richmond, Columbus-Muscogee and Macon-Bibb raise naming questions of their own. We serve the official your pleading names and record the office, the time and the person who accepted. For pricing in a particular county, the Georgia process serving rate map shows the published Routine starting rate. Government defendants in middle Georgia often arise in Macon-Bibb matters, which our Macon process servers handle under the same documentation standard.

07Proof that holds up

Affidavits Written for a Challenge to Service on a Company

Motions to dismiss for insufficient service on a business usually turn on one question: did the person who took the papers have authority to receive them? Our affidavits state the date, place and manner of service, as § 9-11-4(h) requires, and add the name and title the recipient gave. Proof is due within five business days of service, and if it is filed late, the defendant's time to answer generally does not start until it is filed. Our guide to service when someone avoids it explains how attempt logs support counsel.

Business serves in Fulton, Cobb and nearby metro counties start at a published Routine rate of $125, with Urgent at 1.5x, Rush at 2x and Same Day Rush at 3x. Your exact figure arrives in writing before any server goes out. When a filing deadline is close, our same day process serving options explain each tier. If an individual officer has to be served personally and keeps missing appointments, our page on serving hard-to-reach defendants applies.

Services

Business Service Options in Georgia

• Registered agent deliveryWe deliver the summons and complaint to the registered agent at the registered office listed with the Secretary of State and record who accepted.Learn more
• Officer servicePersonal delivery to a president or other corporate officer at the company office, a scheduled meeting place or another address counsel provides.Learn more
• Managing agent serviceDelivery to a person with managerial or supervisory authority at a Georgia office or facility, with their stated title and role noted in the affidavit.Learn more
• Garnishee serviceFull garnishment packages delivered to employers and banks, with each document itemized in the affidavit of service for the clerk.Learn more
• Records custodian subpoenasSubpoenas for business records delivered to the company or its custodian, with a return ready for filing and any required witness fee tender attached.Learn more
• Diligence for the Secretary of StateDocumented, dated attempts at the listed registered office that support counsel's written certification when the agent cannot be served there.Learn more
• Foreign entity serviceService on out-of-state companies through their Georgia managing agent or registered agent, with the delivery and affidavit matched to the issuing court's rules.Learn more
• Rush business servesUrgent, Rush and Same Day Rush tiers for business filings with a close deadline, each priced in writing before the server leaves.Learn more
• Multi-county coordinationOne request covering a company's registered office in one county and an officer's home in another, tracked under a single file and invoice.Learn more

How it works

How a Business Serve Works

1. 01

   Send the papers and entity name

   Upload the summons, complaint or garnishment package with the exact entity name. We compare the registered agent and registered office against the public record before quoting.

2. 02

   Written quote and server

   We confirm the county rate, the tier and an assigned server authorized for that court and county, in writing, before the first attempt is made.

3. 03

   Attempts at the right desk

   The server asks for the registered agent, an officer or a managing agent by name and records the building, suite, time and anyone who refused.

4. 04

   Affidavit and next steps

   You receive a signed affidavit stating date, place and manner, or a dated attempt record that counsel can use for the Secretary of State route.

Compare

Who Receives Service for Common Georgia Entities

Statewide coverage

Business Service Across Georgia

Many corporate registered offices are in metro Atlanta, so our Atlanta process servers and the Fulton County service page see the heaviest business volume. Office parks along I-75 are covered through our Marietta process server page, and Gwinnett suites through Peachtree Corners service. Outside the metro, registered offices in Augusta, Macon and Columbus are served at the published rate for each county, confirmed in writing first. Coastal companies are handled through Chatham County service. Whatever the county, the server asks for the registered agent or an officer by name, records the suite and the time, and the signed affidavit comes back to counsel ready to file.

• Atlanta
• Sandy Springs
• Alpharetta
• Peachtree Corners
• Marietta
• Savannah
• All of Georgia

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

Service areas

Process servers across Georgia