(a) A corporation‘s registered agent is the corporation’s agent for service of process, notice, or demand required or permitted by law to be served on the corporation.

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Terms Used In Tennessee Code 48-55-104

  • Business: includes every trade, occupation, profession, investment activity and other lawful purpose for gain or the preservation of assets whether or not carried on for profits. See Tennessee Code 48-202-101
  • Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
  • Foreign corporation: means a corporation for profit incorporated under a law other than the laws of this state. See Tennessee Code 48-202-101
  • Secretary: means the corporate officer to whom the bylaws or the board of directors has delegated responsibility under §. See Tennessee Code 48-11-201
  • Secretary of state: means the person who holds the office of secretary of state of Tennessee. See Tennessee Code 48-202-101
  • Service of process: The service of writs or summonses to the appropriate party.
  • State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the several territories of the United States. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
(b) Whenever a domestic or foreign corporation authorized to transact business or conduct affairs in this state fails to appoint or maintain a registered agent in this state, whenever its registered agent cannot be found with reasonable diligence, whenever a foreign corporation shall transact business or conduct affairs in this state without first procuring a certificate of authority to do so from the secretary of state, or whenever the certificate of authority of a foreign corporation shall have been withdrawn or revoked, then the secretary of state shall be an agent of such corporation upon whom any such process, notice, or demand may be served.
(c) This section does not prescribe the only means, or necessarily the required means, of serving a corporation.