Should I appoint the secretary of state as my resident agent?

It depends where your corporation was formed and does business. All states require that business entities formed or registered to do business in the state maintain a registered agent to accept service of process in the state on behalf of the entity. Some states, like New York, actually require you to designate the secretary of state as your corporation’s resident agent for service of process. In those states, the question is whether you want to appoint another entity to serve as an additional registered agent, which usually costs more but might result in the corporation receiving process more quickly. In other states, you can choose to, but need not, appoint the secretary of state as your corporation’s resident agent. Whether you choose to do so depends on (1) cost (it is cheaper to appoint the secretary of state gratis than it is to hire an outside company to act as your registered agent), and (2) when service of process is deemed to be complete in the particular state you’re in. The latter factor is important because it may net you a few extra days in responding to a lawsuit against your company, at a critical time when every day counts. For additional information, see The Pros and Cons of Designating the Secretary of State as Resident Agent.