Louisiana Secretary of State
Louisiana Business Entity Search
Last updated . Register data is refreshed nightly.
Check whether a business name is already on file with the Louisiana Secretary of State. Free, no account, all entity types.
Louisiana Business Entity Search
Search the state's official business records.
Louisiana's register is at coraweb.sos.la.gov, run by the Secretary of State. Free, no account.
It has no status column, and one of its records reads Active while carrying a notice of dissolution filed in 1934.
Bold means active. That is the whole signal.
There is no status column in the results.
Louisiana tells you at the top that active records are shown in bold, and that typography is the only indication you get. A dissolved company and a trading one sit in the same list, distinguished by weight of type.
Massachusetts also omits status from its results, but at least does not ask you to read font weight. If you are scanning a long list, or if you have any visual difficulty at all, this is the single most important thing to know about the Louisiana register.
Read the amendments, not the status
Even on the record, the headline status is not the last word.
One entity here reads Active at the top while carrying a Notice of Dissolution filed in 1934 further down the same page.
So Louisiana's record keeps a history that can contradict its own summary. The amendments section is where the truth is; the status line is a starting point.
That is an extreme case, but the principle holds generally: scroll.
Searching it
Three search types, chosen with a radio button, and no filters on the results.
The match is word-based and broad. The page's own hints say adding more words narrows it, which is the opposite of how most people expect a search to behave but perfectly sensible once you know.
Results give the name, the type, the city and a Details button.
The record
Previous names, charter number, registration date, domicile, mailing and principal office addresses, status, file date, the last report filed, and the amendments.
Trademarks are searchable from the same system.
Who decides
Filings are recorded; acceptance is judged by the Secretary of State on examination, under the Louisiana Limited Liability Company Law, La. Rev. Stat. § 12:1301 et seq. The naming provision is § 12:1306, headed simply Name.
Before you rely on it
Bold means active. There is no other signal in the list.
Read the amendments on any record you are relying on. The status line can be contradicted by what sits below it.
Add words to narrow, rather than expecting a filter.
Louisiana filing facts
These fees take effect on 1 October 2026 under Act 921 of the 2026 Regular Legislative Session. If you are reading this before that date, the figures in force today are lower. We read the new schedule rather than the old one, and we are telling you which is which rather than printing one as though it were both.
| Filing, from 1 October 2026 | Fee |
|---|---|
| Articles of Organization | $125.00 |
| Annual report | $35.00 |
| Annual report, non-profit | $10.00 |
| Name reservation, transfer or cancellation | $25.00 |
| Supplemental initial report | $30.00 |
| Affidavit to Dissolve | $125.00 |
| Expedited, 24 hour | +$30.00 |
| Expedited, while you wait | +$50.00 |
Dissolving costs the same as forming: $125. Most states charge a fraction: Iowa $5, Colorado $10, Missouri $25, and several charge nothing. Louisiana prices closing a company exactly as it prices opening one, which is worth knowing before you start something you may want to stop.
At $125 and $35 a year the state sits mid-table once the new schedule is in force.
Behind the bold type sit 82,450 applications over the 52 weeks to 26 September 2026: 330 a business day, up 19.4%, 24th of 51 by volume.
What the register will not tell you
Louisiana has 14,661 live registered marks, and the culture is all over them:
| word | live marks | times more common than nationally |
|---|---|---|
| orleans | 822 | 202x |
| louisiana | 631 | 198x |
| nola | 341 | 191x |
| cajun | 492 | 125x |
| southern | 239 | 11x |
| coffee | 228 | 4x |
Four words above 125 times the national rate, more heavily contested ground than almost any state this size. And three of them are the same place: orleans, nola and, loosely, louisiana itself.
Cajun at 492 marks and 125x is the one that has no equivalent anywhere else. Kentucky has bourbon, Tennessee has music, Hawaii has aloha. Louisiana has a word for its own culture that 492 businesses have already registered.
The practical reading is blunt: Orleans, NOLA, Cajun and Louisiana are occupied. Those are also the four words a Louisiana business is most likely to reach for, which makes this one of the harder states in the country to name something in. Check the federal register early.
New Orleans files 25.9% of the state's marks, Baton Rouge 14.2%, Metairie 6.9%.
What the Louisiana portal looks like
Captured from the live register. Personal names and addresses are blacked out; everything else is as the state publishes it.
Louisiana Secretary of State business services
Business registrations in Louisiana are held by the Louisiana Secretary of State, which maintains the public register this page searches, accepts new filings, and issues the certificates a bank or a counterparty may ask you for. Contact them directly for anything that has to be official.
| Business entity search | coraweb.sos.la.gov/CommercialSearch/CommercialSearch.aspx |
|---|---|
| Phone | (225) 925-4704 |
| Address | Louisiana Secretary of State Commercial Division 8585 Archives Ave. Baton Rouge, LA, 70809 |
| Office hours | 8:00 a.m.-4:30 p.m. |
| LLC filing fee | $125 (from 1 October 2026) |
| Processing | routine processing (no specific timeframe given) |
The office handles registration, not disputes. If a name is already taken, they will tell you it is unavailable but not who holds it beyond what the public record shows, and they will not advise on whether your name infringes someone’s mark.
Common questions about Louisiana business entity searches
How do I check if an LLC exists in Louisiana?
Search the name on this page or on the state's own portal. What Louisiana does by default is worth knowing before you read the result: word-based and broad; more words narrows it (per the page's own hints, 10 Sep). A match means the entity is on file, and its status line tells you whether it is still active.
How do I verify a company is registered in Louisiana?
Search the name, then open the record rather than reading the results line. You get previous names, charter number, registration date, domicile, mailing and principal office addresses and status, file date and last report filed. The status on the record is the one to trust: a dissolved company still appears in a search and still holds its name.
Does a clear search mean my Louisiana business name is approved?
Not on its own. A no-match result means the name is not on the Louisiana register today, which is a preliminary answer rather than approval: Louisiana Secretary of State decides when it reviews the filing. Worth knowing about Louisiana in particular: read the amendments, not just the status. One record here reads Active at the top while carrying a Notice of Dissolution filed in 1934 further down. Louisiana also stops at 250 results and tells you to add more criteria, so a common word will not show you everyone using it.
Can I look up who owns a business in Louisiana?
The Louisiana register shows the registered agent and, depending on the filing type, officers or organizers. It does not list members or shareholders for every entity, so the register identifies who accepts legal service rather than who owns the company.
How much does it cost to register a business name in Louisiana?
Forming an LLC in Louisiana costs $125 (from 1 October 2026) in state filing fees, and is processed routine processing (no specific timeframe given). Reserving a name before filing is a separate, smaller fee. Current schedules are set by Louisiana Secretary of State and change from time to time, so confirm them on the state's own site before you file.
Sources
- Louisiana business entity search, the official register this page queries.
- Filing fees and processing times: Louisiana Secretary of State, Fee Schedule Effective 10/1/26, under Act 921 of the 2026 Regular Legislative Session, verified 2026-09-10. Current schedules are published by the Louisiana Secretary of State.
- Formation activity: Census Bureau Business Formation Statistics, retrieved via FRED at the Federal Reserve Bank of St Louis.
- Federal trademark data: United States Patent and Trademark Office, 3,374,058 live registrations cross-referenced against the state registers. Live excludes both abandoned applications and cancelled registrations.
- Office contact details: compiled from published directories and not yet confirmed against the contact page published by the Louisiana Secretary of State. Telephone the office before relying on an address.
- Naming and reporting rules: Louisiana Secretary of State, Fee Schedule Effective 10/1/26, under Act 921 of the 2026 Regular Legislative Session.
- Naming statute: La. R.S. 12:1306, published by the state.
- State seal: public domain image via Wikimedia Commons.