Register a DBA in Arkansas

Filing office depends on your entity type

A DBA (fictitious or assumed business name) lets you operate, bank, and advertise under a trade name. Below: who must file in Arkansas, where, for how long, and what happens if you don't — quoted from the statutes.

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Filing office

General act: the county clerk of each county in which the person conducts, transacts, or intends to conduct the business. Corporate fictitious names: the Secretary of State, plus (for domestic corporations) the county clerk of the county of the registered office unless it is in Pulaski County.

Term & renewal

No fixed term or expiration is prescribed for the county assumed-name certificate; it remains on file. On any change of ownership, each person withdrawing or disposing of an interest must file a certificate of withdrawal with the county clerk of each county where the business is conducted. Corporate fictitious-name filings under § 4-26-405 likewise carry no stated term but must be cancelled when the corporation dissolves, forfeits its rights, or ceases using the name.

Publication

No newspaper publication requirement found in the act.

Exclusive rights?

No — registration does not by itself grant exclusive rights to the name. A trademark does that.

Arkansas filing fees

County clerk indexing and filing fee (assumed-name certificate)

Ark. Code Ann. § 4-70-206(b)

$1.00

Statutory amounts are as printed in the statute; agencies may adjust them by fee schedule.

State and county fees are set by law, never discounted, and collected with your order.

Who must file in Arkansas

Business type	Required?	Where
Any person (individual or unregistered firm, including general partnerships) conducting or transacting business under an assumed name or any name other than the real name of the individual	Yes	County clerk of each county where business is conducted or intended to be conducted
Domestic or foreign corporations, limited partnerships, and limited liability companies lawfully doing business in Arkansas	No	Exempt from the county-clerk assumed-name subchapter entirely
Domestic or foreign corporations conducting business under a fictitious name	Yes	Secretary of State; domestic corporations also file with the county clerk of the registered-office county unless it is located in Pulaski County

County-level filings go to the clerk or recorder of each county where you do business — requirements and fees vary by county, so confirm with the county office (we handle this as part of every Arkansas DBA order).

The law behind it

Quoted verbatim from Business Under Assumed Name (Ark. Code Ann. Title 4, Ch. 70, Subch. 2; Acts 1943, No. 11) (Ark. Code Ann. §§ 4-70-201 through 4-70-206).

What the law requires

Arkansas splits by entity type. Individuals and unregistered firms doing business under an assumed name must file a certificate with the county clerk of every county where they do business (§ 4-70-203). Registered corporations, LPs, and LLCs are expressly exempt from that subchapter (§ 4-70-201) and instead use entity-side fictitious-name filings - corporations file with the Secretary of State (and the county clerk of the registered-office county unless in Pulaski County) under § 4-26-405.

"(b) This subchapter shall not apply to any domestic or foreign corporation or to any domestic or foreign limited partnership or limited liability company lawfully doing business in this state." — Ark. Code Ann. § 4-70-201(b)

Where filings go

"unless the person files a certificate in the office of the county clerk of the counties in which the person conducts or transacts or intends to conduct the business. The certificate shall set forth the name under which the business is, or is to be, conducted or transacted and the full name or names of each person conducting or transacting the business, with the post office address of each." — Ark. Code Ann. § 4-70-203(a); § 4-26-405(a)

How long it lasts

"Wherever there is a change in ownership of any business operated under an assumed name, each person disposing of his or her interest in the business or withdrawing therefrom shall file a certificate with the county clerk of each county in which the business is being conducted." — Ark. Code Ann. § 4-70-204; § 4-26-405(e)

Name restrictions

The county-level general act contains no name-screening standard. On the entity side, the Secretary of State must refuse a corporate fictitious-name filing if the proposed name is not distinguishable from, or is confusingly similar to, existing domestic or admitted foreign corporate names or names reserved or registered under §§ 4-26-402 and 4-26-403.

"However, the Secretary of State shall not accept such filing if the proposed fictitious name is not distinguishable under § 4-26-401 from the same as or confusingly similar to the name of any domestic corporation, or any foreign corporation admitted to this state, or any name reserved or registered under §§ 4-26-402 and 4-26-403." — Ark. Code Ann. § 4-26-405(b)(3)

Entities and assumed names

Corporations (domestic or admitted foreign) file corporate fictitious names with the Secretary of State on an approved form in duplicate - the fictitious name, character of business, and corporate identity - with a duplicate then filed with the county clerk of the registered-office county unless in Pulaski County. No exclusive rights are created, cancellation must be filed when use ceases, and an assumed name adequately tied to the true corporate name in an instrument is not a 'fictitious name' under the section (§ 4-26-405(h)). related entity name mechanisms (4-27-404 is the 1987 Business Corporation Act corporate fictitious-name section; 4-42-707 covers registered LLPs) are cross-referenced at §§ 4-27-404, 4-38-122, and 4-42-707 but were not extracted.

"(1) Each form shall be executed, without verification, in duplicate and filed with the Secretary of State. (2) The Secretary of State shall retain one (1) counterpart; and the other counterpart, bearing the file marks of the Secretary of State, shall be returned to the corporation and, unless its registered office is in Pulaski County, the corporation will file it with the county clerk. An index of such filings shall be maintained in each office." — Ark. Code Ann. § 4-26-405(b)

Statutory text quoted from the official published statutes; dataset last regenerated 2026-09-09. Read the full code at the Arkansas statutes. This is information, not legal advice — laws change.

If you skip it

Failure to comply with the assumed-name subchapter is a violation punishable by a fine of not less than $25 nor more than $100, and each day of violation is a separate offense. (Ark. Code Ann. § 4-70-202)

A corporation that contracts exclusively under an unregistered fictitious name can be sued on the instrument, but cannot enforce its own rights under it in Arkansas courts until it complies with § 4-26-405 and pays a $300 civil penalty to the Treasurer of State. (Ark. Code Ann. § 4-26-405(f)(1))

Arkansas DBA FAQs

Does an Arkansas LLC or corporation file its DBA with the county clerk?

No. Registered corporations, LPs, and LLCs are expressly exempt from the county assumed-name subchapter (Ark. Code Ann. § 4-70-201). Corporations file fictitious names with the Secretary of State under § 4-26-405 (plus the registered-office county clerk unless in Pulaski County). The county-clerk certificate under § 4-70-203 is for individuals and unregistered firms.

What happens if a sole proprietor operates under an assumed name in Arkansas without filing?

It is a violation punishable by a $25 to $100 fine, and each day of noncompliance is a separate offense (Ark. Code Ann. § 4-70-202).

Does filing an Arkansas fictitious name give exclusive rights to the name?

No. The statute states compliance 'does not give a corporation an exclusive right to the use of the fictitious name' and does not bar others from using the same name as a corporate name, though equitable relief under fair trade law remains available (Ark. Code Ann. § 4-26-405(g)).

How much does an Arkansas county assumed-name filing cost?

The statute sets the county clerk's indexing and filing fee at $1.00 (Ark. Code Ann. § 4-70-206(b)). The Secretary of State fee for a corporate fictitious-name filing under § 4-26-405 is not printed in the statute.

Related services

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