MONTGOMERY – On Monday, Secretary of State John Merrill released details on the participation for electronic business filings.

Originally, domestic LLCs (limited liability companies) were only accepted in the new, online method upon its launch in March 2016 (press release), but as of July 11, 2016, pre-filing will also be available for the following:

•  domestic limited partnership (LP)
• domestic limited liability partnership (LLP)
• domestic limited liability limited partnership (LLLP)
• domestic corporation 
• domestic non-profit corporation

“Until counties begin their participation of online filing, the Secretary of State’s Office is pleased to provide and expand pre-filing of many domestic entities to encourage the growth, development and success of businesses in Alabama” said Secretary Merrill. “Once all documents have been submitted to the Secretary of State’s Office, the new pre-filing option will enable the filer to view the filing on our website much faster than the traditional paper method.”

Required filing information:

·        The filer may go to the Secretary of State’s website and choose the type of entity they would like to file. Then the filer will use the provided Secretary of State screens to complete and generate forms. Thereafter, information will be stored in the Secretary of State’s database to speed up the filing process when the filing is forwarded from the county probate office to the Secretary of State.

Required Transmission of Filing Document Information:

·       There will be no change in the transmission of documents between the county and the state. The filer will print the document from the Secretary of State’s website and file it with the appropriate county, which is the usual practice under 10A of the Alabama Code. The county probate office will record the filing and forward the filing document and the fees to the Secretary of State per the Alabama Code. When the filing is received from the county, the Secretary of State will post the state filing fees and scan the document into the state’s system. Data will populate from the stored pre-file data.

Required Transmission of Funds Information:

·        There will be no change in the manner of transmission of funds between the county and the state.

The total fee for a user pre-filing is $4, however other fees may apply.

For more information, please call the Office of the Secretary of State at 334-242-7200.

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