The Secretary of State’s Office will be closed on Friday, December 31, 2010, in observance of New Year’s Day. The office will reopen at 8:00 AM on Monday, January 3, 2011.  Mergers and other non-electronic filings cannot be filed during this time.  If a document must be effective on December 31, 2010, January 1, 2011, or January 2, 2011, the document should be submitted prior to December 31st and include a delayed effective date.

As an alternative to in-person service, the Secretary of State’s Office offers many of our services online. Access to these online services is available nearly 24 hours a day, except for a brief interruption occurring daily between the hours of 1:30 AM and 3:30 AM, periods of unscheduled maintenance, calendar year-end reprogramming, and occasional unexpected outages beyond our control.

As we approach year-end, please note that online filing of business organization and UCC/EFS/lien documents will be unavailable beginning at 11:30 PM on Friday, December 31, 2010, until 12:00 noon on Saturday, January 1, 2011. Any online filing transaction that is commenced prior to this 11:30 PM closure must be completed in all respects prior to 11:30 PM or it will be terminated and not completed.  Although the month ends on a day that the Secretary of State’s office is closed, any filing deadlines WILL NOT be extended.

This scheduled closure of online filing services is necessary at the end of each calendar year as part of the reprogramming of our computer-assisted records management and access system. During the closure, we change the date, time and numbering functions of the computer system in preparation for the next calendar year and test the reprogrammed system.

All online services, including access to and searching of records, reviewing and printing of document images and issuance of Certificates of Good Standing will be unavailable from 11:30 PM on December 31, 2010 to 12:00 noon on January 1, 2011.

We appreciate your understanding as to the necessity of these year-end maintenance procedures and related service interruptions. For helpful year-end filing tips, click here.

Published December 2, 2010 at 12:30 PM
Revised December 8, 2010 at 12:30 PM