To find out who owns a business in Texas, start by identifying how the business is organized. Corporations, LLCs, and limited partnerships are recorded with the Texas Secretary of State and the Comptroller of Public Accounts. Sole proprietorships and general partnerships operating under a trade name file only at the county level, with the county clerk where they do business. Everything else in this guide flows from that split.
Search the Secretary of State for Registered Entities
The Secretary of State keeps the most complete record of formal business entities in Texas. Every corporation, LLC, limited partnership, and similar organization has to deliver a signed filing to become officially recognized, and those filings are public.
The search tool is the SOSDirect online portal. You don’t need a permanent account; you can log in as a temporary user by providing payment information and selecting the business organizations search. Each search costs $1.00, set by statute.
A result shows the entity’s legal name, formation date, current status (active, inactive, or forfeited), and the registered agent’s name and address. You can also open the filing history, which lists the officers, directors, or managers named in formation documents and later filings. That gives you a documented view of who has been authorized to act for the company.
If you need something you can hand to a court or a bank, order copies through the same portal. Plain copies run $0.10 per page. Certified copies, which carry the Secretary of State’s seal, cost $1.00 per page plus $15.00 per certificate.
The Registered Agent Is Not the Owner
A frequent mistake: assuming the registered agent listed in the state database owns the business. The registered agent is only the person or company designated to accept legal documents like lawsuits on the business’s behalf. Texas requires every registered entity to maintain one at a physical Texas address.
Many businesses hire a commercial registered agent service whose entire job is receiving legal mail. When you see a name like CT Corporation or Registered Agents Inc. in that field, it tells you nothing about ownership. For the actual decision-makers, look at the officers, directors, or managers in the formation documents, or pull the Public Information Report from the Comptroller.
Use the Comptroller’s Taxable Entity Search
The Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts runs a separate, free tool called the Taxable Entity Search. No account, no fee. You can search by entity name, taxpayer number, or Secretary of State file number.
The results show whether the entity currently has the right to transact business in Texas, which tells you whether it is current on franchise tax. More useful for ownership questions, the Comptroller collects a Public Information Report from every corporation, LLC, limited partnership, professional association, and financial institution. That report lists the name, title, term expiration date, and full address of each officer, director, member, general partner, or manager. It also identifies any parent entity holding 10 percent or more of the business, and any subsidiary in which the business itself holds a 10 percent or greater stake.
One caution about timing. Businesses file the Public Information Report once a year, by May 15. What you see reflects the most recent filing, so it can be up to a year old. Departures and new appointments won’t show up until the next report.
Search County Clerk Records for DBAs and Sole Proprietors
Not every business appears in state records. A sole proprietorship or general partnership operating under a name other than the owner’s legal name has to file an assumed name certificate, commonly called a DBA, with the county clerk in each county where it does business. Texas Business and Commerce Code Chapter 71 governs these filings.
The certificate must include the assumed business name, the full legal name and residence address of each owner (or each general partner), and the period the name will be used. That means a DBA filing links a trade name directly to the individual behind it. It’s the record you need when there’s no corporate entity on file with the state.
To search, contact or visit the county clerk in the county where the business operates. Many counties offer online search portals. Fees vary. Some allow free in-person searches; others charge a search fee, and certified copies cost extra. The filing fee for the assumed name certificate itself is set by statute at $25.
If you know the area but not the exact county, the Secretary of State also maintains a statewide assumed name database through SOSDirect, because incorporated entities that use a DBA have to file at the state level as well.
Where Public Records Stop Short
Public filings show the people who hold formal titles: officers, directors, managers, registered agents, and named owners on DBA certificates. They don’t always show everyone who profits from or controls the business. A few common limits:
- Nominee directors. Some businesses list placeholder individuals as officers or directors, and the real decision-maker never appears in a public filing.
- Multi-layered LLCs. An LLC’s manager can be another LLC, managed in turn by yet another entity. Tracing to a real person may mean searching records in several states.
- Outdated information. State records depend on businesses to file updates. A company that skips its annual report leaves stale data in the system.
- Trusts. If a trust owns the business, the trustee’s name may appear, but the beneficiaries who actually benefit usually won’t.
Other Records That Can Fill the Gap
Court Records
Lawsuits, bankruptcy filings, and other litigation sometimes identify people who never surface in business filings. A defendant in a breach-of-contract case might be pleaded as the controlling member of an LLC even though no state record names them. Federal cases are searchable through PACER, which covers appellate, district, and bankruptcy filings nationwide. PACER charges $0.10 per page, and you owe nothing if your quarterly charges stay under $30.00. Texas state court records can be searched through county district clerk websites and the state’s online case management portals.
Property and UCC Records
If a business owns real estate, the county appraisal district’s records will show the owner’s name. Uniform Commercial Code filings, recorded when a business pledges assets as collateral, can also reveal names attached to a transaction. UCC filings are searchable through SOSDirect.
Professional Licenses
Businesses in regulated fields (medical practices, law firms, real estate brokerages, restaurants) hold licenses issued to specific individuals. Those licenses are typically searchable on the licensing agency’s website. When corporate and DBA records come up empty, the licensing database may name the person responsible for the operation.
The Federal Beneficial Ownership Registry Is Not Public
The Corporate Transparency Act, passed in 2021, originally required most small businesses to report their beneficial owners to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN). In March 2025, FinCEN issued a rule removing that requirement for all U.S.-created companies and all U.S. persons. Only entities formed under foreign law that have registered to do business in a U.S. state or tribal jurisdiction still have to file.
And even for those foreign entities, the database is not open to the public. Access is limited to specific government agencies, to law enforcement with a court order, and to financial institutions performing customer due diligence with the company’s consent. For ordinary lookups of who owns a Texas business, the state-level records at the Secretary of State, the Comptroller, and the county clerk remain the tools that actually work.