Office of the Texas Secretary of State

What Office of the Texas Secretary of State does

The Office of the Texas Secretary of State is a constitutionally established state government agency headquartered in Austin, Texas, operating since 1836 with a 228-person staff. It serves three primary constituencies: Texas voters (18.6 million-plus registered), Texas businesses (3 million-plus active entities), and government/international partners. The agency's core mandate spans election administration, business entity regulation, and chief protocol functions for the State of Texas. Services are delivered through multiple unified digital portals — SOSDirect for business searches and formations, SOSUpload (also called LEF) for document submission and record changes, the SOS Portal for notary, Texas Register, professional registrations, and UCC filings, and VoteTexas.gov for voter information — supplemented by in-person services, mobile pop-up events, and county-level partner networks.

The product portfolio is built around statutory filing and authentication workflows: business formations, amendments, and registered-agent services; UCC filings; trademark registration; notary public commissioning; apostille and document authentication; the Texas Register weekly administrative law journal and the Texas Administrative Code; civic education through Project V.O.T.E.; and border trade advisory functions via the Border Trade Advisory Committee. The Texas Express expedited service introduces tiered same-day/next-day processing for business filings. Technology integration with the Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC) and the SAVE database supports voter list maintenance, while partnerships with the Texas Department of Public Safety (mobile Election ID Certificate stations), TxDOT, county voter registrars, and foreign consulates extend the service footprint.

As a state government entity, the Office is not a revenue-generating company in the conventional sense. It is funded through Texas state appropriations supplemented by transactional service fees across business filings, notary commissions, UCC filings, certified copies, and apostilles. The Secretary of State is appointed by the Governor and confirmed by the Texas Senate; the current 115th Secretary, Jane Nelson, is departing effective July 17, 2026, with Deputy Secretary Dave Nelson serving as Chief of Staff. There are no parent companies, investors, or acquisition targets applicable to this entity.

Name

Office of the Texas Secretary of State

Legal name

Office of the Texas Secretary of State

Website

https://sos.texas.gov

Company type

Private

Founded year

1836

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

The Office of the Texas Secretary of State is a constitutionally established state agency that administers Texas elections, processes business entity filings and UCC records, commissions notaries, authenticates documents, and serves as chief international protocol officer for the governor. It serves 18.6 million-plus registered voters and 3 million-plus Texas businesses through a unified portal ecosystem.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

State Government Administration Services

NAICS

Executive Offices (921110), Executive, Legislative, and Other General Government Support (921), Administration of Economic Programs (926)

akta.pro primary industry

State/Provincial Education Department Administration (BPAIABAJ)

Keywords

• Government elections administration
• Business entity filings
• Notary public services
• Document authentication services
• Voter registration services

Headquarters

HQ city

Austin

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Infrastructure, Others

Revenue model

1. Business Filing Fees: Fees collected for business formations, amendments, registrations, and certificates filed with the Secretary of State
2. Notary Public Commissions: Fees for notary public commissions and related services
3. Document Copies and Certificates: Fees for certified copies and certificates of business filings and documents
4. Uniform Commercial Code Filings: Filing fees for UCC documents and financial transactions
5. Apostille and Authentication Services: Fees for authenticating documents for international use

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels6 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

The Office of the Texas Secretary of State is a constitutional state government agency that administers Texas elections, processes business entity filings, commissions notaries public, issues apostilles and document authentications, publishes the Texas Register and Texas Administrative Code, and serves as the state's chief protocol officer for international relations. Core paid offerings include statutory filing fees for business formations, UCC filings, trademarks, notary commissions, certified copies, and authentication services, distributed through self-serve online portals and in-person counters.

Product overview

The Office of the Texas Secretary of State provides a multi-channel suite of government services organized around elections administration, business filings, and regulatory publishing. The core product portfolio includes: SOSDirect and SOSUpload (web portals for business filings and document submissions), the unified SOS Portal (accessing Notary, Texas Register, UCC, and Professional Registrations), VoteTexas.gov (voter information portal), Project V.O.T.E. (K-12 voter education), Texas Express (expedited filing service), the Texas Register and Texas Administrative Code (administrative law publications), UCC filings, and various business services including trademark registration. The agency also chairs the Border Trade Advisory Committee. These products operate primarily as web-based portals rather than API-accessible services.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• SOSDirect: Online business filing and search system for Texas corporations and entities
• VoteTexas.gov
• SOSUpload
• SOS Portal
• Project V.O.T.E.

Products and services

• SOSDirect Online portal that lets users search Texas business entities and electronically file formation, amendment, and other business documents; used by Texas business owners, attorneys, and registered agents.
• SOSUpload (LEF) Online portal for uploading new business documents and making record changes to existing Texas business entities, used by filers handling corporate filings.
• SOS Portal Unified web portal providing a centralized login for Notary Public applications, Texas Register, Professional Registrations, and UCC Filings, used by notaries, regulated professionals, and UCC filers.
• VoteTexas.gov Official voter information portal providing resources on registering to vote, voter ID requirements, ballot by mail, polling locations, and election information for Texas residents.
• Texas Express Business Filing Services Expedited business filing service enabling same-day and next-day processing for business filings statewide, used by Texas businesses needing rapid turnaround.
• Texas Register Weekly administrative law journal publishing official state rules, meetings, opinions, and proclamations, distributed to state agencies, attorneys, and the public for regulatory awareness.
• Texas Administrative Code Compilation of state agency rules and regulations published and maintained by the Secretary of State's Office, providing the codified body of Texas administrative law.
• Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) Filings Filing and management system for UCC financial statements and related documents under the Uniform Commercial Code, used by secured parties, lenders, and debtors to perfect and search liens.
• Notary Public Services Notary public commissioning, apostille and authentication services for documents, and notary complaint handling, used by Texas notaries and individuals seeking authenticated documents.
• Business Formation and Registration Filing services for business entity formation including corporations, LLCs, partnerships, with associated articles of incorporation, certificates, and registered agent services for Texas businesses.
• Trademark Filing Services Registration and management of state trademarks for Texas businesses, used by brand owners seeking state-level trademark protection.
• Project V.O.T.E. (Voters of Tomorrow through Education) Non-partisan K-12 civic education program providing classroom resources aligned with Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS), student resources, and opportunities for students to serve as Election Day workers.
• Data Brokers Service New service launched in 2025 under Other Services, providing registration or oversight of data brokers operating in Texas.

Named customers5 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with DPS for Election Identification Certificates (EIC), including mobile EIC stations deployed across Texas to provide voter identification to eligible voters who lack other forms of photo ID.
• Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-chair of the Border Trade Advisory Committee (BTAC) addressing cross-border transportation infrastructure, trade, and economic development between Texas and Mexico.
• Foreign Consulates in TexascoreOthersInternational affairs division maintaining relations with foreign consulates operating in Texas, receiving dignitaries and delegations on behalf of the Governor.
• Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC)coreTechnology or IntegrationTexas joined ERIC, a non-profit consortium of member states, to improve voter registration list maintenance and election administration through interstate data sharing.
• County Voter RegistrarscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with county elections offices across Texas for voter registration, election administration, and poll worker training.
• U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (SAVE Database)coreTechnology or IntegrationAccess to SAVE database for citizenship verification and voter registration list maintenance to identify noncitizens registered to vote.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• California Secretary of State: California's equivalent constitutional office administering statewide elections, business filings (bizfile), and notary/authentication services — directly comparable in scope, constitutional authority, and digital portal model. Both offices manage 18M+ voter records and multi-million business entity databases.
• Florida Department of State: Florida's chief state election officer and business filing authority (Sunbiz), performing near-identical functions to Texas SOS including corporate formations, UCC filings, notary commissions, and voter registration list maintenance across a similarly large population.
• New York Department of State: New York's state-level administrative department handling business entity filings, UCC records, notary commissions, and authentication services — parallel structure and transaction-fee revenue model to Texas SOS, though NY separates elections into a separate board.
• Illinois Secretary of State: Illinois's constitutional state office administering business services (cyberdriveillinois.com), vehicle/title services, and elections oversight — directly comparable online service-portal model (similar to SOSDirect) and similar mix of fee-based and appropriated funding.
• Pennsylvania Department of State: Pennsylvania's combined state agency overseeing elections administration, business filings (BFS), notary commissions, and professional licensing — directly comparable in single-agency consolidation of business registry and election oversight functions.
• Georgia Secretary of State: Georgia's Secretary of State operates eCorp for business filings, Secretary of State elections oversight, and professional licensing — a direct peer in fast-growing Sun Belt state with comparable digital self-service portal strategy and large active business entity base.
• Delaware Division of Corporations: Delaware's corporate registry is the gold-standard state business filing authority — directly comparable on the SOSDirect-style business formation, UCC, and registered agent services that Texas SOS provides, though Delaware specializes in incorporations while Texas balances elections and corporate services.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/TXsecofstate
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UC7NJ9yjB4K-1MOMFzH6hAbQ/videos
• Facebookfacebook.com/txsecretary
• Instagraminstagram.com/texassecretary
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/texas-department-of-secretary-of-state

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Office of the Texas Secretary of State