Does Mississippi require an operating agreement?
No. Mississippi's LLC law doesn't require an LLC to have one: an operating agreement must initially be agreed to by all of the members, and the certificate of formation or operating agreement governs the company's affairs, the conduct of its business and relations among the members and with the company (Miss. Code Ann. § 79-29-123(1)). It's still worth having. Without one, the Revised Mississippi Limited Liability Company Act decides how profits are shared, who can act for the LLC and what happens when a member leaves, and banks often ask to see a signed agreement before opening an account for an LLC.
The Revised Mississippi Limited Liability Company Act lets the agreement be oral or implied as well as written (Miss. Code Ann. § 79-29-105(t)). A signed, written agreement is still the only kind a bank, a court or a new member can read.
Mississippi's LLC law and this template
Mississippi LLCs are governed by the Revised Mississippi Limited Liability Company Act (Miss. Code Ann. Title 79, Chapter 29) (Miss. Code Ann. § 79-29-101 et seq.). Where your agreement is silent, the act's default rules apply. Where the act lets an operating agreement change one of its rules, your agreement controls.
Choose Mississippi in the form and the agreement names the State of Mississippi as the LLC's home and governing law, refers to the Certificate of Formation filed with the Mississippi Secretary of State, and defines “the Act” as the Revised Mississippi Limited Liability Company Act. Everything else adapts to your answers: one member or several, run by the members or by managers, with or without a buyout when a member dies.
What the Mississippi agreement covers
The agreement follows the order most operating agreements use: formation, name, principal office, registered agent, purpose and term; each member's contribution and, with several members, capital accounts and percentage interests; how profits, losses and cash are shared; management by the members or by managers, with the major decisions that need every member's consent; taxes, books, records and a separate bank account; transfers, new members, withdrawal and what happens when a member dies; and dissolution. Schedule A lists each member's contribution and share.
Forming and keeping a Mississippi LLC
The operating agreement stays with the LLC's records; these are the filings that go to the state. Check that the name is free first with our Mississippi LLC name search.
| Mississippi | |
|---|---|
| Forming the LLC | Certificate of Formation, $50, filed with the Mississippi Secretary of State |
| Name must end with | “limited liability company”, “L.L.C.”, “LLC” |
| Recurring report | Free annual report each year (by April 15) |
| Newspaper notice | Not required |
| Name reservation | $25, 180 days |
| Good standing certificate | Certificate of Good Standing (unconfirmed) |
How to finish your Mississippi agreement
- Type the LLC's name exactly as it appears on its Certificate of Formation, ending included.
- Fill in or strike out anything left as a blank line, and make Schedule A's percentages add up to 100%.
- Have every member read and sign it. Electronic signatures count, and members can sign separate copies.
- Keep the signed agreement with the LLC's records; don't send it to the Mississippi Secretary of State. Give each member a copy.
For an LLC with one owner, see the single-member operating agreement; with partners, the multi-member version explains shares, voting and buyouts.
Sources
Checked on 2026-10-08 against the state's own pages:
- https://advance.lexis.com/container?config=00JAAzNzhjOTYxNC0wZjRkLTQzNzAtYjJlYS1jNjExZWYxZGFhMGYKAFBvZENhdGFsb2cMlW40w5iIH7toHnTBIEP0
- https://corp.sos.ms.gov/corpconv/
- https://www.sos.ms.gov/content/documents/Business/Services%20&%20Fees%20Document.pdf
- https://www.sos.ms.gov/business-services/business-faqs
Common questions
Does Mississippi require an LLC operating agreement?
No. Mississippi's LLC law doesn't require one, but it's worth having: without it, the Revised Mississippi Limited Liability Company Act's default rules decide how profits are shared and who can act for the LLC.
Do I file the operating agreement with the Mississippi Secretary of State?
No. The Mississippi Secretary of State receives the Certificate of Formation; the operating agreement is an internal document that stays with the LLC's records.
Is this Mississippi operating agreement template free?
Yes. There's no sign-up and no email address, and the agreement is built in your browser, so nothing you type is sent to us.