Secretary of State Lawerence Denney Announces Major Upgrade to Website

Idaho State SealFOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Date: October 9, 2018
Contact: Kristie Winslow, Communications Coordinator
Phone: (208) 332-2818

Boise, Idaho – Idaho Secretary of State Lawerence Denney says doing business in Idaho just got easier due to major enhancements made to the Secretary of State website (sos.idaho.gov). For the first time, businesses will be able to create, file, and pay—online—
for business filings and reports submitted to the Idaho Secretary of State’s office.

“These modernizations are all about improving customer service by streamlining Idaho’s business filing process,” said Secretary of State Lawerence Denney. “We want to help entrepreneurs by speeding up the process of completing the required filings so they can concentrate on building their business.”

For more than a hundred years, entrepreneurs have been required to submit filings in-person or by mail. We’ve added enhanced functionality that now makes it possible for businesses to quickly and conveniently file reports and register trademarks online from any computer, laptop, or mobile device.

“Ultimately, increasing our efficiency will allow our office to maintain excellent customer service while keeping up with demand based on expected business growth in Idaho,” said Secretary of State Commercial Division Director Kim Hunter.

These forward-thinking improvements reflect Secretary Denney’s long-term vision to introduce technological advancements to improve the agency’s ability to meet the needs of Idaho’s entrepreneurs and to continue doing business at a competitive pace well into the future. Many customers may only be aware of the website’s new, modern design. What they may not be aware of are the important changes made to the filing process that help to increase efficiency, accuracy, and data security for our customers and the agency.

One improvement customers have noticed is the additional layer of security. The process which requires users to associate and validate an existing business entity with their new user account is a security measure that protects business owners. Initially, this increased security causes additional steps in the process, however once cleared, customers will find processes streamlined and intuitive. According to Secretary Denney, “We understand that this first step is a burden, but we believe it is a necessary one. Once customers associate their existing entities to their account, they’ve been excited to see all the new things they now have access to online.”

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ABOUT LAWERENCE DENNEY

Lawerence Denney has served the people of Idaho since 1990. His public service began as a representative in District 13 and, following redistricting, then became a representative in District 9 until 2014. During this time, Denney served two terms as Majority Leader and three terms as Speaker of the House before successfully running for state office as Idaho’s Secretary of State. He is currently in the fourth year of his first term as Secretary of State.

System Upgrade In Progress

Campaign Finance, Lobbyist Reporting, and Online Voter Tools are expected to be offline from April 9th at 5:00 p.m. MDT, through April 12th at 8:00 a.m. MDT to complete a system upgrade.

Per Idaho Code 67-6607, campaign finance is reported monthly during a campaign’s election year. The deadline for the March report falls on Saturday, April 10th. Due to the interruption caused by this upgrade, political treasurers will be allowed to file the March report until 11:59 p.m. MDT on Monday, April 12th.

While we do our best to ensure compliance with all deadlines in statute, the timing of this release is critical to ensure minimal (or no) impact to the May election cycle. We are sorry for any inconvenience this may cause.