Registered agent cuts ties with company linked to controversial transgender flyers mailed across Texas
The Wyoming company that served as the registered agent for the business listed on controversial transgender flyers mailed to Texas households says it is cutting ties with the organization.
State business records show Texas Transgender Student Union LLC was formed just weeks ago. The company used a registered-agent service in Sheridan, Wyoming, to create the LLC and listed the service's Wyoming address as its business address.
After the CBS News Texas I-Team visited its Wyoming office, Northwest Registered Agent told CBS News Texas it is "immediately beginning the process to officially resign as the registered agent for the Texas Transgender Student Union."
The development comes as questions continue to swirl around who sent the flyers that began appearing in mailboxes across Texas this week.
The return address listed on the flyers names a company, Transgender Student Union LLC. But instead of the Wyoming address, the flyer uses a fake Houston-area address.
Northwest Registered Agent said its role as a registered agent is limited.
"One of our main jobs is receiving state and legal notices for our clients and forwarding them promptly," the company said. "That is where our involvement ends."
The spokesperson added that Northwest has "no knowledge of, or involvement in, any of our clients' business operations" and "no way of knowing someone's intent when they're forming a new company."
Wyoming has become one of the most popular states in the country for forming LLCs because of its business-friendly laws and privacy protections.
In Sheridan, the address used by Northwest Registered Agent, 30 N. Gould St., is associated with more than 300,000 LLCs.
"We are a town of just over 18,000 people, so to have 300,000 businesses based here, it's a very, very interesting kind of setup," said Georgia Lodewyk, a reporter with The Sheridan Press who has covered Wyoming's registered-agent industry.
Lodewyk said many people mistakenly assume companies tied to the address actually operate in Wyoming. She said her newspaper is constantly fielding calls from people outside the state.
"Often what we explain to them is that while it says 30 N. Gould, Sheridan, it's probably not based in Sheridan and probably doesn't have any ties to Wyoming," she said.
This all means the Wyoming address connected to the transgender flyers provides few clues about who actually created, funded or mailed them.
What is clear is that the flyers quickly drew widespread attention online, reigniting debate over one of the most politically charged issues of the election season.
