How to find who owns an Illinois LLC

1. What 805 ILCS 180/5-5 requires

Section 5-5(a) includes these items:

• The name of the company and the address of its principal place of business. That address may, but need not, be in Illinois.
• The registered agent and the registered office.
• A confirmation that the company has one or more members as of filing, or, if the articles take effect on a later date, that it will have one or more members on that date.
• The name and business address of all of the managers and any member having the authority of a manager.
• The name and address of each organizer.

A member who does not have the authority of a manager is not required under that manager item. Section 5-5 requires each organizer’s name and address. It does not say the organizer is a member.

2. How to use the Secretary of State search

The business entity search page, read October 22, 2026, lists corporations, not-for-profit corporations, limited partnerships, limited liability companies, and limited liability partnerships. It also prints the bulk-use limit in the next section. This guide does not describe other fields on that screen.

1. Take the owner name from the county record, including LLC or L.L.C.
2. Look that name up in the Secretary of State business entity search linked below.
3. From the articles, write down each manager, any member with manager authority, each organizer, the registered agent, the principal place of business, and the dates on the document.
4. When a manager is another company, look that company up on its own.

3. The limit on the search page

The Illinois Secretary of State business entity search says: “The database is available to the public for individual searches only. This database may not be used to copy or download bulk information searches.” That sentence is on the search page. It is not a sentence in 805 ILCS 180/5-5. A long list still means one company at a time on that page, or a data product the Secretary of State actually offers.

4. What the articles do not prove

• Manager authority is the line section 5-5 draws. A member without that authority need not be named there.
• The organizer block identifies who formed the company on the filing. It is not a membership list.
• The registered agent accepts legal papers. See is the registered agent the owner.
• Arizona uses a different cut. A manager-managed Arizona company must also list members with a twenty percent or greater interest in the capital or profits. See who owns an Arizona LLC.

5. How Locate Next fits

On LLC owner lookup, the first step is quoted here in full: “We search available state records for the owner name on your list, including former names when the source provides them, and keep the plausible companies in view.” The coverage section adds: “State filings list the people a company named. They don’t prove who owns or controls it, and we don’t claim they do.” It also says: “Where Locate has a working state source, we show its official record or search link.” Nothing on this page puts Illinois on that source list.

Common questions

Sources

1. 805 ILCS 180/5-5, Illinois articles of organization. Read October 22, 2026.
2. Illinois Secretary of State, business entity search. Read October 22, 2026. The bulk-use sentences above are quoted from this page.

This page is general information, not legal advice.