Filing a DBA in Hood County: One Form, Ten Years, Two Places to Sign

Say you want to paint trucks as "Brazos Body Shop" instead of under your own name. That's a DBA, and in Hood County it gets recorded with the County Clerk on Bridge Street in Granbury. There are two versions of the form: one if you're filing as an individual or partnership, another if you're a corporation or LLC. The clerk keeps two alphabetical indexes off these filings, one of the assumed names and one of the people behind them, so the public can trace who's doing business as what.

The form has to be signed in front of the County Clerk or a notary, so you can't just sign it at home and drop it off. Once it's on file the certificate runs ten years. If you close up or change names before then, you file a separate statement of abandonment so the record doesn't keep pointing at you.

A DBA only records the name; it isn't the whole setup. Depending on what you're selling, you may still need a state sales-tax permit from the Comptroller, a TABC license if there's alcohol, city permits inside Granbury, and any professional license your trade requires.