Where You File a DBA Depends on Your Business Type

A DBA, short for 'doing business as,' is just an assumed name you register so you can operate under something other than your own legal name. Where you take it depends entirely on what kind of business you are. A sole proprietor, a general partnership, or a similar unincorporated business files the assumed name certificate with the county clerk in each county where it keeps an office.

If you've formed an LLC, a corporation, or a limited partnership, the rule runs the other way. Since September 2019, those registered entities file the assumed name certificate only with the Secretary of State and skip the county level entirely. So a one-person taco stand on a side street in Eagle Pass files with the Maverick County Clerk, while a registered LLC files with the state. If you want to see what's already on the books locally, the county's services page carries an Assumed Name Search under the Clerk.

One thing a DBA is not: a license to operate. It registers a name and nothing more. Opening in Maverick County still means lining up city zoning, a sales tax permit from the Comptroller, TABC clearance if you'll pour drinks, and whatever professional license your trade demands, each on its own track.