The Arkansas professional LLC
What creates it in Arkansas
Ark. Code Ann. § 4-38-1202, in the Uniform Limited Liability Company Act enacted by Act 1041 of 2021. There is no separate professional LLC chapter: a professional company is organized under the ordinary formation section, § 4-38-201, which the Secretary of State's Certificate of Organization cites on its face, and the professional provisions sit in Subchapter 12 of the same chapter (§§ 4-38-1201 and 4-38-1202).
What the name must contain
Mandatory, and the Secretary of State enforces it on the form itself. Certificate of Organization for Limited Liability Company (form LL-01, Rev. 1/25), item 1: "Companies which perform a professional service MUST additionally contain the words 'Professional Limited Liability Company,' 'Professional Limited Company,' or the abbreviations 'P.L.L.C.,' 'P.L.C.,' 'PLLC,' or 'PLC' and not contain the name of a person who is not a member except that of a deceased member. The word 'Limited' may be abbreviated as 'Ltd.', and the 'Company' maybe abbreviated as 'Co.'" Section 4-38-1202(a) carries the same rule, adding that a former member's name, or the name of a member of a predecessor organization, may continue to be included. Section 4-38-1202(b) limits any Arkansas LLC, "including medical, dental, and professional companies," to one corporate suffix.
Does a licensing board have to approve the filing?
Yes, and it is named on the face of the statute for two professions. Ark. Code Ann. § 4-38-1201(a): "A limited liability company formed under this chapter and that will engage in the practice of medicine must obtain a certificate of registration from the Arkansas State Medical Board and must comply with the statutes of the Medical Corporation Act, § 4-29-301 et seq." Subsection (b): "A limited liability company formed under this chapter and that will engage in the practice of dentistry must obtain a certificate of registration and comply with the statutes in the Dental Corporation Act, § 4-29-401 et seq." The Secretary of State's own Certificate of Organization does not ask for the certificate, so the board step sits outside the filing.
Which occupations Arkansas says must use it
Arkansas applies the rule to any company that "performs a professional service" rather than to a closed list of occupations. That is the wording of both the Secretary of State's form LL-01 and § 4-38-1202(a). Only two professions are singled out for a board certificate, medicine and dentistry, in § 4-38-1201. Act 1041 also contains a repealer providing that "the laws of this state relating to the establishment and regulation of professional service are hereby amended and superseded to the extent such laws are inconsistent as to form of organization with the provisions of this chapter, and are deemed amended to permit the provisions of professional service within this state by limited liability companies."
Arkansas also offers a corporation under a professional statute
A practice choosing between the two forms is choosing between these rules and the ones above.
What creates it in Arkansas
Ark. Code Ann. § 4-29-301 et seq., the Medical Corporation Act, and § 4-29-401 et seq., the Dental Corporation Act, both named by § 4-38-1201 as enacted by Act 1041 of 2021. The Secretary of State's records also treat "professional corporation", "P.C.", "PC", "professional association", "P.A." and "PA" as entity-type indicators under § 4-38-112(d).
Does the agent requirement differ from an ordinary Arkansas LLC’s?
No. Arkansas sets no separate agent requirement for a professional entity — it is the same requirement an ordinary Arkansas LLC files under.
No difference. Form LL-01 asks a professional company for the same thing it asks any Arkansas LLC at item 3: "The name and address of the registered agent of this company," with a physical street address. No additional agent qualification appears for professional companies.
What else Arkansas requires
Arkansas recognises the PLLC, but not by giving it a form of its own. There is exactly one Arkansas LLC formation document, the Certificate of Organization (LL-01), and the professional character of the company is expressed entirely in its name. That is the opposite of Alabama, where the designator is optional and a checkbox does the work, and of Arizona, where a checkbox and the designator are both required. Worth flagging for anyone reading an Arkansas entity name: "P.L.C." and "PLC" are permitted Arkansas professional LLC suffixes, the same trap Arizona sets. Note too that the Secretary of State's own "Doing Business in Arkansas" guide, which walks through sole proprietorship, general partnership, LLP, LP, LLLP, corporation, S corporation, LLC, series LLC and nonprofit corporation, does not mention a professional entity at all, so a reader relying on that brochure alone would never learn the PLLC name requirement exists.
Verified against the Arkansas Secretary of State, Business and Commercial Services (www.sos.arkansas.gov/business-commercial-services-bcs/forms-fees/llc) · Statute text: arkleg.state.ar.us/Home/FTPDocument?path=%2FACTS%2F2021R%2FPublic%2FACT1041.pdf · Last updated September 2026. Arkansas only — the rules in this cluster differ by jurisdiction, and this page speaks for no other.