Running a business under a different name in Hardin County means a $18 DBA at the courthouse

Say you're a one-person lawn or welding outfit out near Lumberton and you want to do business as something catchier than your own name. As an unincorporated business, a sole proprietor or a general partnership, you file an assumed name certificate, a DBA, with the Hardin County Clerk. The fee is $18, and the office is Suite B-110 on the first floor of the courthouse at 300 W. Monroe in Kountze, which takes cash, check, money order, or card.

The rule changed in 2019. Before that, even an LLC or corporation had to file a DBA at the county too. Now, if you've formed an actual entity, your assumed name goes to the Texas Secretary of State on Form 503, not the courthouse. The county filing is for unincorporated folks only.

And don't confuse the two. Filing a DBA just tells the public who's behind the name; it doesn't create a company or shield you from liability. If you want a real LLC or corporation, that's a separate step with the Secretary of State, and worth thinking through before you print the first batch of invoices.