Anyone doing business in Champaign County who is not a corporation and is not using their full name in the name of the business must file.

You must complete this transaction in its entirety within fifty-five (55) days from the date originally file in the County Clerk's office. The fees to run the legal ad in the newspaper are separate from the fees paid to the Clerk’s Office.

Here are the steps to filing your DBA Certificate.

• Fill out the "Assumed Name" application here.
• Pay the $5 filing fee here.
• Contact the local newspaper and run the required ad. Once you have run the ad, the newspaper will send you an Affidavit of Publication.

To complete the transaction in-person, visit the Clerk’s office at the Bennett Admin Center 102 E. Main St. Urbana IL, 61801

• If you are unable to come to the office in person, follow these instructions:
• Fill out the "Assumed Name" application here.
• Pay the $5 filing fee here here.
• We will send you an application which must be signed in front of a Notary Public and returned. After we receive your notarized application, we will send you a publication notice, which you will use to run a legal notice in the classified section of a Champaign County newspaper, once a week for three consecutive weeks. After the notice has run for three weeks, the newspaper will give you an Affidavit of Publication, which you must submit to the office to complete the registration. The first legal notice must be published within 15 days of applying and the Affidavit of Publication must be submitted within 55 days of applying. 
• The fee can be paid by cash, credit/debit card, money order, cashier check, or certified check. If the form is delivered in-person it does not need a notarized signature.