If the person who served your papers was not qualified to serve in that court, the defendant can challenge service. Your firm may then lose time having the papers served again before a deadline.
In federal court, any person who is at least 18 years old and not a party to the case may serve a summons and complaint. Some states and cities add a credential, such as certification, a license, or registration, sometimes tied to training, a background check, or a bond. Beyond the legal minimums, a qualified server knows local service rules, can locate the party, and keeps records that hold up if service is challenged.
When your firm works through a process serving company, the question you should ask is how that provider confirms each of its process servers are qualified to serve court documents. The 10 requirements below cover the legal conditions and the practical skills to verify.
1. Minimum Age
Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 4(c)(2) sets the federal minimum age for a process server at 18. State courts follow their own rules, and some add conditions beyond the age minimum, such as the training, licensing, and registration requirements covered below.
2. Not a Party to the Case
The same federal rule excludes anyone who is a party to the case. For your firm, that means the client cannot serve its own summons and complaint.
3. Background Check
Some state credentials require a background check, and where no credential applies, screening is up to the provider. Your firm can ask how a provider screens servers before it assigns them work and whether it repeats that screening. Our guide to process serving best practices covers related standards.
4. Training Completion
Training is not required everywhere, but some credentials depend on it. For example, in Texas, the Judicial Branch Certification Commission certifies process servers. An applicant must complete a seven-hour course approved by the Commission within one year before applying.
The applicant must also pass a state and national criminal history background check, according to the Commission’s requirements for initial certification. Certification is not the only route. Texas Rule of Civil Procedure 103 also allows service by anyone at least 18 who is authorized by law or by written court order.
Where training is optional, completed training gives your firm one more way to compare servers.
5. Licensing or Certification
Where a state or city requires a license or certification, a server must hold it before serving process there. In New York City, the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection issues a Process Server Individual license. A person who serves process five or more times in a calendar year needs that license, while attorneys admitted in New York State are exempt.
For a matter served in the city, your firm can ask the provider to confirm the server’s license.
6. Bonding or Insurance
A bond is a surety company’s promise that money will be available if a server’s misconduct injures someone. Some states make a bond a condition of a credential.
In Florida, a person applying to become a certified process server must execute a $5,000 bond under Florida Statutes section 48.29 and renew it each year. The bond benefits anyone wrongfully injured by the server’s misconduct, neglect of duty, or incompetence.
Where no bond is required, your firm can ask whether the provider’s servers carry liability insurance.
7. Knowledge of Local Service Rules
Service rules differ by court and state. They set which methods are allowed, who may accept papers for the party, and what the proof of service must include. A server who knows the rules for the venue is less likely to make a mistake that gives the other side grounds to challenge service.
8. Investigative Abilities
A party who avoids service and a party who has moved present different problems. For a party that attempts to avoid service, a process server with investigative skill can vary the timing of attempts, plan around the party’s routine, and record signs of evasion.
For instances when the address itself is outdated, a provider may offer skip tracing as a separate service before the next attempt. Skip tracing searches public records and other lawful data sources for a party’s current address.
9. Access to Reliable Transportation
Service often depends on reaching the party at the right place and time. That can mean return visits on different days and at different hours. A server with reliable transportation can make those visits in city and rural areas without waiting on a ride, which becomes especially important when a service deadline is near.
10. Registration with Courts or Agencies
Some states require process server registration instead of a license. California, which has the busiest court in the country, is one such state.
California Business and Professions Code section 22350 requires anyone who serves process for compensation more than 10 times in a calendar year to register. The server registers with the clerk of the county where the server lives or has a principal place of business.
Montana and Washington also require process servers to register with the state.
Companies that are paid for service of process must also register. The same section exempts attorneys and their employees when they serve process in a case where the attorney provides legal services. As a result, a firm that serves its own papers in California may not need to register its staff.
Qualities to Look for Beyond the Legal Requirements
Meeting the legal requirements makes a server eligible, but there is more to a high-performing process server than meeting minimum requirements. The National Association of Professional Process Servers notes the essential skills for process servers, which includes attention to detail, persistence, and patience. Your firm can ask a provider how its servers show the following qualities:
Integrity: The server reports each attempt truthfully and treats everyone involved with respect.
Adaptability: The server adjusts when a party’s schedule, location, or response changes.
Persistence and patience: The server keeps working when service takes more than one attempt.
Attention to detail: The server confirms who received the papers and records when and where each attempt happened.
People skills: The server stays calm and professional in tense situations.
Ask Your Provider About These Practices
How a server works in the field affects whether a serve holds up and how much your firm learns about each attempt. Our overview of the process server’s role covers the basics.
Safety practices
A server who keeps a safe distance during a confrontation and leaves when a situation turns unsafe protects the people involved. That conduct also reduces the chance of a dispute over how service was made. Your firm can ask what safety training the provider’s servers receive.
Documentation and status updates
Some providers record GPS coordinates, time stamps, and photos for each attempt and send status updates as the serve progresses. That record supports the proof of service if service is challenged, and the updates tell your team how to plan the next step. Our guide to how proof of service works explains what the document records.
How to Find Qualified Process Servers Across Jurisdictions
Before service begins, the question for your firm is whether the provider can show that the assigned server meets the requirements where the papers will be served. The provider’s records of each attempt also need to support the proof of service if the other side challenges service.
Proceed’s Service of Process is built on a nationwide network of vetted, professional process servers with local expertise and includes real-time status updates and proof of service prepared according to local court rules. We also support firms with E-filing, Appellate Services, and Dispute Management.
Contact us to discuss your firm’s service of process needs.
If you have more questions to ask a provider, consult our guide to hiring a process server.
Frequently Asked Questions
What happens if the person who served the papers did not meet the court’s requirements?
In federal court, a party may raise insufficient service of process as a defense by motion under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(5).
If the court finds service insufficient, your firm may need to have the papers served again within the time allowed. Under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 4(m), that period is generally 90 days after the complaint is filed.
The court must extend the period if the plaintiff shows good cause. The 90-day period does not apply to service in a foreign country.
Can a court appoint someone to serve process in a specific case?
Yes, under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 4(c)(3), a federal court may specially appoint a person to serve process at the plaintiff’s request. The same rule allows the court to, instead, order service of process by a United States marshal or deputy marshal. The court must make such an order when the plaintiff is proceeding in forma pauperis or as a seaman.
State courts have their own procedures for appointing a process server, and the provider or counsel can confirm which one applies in the venue.
How does Proceed confirm that its process servers meet local requirements?
Our process servers must maintain licensing where the jurisdiction requires it, and they receive training and ongoing compliance monitoring. Our standards apply across the nationwide network, and our quality reviews help confirm that service of process meets legal and client requirements.
