Service of Process in the District Court
March/2020
Service of process is the way the other person, called the
defendant, receives court papers and notice about a court case. The
defendant must be served before the court will hear your case. You may
not serve the defendant yourself. Someone else, 18 or older, who is not
involved in the case, must serve the defendant. There are three ways to
serve someone: by certified mail, sheriff, and private process. Select how
you wish to have the Defendant served by checking the box on your
Complaint form.
Certified Mail
The clerk creates a summons and mails it to the defendant. The
clerk will collect a fee for this service.
A postal worker will bring the summons to the defendant’s address and ask the defendant to sign for
the mail.
If the defendant signs for the mail, a green return receipt will be returned to the courthouse as proof
of service.
Sheriff Service
The clerk will send the summons and your fee to the sheriff’s office.
The sheriff will go to the address for the defendant that you have given the court and try to hand
deliver the summons to the defendant.
The sheriff may leave the summons at the defendant’s house with an adult who also lives there.
The sheriff will send the court an affidavit of service – a sworn statement that the sheriff made proper
service.
Private Process
You can have an adult other than you, who is not involved in the case, serve the defendant by hand
delivery. Often, people use a family member or friend. There are also private companies that you can
hire to do the hand delivery.
The court will mail a summons to you. The summons must then be hand delivered to the defendant.
The process server may also hand deliver the summons to an adult at the defendant’s home who also
lives there.