WHAT DO PROCESS SERVERS IN COLORADO DO?

This article will provide guidance on What Do Process Servers in Colorado Do?  A court needs both personal and subject matter jurisdiction over a person or entity before it may make legal decisions or issue a judgment. The competence or power of a court to hear certain sorts of cases is known as its ‘subject matter jurisdiction.’ In contrast, its ‘personal jurisdiction’ is its authority over a specific party. When a defendant is properly served with a summons and other associated papers, including the complaint, the court acquires personal jurisdiction over that defendant. The procedure by which a party is made aware of the filing of a lawsuit and given a chance to react is called ‘service of process.’

In Colorado, a lawsuit may be filed and served in person, by substituted service, by mail, or through newspaper publication under certain conditions. To be valid, service by mail or publishing requires the approval of the court and is not always an option. A process server in Colorado must be an adult who is neither a defendant nor a plaintiff in the case.

BACKGROUND

Obtaining personal service on a natural person can be done in a few different ways, including serving the defendant in question personally, leaving a copy of the lawsuit at the defendant’s usual place of abode with an adult family member, or leaving a copy of the lawsuit at the defendant’s usual place of employment with a person authorized by law to accept service. Service on a company or trust must be made to the registered agent or other person or agency authorized by law to receive service on its behalf.

Even if the defendant refuses service, a lawsuit may still be served if the process server can prove who they are and where the papers were left. Even though the process server knows where the defendant is, they may still be unable to serve him if the defendant is evading service. This is where a private process server like those employed at Undisputed legal comes in handy. With higher accountability at a private firm, our process servers track down evasive defendants and attempt to complete service to the best of our ability. A process server may also stake out the defendant’s location, waiting for an appropriate moment to serve the defendant the summons and complaint. 

At Undisputed Legal, our Colorado process servers serve all legal documents, including summons and complaints, divorce papers, family court documents, subpoenas, citations, small claims court cases, orders to show cause, petitions, discovery documents, evictions, landlord/tenant notices, motions, and more. We are a full-service process server agency providing services to federal, state & city agencies, law firms, attorneys, and the general public in Colorado.

An Affidavit or Return of Serving, a declaration prepared under oath by the process server pertaining to the date, location, and mode of service, must be filed with the court as evidence that the defendant was served with the complaint. A comparable Affidavit must be submitted to the court if the lawsuit was served by the mail or the media.

To establish personal jurisdiction over a defendant, the court must first establish that the service was lawful and made in a timely manner under the applicable rules of the court. Service must be valid in order to safeguard the rights of the defendant and for the judgment to be enforced.  Please visit our rules and laws page, Colorado Rules of Civil Procedure.  For instructions on How To Serve Legal Papers in Colorado, Click Here!

 PROCESS SERVERS IN COLORADO

Interestingly, Colorado is the only state in the United States that does not license or otherwise control funeral directors and has no licensing requirements for process servers. A copy or copies of the document may be served upon any natural person over the age of eighteen by delivering said copies to such person or by leaving the documents at such person’s usual place of abode, with any person over the age of eighteen who is a member of such person’s family, or at such natural person’s usual place of business, with such natural person’s secretary, bookkeeper, manager, or chief clerk. 

To serve a private corporation, the individual may send a copy to the company’s registered agent, officers, managers, or general agents. Any shareholder, agent, member, or major employee located in the county where the action is instituted may be served with a copy if no such officer or agent is located there. Suppose the clerk serves a document on a party other than an executive officer, the secretary, the general agent, or the registered agent. In that case, the company will get a copy at its last known address at least twenty days before the default is filed.

A county may have service of process made upon it by submitting a copy of the document to the county clerk, chief deputy, county commissioner, or other designated official for that county;

Suppose you need to serve legal papers to a school district. In that case, you may do so by handing a copy to the superintendent or another employee with the proper authority to accept the service of process.

A copy of the document may be served to the state by giving it to the Attorney General or to an individual authorized by him to receive service of process. 

Service of process may be made on any officer, agent, or employee of the state acting in his official capacity by delivering a copy thereof to such officer, agent, or employee and also by delivering a copy thereof to the attorney general or to any employee in his office designated by the attorney general to accept service of process.

Service of process may be made upon a state department or agency that is a party to a lawsuit by delivering a copy of the papers to the department’s chief executive officer or chief clerk, as well as a copy to the attorney general or an employee of the attorney general’s office authorized to accept service of process.

A failure to serve copies upon the attorney general within three days of service upon the officer, agent, employee, department, or agency shall extend the time within which the officer, agent, employee, department, or agency must file a responsive pleading by sixty days beyond the time otherwise provided for.

It is a legal requirement that everyone being sued in court get notice of the suit. The case may be dismissed if the serving of process cannot be shown. The service of process is regulated by Colorado law, similar to that of other states.

WHEN DOES A PROCESS SERVER COME INTO PLAY

The law of Colorado permits the service of process to be made in person, meaning that the summons and lawsuit may be handed to the defendant directly. Suppose the individual to be served is over 18. In that case, the process may be served in person, sent to his designated agent, left with a family member or friend, or copied and left with a secretary, bookkeeper, manager, or chief clerk at his place of business. 

Alternative methods of service of process are also permitted in Colorado. The party seeking service must file a motion with the court if they intend to serve via mail or publishing. They have to explain what happened, prove that they tried to hand deliver the papers, and list all of the addresses she has for the people they are serving. The court may direct the process to be served by certified mail delivered by the clerk of the court or by publishing in a newspaper in the county where the case is ongoing if it finds sufficient evidence to do so. This may be done ex parte (without the opposing party’s counsel being present).

Service of process inside or beyond the state may be made by the sheriff or a deputy of the county where the service is made or by any other adult who is not a party to the case and is at least eighteen years old. It is important to specify herein that at Undisputed Legal, service is done in accordance with Colorado process service laws. Additionally, we offer three different forms of service: routine service, wherein the process server will make their first attempt within five to seven business days; rush process service, wherein the process server will make their first attempt of service within forty-eight hours of receiving the documents and finally, service by mail. In service by mail, documents are sent out as early as twenty-four hours from receipt.

 It should be recognized that the only difference in the levels of service is the start times. In every form of service, we ensure that the process server makes up to three (3) attempts; one in the morning, one in the afternoon, and the final attempt in the evening. 

WHAT HAPPENS IF A DEFENDANT WAIVES SERVICE

The defendant’s objection to the venue or the court’s jurisdiction over the defendant’s person is not waived by the defendant’s refusal to accept the service of the summons. Unless it seems that considerable injury would arise to the substantial rights of the person against whom the process is issued, the court may at any time in its discretion and under such conditions as it considers reasonable allow any process or evidence of service thereof to be changed.

The service of process is deemed complete if the person serving the process knows or has reason to know the identity of the person to be served, identifies the documents being served, offers to deliver a copy of the documents to the person who refuses to be served, and then leaves the copy of the documents in a conspicuous place.

At Undisputed Legal, we make sure that our clients are looped into the entire process service procedure. We ensure that our clients have access to GPS Affidavits of Service and personalized ‘real-time’ email status updates, and we email copies of affidavits prior to mailing. Additionally, we offer a free basic skip trace for new clients.

OTHER REQUIREMENTS OF SERVICE IN COLORADO

Service of the pleadings of the defendants and replies thereto need not be made as between the defendants in any action where there are an unusually large number of defendants. The court may order that any cross-claim, counterclaim, or matter constituting an avoidance or affirmative defense contained therein shall be deemed to be denied or avoided by all other parties and that the filing of any such pleading and service thereof shall be deemed to be a denial or avoidance of the claim or counterclaim All parties must be given a copy of the order in the form and manner specified by the court.

Documents such as interrogatories, reply to it, requests for admission, responses to that, requests for production, and depositions should not be submitted unless and until they are relied upon in a court of law. Where Colorado rules do not specifically require the filing and service of a paper following the initial complaint and where the filing of a paper alone is provided for, a copy of the such paper so filed shall be served upon the adverse party contemporaneously with the filing of such paper. Where the service alone of any paper is required, it shall be filed either before service or within a reasonable time after that. A certificate of service should be attached to any subsequent documents needed to be served upon a party.

Pleadings and other papers submitted with the court according to these rules must be filed with the clerk of the court unless the judge allows them to be filed with the judge; in that case, the judge should write the filing date on the documents and promptly forward them to the clerk’s office. No document submitted for filing will be rejected only because it is not in the correct form in accordance with these rules or any local rules and customs.

for assistance serving legal papers in COLORADO

Simply pick up the phone and call Toll-Free (800) 774-6922 or click the service you want to purchase. Our dedicated team of professionals is ready to assist you. We can handle all your process service needs; no job is too small or too large!  For a complete list of our Colorado Process Service Coverage Areas, Click Here!

Contact us for more information about our process-serving agency. We are ready to provide service of process to all our clients globally from our offices in New York, Brooklyn, Queens, Long Island, Westchester, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Washington, D.C.

“Quality is never an accident; it is always the result of high intention, sincere effort, intelligent direction, and skillful execution; it represents the wise choice of many alternatives”– Foster, William A

Sources

1. The sheriff or a deputy of the county where service is made, or any other person over the age of eighteen who is not a party to the case, may serve the process inside or beyond the state;

2. Upon a natural person between the ages of thirteen and eighteen, by delivering a copy thereof to the person and another copy thereof to the person’s father, mother, or guardian, or if there be none in the state, then by delivering a copy thereof to any person in whose care or control the person may be; or with whom the person resides, or in whose service the person is employed; and upon a natural person under the age of thirteen, by delivering a copy

3. A municipal corporation by serving a copy thereof to the mayor, city manager, clerk, or deputy clerk of such corporation;

4. In cases involving particular property or status or other processes, service by mail or publishing must be permitted. A party who wants to be served by mail or publication must submit a motion for an order of service by mail or publication, confirmed under oath by the party or someone acting on the party’s behalf. The document must specify the basis for service by publication, detail any attempts taken to effect personal service and list the current and/or last known addresses of all parties to be served, or say if neither is known. The motion shall be heard ex parte, and if the court finds that reasonable attempts have been made to effect personal service or that such efforts would have been futile, the court will:

5. A copy of the procedure should be sent by registered or certified mail to the addressee alone, and a return receipt signed by the recipient should be requested. When the clerk’s evidence of service is filed, together with the addressee’s signed return receipt, the service is considered complete.

Issue an order directing service to be served in a newspaper of general circulation in the county where the action is pending. Any such announcement must be made for four weeks. A copy of the process must be sent to all parties named in the motion no later than fifteen days after the order is issued. The date of the last publication will mark the end of the service period. If there isn’t a paper in the county, the judge will choose one from a neighboring county.

6. Every written motion other than one that may be heard ex parte, every written notice, appearance, demand, the offer of judgment, designation of record on appeal, and every written notice, appearance, demand, the offer of judgment, designation of record on appeal shall be served upon a party as provided in the order or as otherwise ordered by the court because of the number of defendants. Unless fresh or additional claims for relief are asserted, no service need be made on parties in default for failing to attend, but such pleadings shall be served upon them in the manner provided for service of summons in Rule 4.