WHAT DO PROCESS SERVERS IN CONNECTICUT DO?

This article will provide guidance on What Due Process Servers in Connecticut Do? Service of process in a civil matter must be made on the appropriate court at least thirty days (inclusive) before the day of the sitting of the Supreme Court or the Superior Court at least twelve days (inclusive) before such day. Click Here for Frequently Asked Questions About Process Servers!

At least twenty days prior to the return day, a process in civil actions returnable to the Supreme Court shall be returned to its clerk. If returnable to the Superior Court, the process shall be returned to the clerk of such court at least six days before the return day, except in summary process actions and petitions for paternity and support. Click here for information on How Rush Process Service Can Expedite Your Case.

BACKGROUND

A sheriff, their deputy, a constable, or other appropriate authority authorized by legislation or a person not interested can serve the process. Any sheriff, deputy sheriff, constable, or other suitable officials may be served with the process provided it is directed ‘to any proper officer.’ It is preferable to involve a private process server like Undisputed Legal since our Connecticut process service agencies are significantly more accountable to each client, especially considering that the range of activities offered by a sheriff is not limited merely to the service of process. Click here for information on How Service of Process Ensures A Solid Foundation.

Unless more than one defendant is named in the process and described to reside in different counties in the state, or unless, in the case of a writ of attachment, the plaintiff or one of the plaintiffs takes the oath before the authority signing the affidavit, the signing official must state that they administered the oath and provide the name of the party receiving the writ but is not required to explain why that person is receiving it. Suppose it can be shown that the party providing the affidavit did not have reasonable reasons at the time of making it for believing the assertions in the affidavit to be accurate. In that case, any process directed to an indifferent person on the basis of the affidavit may be dismissed. Please visit our rules and laws page, Connecticut Rules of Civil Procedure.   For instructions on How To Serve Legal Papers in Connecticut, Click Here! Click here for information on How Process Servers Protect Your Rights: Myths Debunked

WHAT DOES A PROCESS SERVER DO IN CONNECTICUT

A defendant may be served with a summons by having an officer read him the document and the accompanying complaint or by having an authenticated copy of the summons and complaint left at his residence. The officer providing service must include the address where the certified copy was placed at the defendant’s normal residence on his return when service is performed by leaving the copy at that location.

Legal process forms apply to private citizens, public entities, businesses, and non-profit organizations. A genuine and certified copy of the statement or complaint and summons in a civil action must be left with the defendant or at his regular residence.  Service of process in action brought against a partnership may be made by delivering a copy of the writ and the complaint to the last known address of each partner named in action by registered or certified mail, return receipt requested, prior to the return date. If no partners are residents of the state, service may be made upon the Secretary of State. Mailing and receipt confirmations must be provided.

At Undisputed Legal, we take the burden of process service off our clients. Our team of process servers in Connecticut is highly trained, even if Connecticut does not need licensing. We ensure that our clients are always looped into the service timeline, including real-time email updates to our clients, GPS affidavits of service, and an email copy of the affidavit before mailing. We also offer a free basic skip trace for new clients. 

OUT-OF-STATE PROCESS SERVICE IN CONNECTICUT

The foreign service of process must be made in compliance with the applicable treaty, convention, or court order. The civil process must not be served outside the United States of America in contravention of any relevant treaty or convention, including, but not limited to, the Hague Convention on Service of Process Abroad. 

The Superior Court may, upon application, order service of process upon such terms as the court deems reasonably calculated to give the defendant actual notice of the proceedings in sufficient time for the defendant to defend if service of process cannot be made within sixty days under the applicable treaty or convention.

At Undisputed Legal, we also aid in process service from out of state. Our Connecticut 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 Connecticut.

We make sure that our process servers follow all the requirements of Connecticut. Our clients receive professionals who ensure that service is done speedily and accurately. Our highly trained process servers offer five (5) levels of process service in Connecticut, being [A.] routine service when a  Process Server makes its first attempt within three to seven business days; [B.] rush service, wherein the Process Server will make their first attempt within forty-eight hours; Same Day service where service is first attempted the same day and [D.] service of mail when documents are issued within twenty-four hours of service. 

The only difference in the above levels of service is the start times; they all include the Connecticut process server making up to three (3) attempts (Morning, Afternoon & Evening). Another level of service offered is  Stake-Out service, with our Process Server appearing on the date & duration of time you select. It is a highly specified level of service since the client is provided the ability to 

choose the date & duration of time. It should be noted. However, that stakeout service requires a minimum of an hour’s waiting time. 

SERVICE OF DOCUMENTS 

Witness subpoenas must be signed by the court clerk or a commissioner of the Superior Court. They may be served by a law enforcement officer, a neutral third party, or, in the case of a criminal defendant who a public defender or special public defender, or an investigator from the Division of Public Defender Services, represents. Unless the court directs otherwise, the subpoena must be delivered at least eighteen hours before the witness is required to attend. At Undisputed Legal, we ensure that service is provided well within this timeline. We ensure that all documents are issued within a short period of receipt and take the responsibility off our client’s shoulders. 

If a witness who the state has subpoenaed, the Attorney General, an assistant Attorney General, a public defender, or an assistant public defender acting in his official capacity, or any other person upon whom a subpoena is served to appear and testify in a cause pending before any court and to whom one day’s attendance and fees for traveling to court have been tendered, fails to appear. 

SERVICE OF PROCESS

By law, all civil processes must be served by a sheriff, deputy, constable, or other proper officer authorized by statute (CGS § 52-50). In addition, an ‘indifferent person’ can serve the process under two circumstances. An indifferent person can serve the process if more than one defendant is named and resides in different counties. An indifferent person can also serve the process if the plaintiff or his attorney swears to the person signing the process that he believes the plaintiff is in danger of losing his debt unless an indifferent person makes immediate service of the process. The process must be signed by a licensed attorney, a judge, or a court clerk (CGS § 52-45a).

OUR PROCESS

Documents can be faxed at (800) 296 – 0115, emailed to ps@undisputedlegal.com, mailed to 500 West Putnam Avenue, Suite 400, Greenwich, Connecticut 06830, or dropped off at any of our locations. We do require pre-payment and accept all major credit and debit cards. Once payment is processed, your sales receipt is immediately emailed for your records.

Drop-offs must call and make an appointment first to be added to building security to permit access to our office. Documents for service must be in a sealed envelope with payment in the form of a money order or attorney check (WE DO NOT ACCEPT CASH) payable to UNDISPUTED LEGAL INC.; Our receptionist receives all documents.

DOMESTIC COVERAGE AREAS:

Alaska | Alabama | Arkansas | Arizona | California | Colorado | Connecticut | District of Columbia | Delaware | Florida | Georgia | Hawaii | Iowa | Idaho | Illinois | Indiana | Kansas | Kentucky | Louisiana | Maryland | Massachusetts | Maine | Michigan | Minnesota | Mississippi | Missouri | Montana | North Carolina | North Dakota | Nebraska | New Hampshire | New Jersey | New Mexico | Nevada | New York | Ohio | Oklahoma | Oregon | Pennsylvania | Rhode Island | South Carolina | South Dakota | Tennessee | Texas | Utah | Virginia | Vermont | Washington | West Virginia | Wisconsin | Wyoming

INTERNATIONAL COVERAGE AREAS:

Albania | Andorra | Anguilla | Antigua | Argentina | Armenia | Australia | Austria | Azerbaijan | Bahamas | Barbados | Belarus | Belgium | Belize | Bermuda | Bosnia and Herzegovina | Botswana | Brazil | British Honduras | British Virgin Islands | Bulgaria | Canada | Cayman Islands | Central and Southern Line Islands | Chile|China (Macao) | China People’s Republic | Colombia | Costa Rica | Country of Georgia | Croatia | Cyprus | Czech Republic | Denmark | Dominican Republic | Ecuador | Egypt | Estonia | Falkland Islands and Dependences | Fiji | Finland | France | Germany | Gibraltar | Gilbert and Ellice Islands | Greece | Guernsey | Hong Kong | Hungary | Iceland | India | Ireland | Isle of Man | Israel | Italy | Jamaica | Japan | Jersey Channel Islands | Jordan | Kazakhstan | Korea | Kuwait | Latvia | Lithuania | Luxembourg | Malawi | Malaysia | Malta | Mauritius | Mexico| MonacoMontenegro | Montserrat | Morocco | Namibia | Netherlands | New Zealand|Nicaragua | Norway | Pakistan | Panama | Paraguay | Peru | Philippines | Pitcairn |Poland | Portugal | Republic of Moldova | Republic of North Macedonia | Romania |Russian Federation | Saint Vincent and the Grenadines | San Marino | Saudi Arabia | Serbia | Seychelles | Singapore| Slovakia | Slovenia | South Africa | Spain | Sri Lanka | St. Helena and Dependencies | St. Lucia | Sweden | Switzerland | Taiwan | Thailand | Tunisia | Turkey | Turks and Caicos Islands| UkraineUnited Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland | Uruguay | US Virgin Islands | Uzbekistan | Venezuela | Vietnam

OFFICE LOCATIONS

New York: (212) 203-8001 – 590 Madison Avenue, 21st Floor, New York, New York 10022
Brooklyn: (347) 983-5436 – 300 Cadman Plaza West, 12th Floor, Brooklyn, New York 11201
Queens: (646) 357-3005 – 118-35 Queens Blvd, Suite 400, Forest Hills, New York 11375
Long Island: (516) 208-4577 – 626 RXR Plaza, 6th Floor, Uniondale, New York 11556
Westchester: (914) 414-0877 – 50 Main Street, 10th Floor, White Plains, New York 10606
Connecticut: (203) 489-2940 – 500 West Putnam Avenue, Suite 400, Greenwich, Connecticut 06830
New Jersey: (201) 630-0114 – 101 Hudson Street, 21 Floor, Jersey City, New Jersey 07302
Washington DC: (202) 655-4450 – 1101 Pennsylvania Avenue, Suite 300, Washington DC 20037

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 Connecticut 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, a sincere effort, intelligent direction, and skillful execution; it represents the wise choice of many alternatives”– Foster, William A

Sources

1. If you need more information on Process Serving in Connecticut, talk to a local server.

 Connecticut law allows the service of process by any indifferent person under certain circumstances. But Connecticut does not license, register, or otherwise regulate private process servers. Thus, no central listing or registry of private process servers exists. 

Each person who serves process receives a fee of up to $20 for each process he serves and an additional fee of $10 for the second and each additional defendant he serves. In addition, he receives 30¢ per mile (CGS § 52-261).

2. A support enforcement officer or support services investigator of the Superior Court may serve a petition for modification, a motion for contempt, or a wage withholding in any child support matter, including but not limited to those petitions for support authorized under sections 17b-748 and 46b-215, and those matters involving a beneficiary of care or assistance from the state.

Within their boroughs’ boundaries, bailiffs have the authority to carry out any legal procedure that would normally fall within the purview of a sheriff or constable.

3. Any investigator working for the Commissioner of Administrative Services or the Commissioner of Social Services may serve any party with a motion to modify, a motion for contempt, or a motion to withhold wages in any case involving a recipient of state care or assistance, including cases involving IV-D child support.

4. Any person authorized to do service by the laws of the state, territory, possession, or country in which service is to be made or by any duly qualified attorney, solicitor, barrister, or equivalent in such jurisdiction may serve process outside the state upon any person domiciled in or subject to the jurisdiction of the courts of this state or his executor or administrator in the same manner as service is made within the state.

5. Process may be served on the association’s president, secretary, or treasurer in legal proceedings filed against it. The voluntary association shall be deemed to have appointed the Secretary of the State as its attorney and to have agreed that any process in any civil action brought against it may be served upon the secretary of the state, with the same validity as if served personally, if all of such officers are not residents of the state and the voluntary association is doing business, acting, or carrying out its operations or functions within the state. Any officer to whom service is directed shall serve process upon the Secretary of State by leaving with or at the office of the Secretary of State a true and attested copy thereof at least twelve days before the return day of the process and by sending to the defendant at its last known address by registered or certified mail, postage prepaid, alike true and attested copy with an endorsement thereon of the service upon the Secretary of the St.

6. notwithstanding any provision of the general laws related to service of process.

7. The head of police, or whoever is chosen by the chief of police at the relevant police station, must act as the agent of the police officer listed in the subpoena. The legal process served on the broker will be treated as if it had been served on the cop.

A correctional officer’s agent in the facility where the officer is assigned must be served with any subpoena that names the officer as a witness. The Commissioner of Correction chooses this person. Service on the agent will be treated as service on the sheriff or other law enforcement official.

Any state-issued subpoena, including those issued by the Attorney General or an Assistant Attorney General or by any Public Defender or Assistant Public Defender acting in his official position, may include the following language: If you bring this subpoena to the clerk of the court where you are required to appear, the court will cover your statutory fees as a witness. The court may issue a warrant for your arrest if you fail to appear in court on the date and time specified or on any subsequent date and time to which your appearance may have been adjourned or continued by order of an officer of the court.

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The information contained herein has been prepared in compliance with Section 107 of the Copyright Act. Fair use is a legal doctrine that promotes freedom of expression by permitting the unlicensed use of copyright-protected works. The articles/Images contained herein serve as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, educational, and research-as examples of activities that qualify as fair use. Undisputed Legal Inc. is a Process Service Agency and “Not A Law Firm” therefore the articles/images contained herein are for educational purposes only, and not intended as legal advice.