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Process servers in Texas, as well as private
investigators who with to add process serving to their services,
must take state mandated continuing education and training in order
to be approved to serve process and subpoenas within the state.
These classes must be
conducted in Texas, cannot be done by distance learning or online.
It is a 7 hour course and there are documents to be filled out and
notarized. There is a test at the end of class. Students leave
with all their documents notarized and their school certificate
which, along with their criminal history background check and
fingerprints, must be then submitted to the TX Supreme Court.
We get questions all of the time from process
servers from Texas needing CE or CLE and others who need the initial
training course to be state certified.
Obviously we cannot be of direct assistance since
online training is prohibited but we have developed some great
partners in education that we feel are providing quality courses
that have been approved by the Process Server Review Board:
The Regional
Process Server's Academy is providing classes for Texas Process
Servers.
The Mission of the Process Server Review
Board is to improve the standards for persons authorized to serve
process and to reduce the disparity among Texas civil courts for
approving persons to serve process, by making recommendations to the
Supreme Court of Texas on the certification of individuals and the
approval of courses.
Texas Process Server certification requirements
are in effect statewide:
Misc. Docket No. 06-9142 (In part)
AMENDED ORDER ON CERTIFICATION OF PERSONSı AUTHORIZED TO SERVE
PROCESS UNDERı RULES 103 AND 536(a), TEXAS RULES OF CIVIL PROCEDUREı
(AMENDED)
This Order amends and supersedes Miscellaneous Docket No. 05-9122,
titled "Certification of Persons Authorized to Serve Process Under
Rules 103 and 536(a), Texas Rules of Civil Procedure (Amended)," as
follows:
Rules 103 and 536(a),Texas Rules of Civil Procedure, permit, among
others, any person who is not a party to or interested in the
outcome of a suit and who is certified under order of the Supreme
Court of Texas to serve process. To improve the standards for
persons authorized to serve process and to reduce the disparity
among Texas civil courts for approving persons to serve process,
Rule 103 of The TX Rules of Civil Procedure state:
RULE 103. WHO MAY SERVE
Process - including citation and other notices, writs, orders, and
other papers issued by the court - may be served anywhere by (1) any
sheriff or constable or other person authorized by law, (2) any
person authorized by law or by written order of the court who is not
less than eighteen years of age, or (3) any person certified under
order of the Supreme Court. Service by registered or certified mail
and citation by publication must, if requested, be made by the clerk
of the court in which the case is pending. But no person who is a
party to or interested in the outcome of a suit may serve any
process in that suit, and, unless otherwise authorized by a written
court order, only a sheriff or constable may serve a citation in an
action of forcible entry and detainer, a writ that requires the
actual taking of possession of a person, property, or thing, or
process requiring that an enforcement action be physically enforced
by the person delivering the process. The order authorizing a person
to serve process may be made without written motion and no fee may
be imposed for issuance of such order.
IT IS ORDERED:
1. To be certified to serve process under Rules 103 and 536(a),
Texas Rules of Civil Procedure, a person must file with the Clerk of
the Supreme Court a sworn application in the form prescribed by the
Court. The application must contain a statement that the applicant
has not been convicted of a felony or of a misdemeanor involving
moral turpitude. Form applications may be obtained in the Clerk's
office or on the Supreme Court website. The application must include
a criminal history record obtained within the preceding 90 days from
the Texas Department of Public Safety in Austin, Texas, and a
certificate from the director of a civil process service course
approved as provided by this Order that the applicant has completed
the approved course within the prior year.
Section 536 of the TX Rules of Civil Procedure state:
RULE 536. WHO MAY SERVE AND METHOD OF SERVICE
(a) Process - including citation and other notices, writs, orders,
and other papers issued by the court - may be served anywhere by (1)
any sheriff or constable or other person authorized by law, (2) any
person authorized by law or by written order of the court who is not
less than eighteen years of age, or (3) any person certified under
order of the Supreme Court. Service by registered or certified mail
and citation by publication must, if requested, be made by the clerk
of the court in which the case is pending. But no person who is a
party to or interested in the outcome of a suit may serve any
process, and, unless otherwise authorized by a written court order,
only a sheriff or constable may serve a citation in an action of
forcible entry and detainer, a writ that requires the actual taking
of possession of a person, property, or thing, or process requiring
that an enforcement action be physically enforced by the person
delivering the process. The order authorizing a person to serve
process may be made without written motion and no fee may be imposed
for issuance of such order.
(b) Unless the citation or an order of the court otherwise directs,
the citation shall be served by any person authorized by this rule
by:
(1) delivering to the defendant, in person, a true copy of the
citation with the date of delivery endorsed thereon with a copy of
the petition attached thereto, or
(2) mailing to the defendant by registered or certified mail, return
receipt requested, a true copy of the citation with a copy of the
petition attached thereto if any is filed.
(c) Upon motion supported by affidavit stating the location of the
defendant's usual place of business or usual place of abode or other
place where the defendant can probably be found and stating
specifically the facts showing that service has been attempted under
either (a)(1) or (a)(2) at the location named in such affidavit but
has not been successful, the court may
authorize service:
(1) by leaving a true copy of the citation, with a copy of the
petition attached, with anyone over sixteen years of age at the
location specified in such affidavit, or
(2) in any other manner that the affidavit or other evidence before
the court shows will be reasonably effective to give the defendant
notice of the suit.
RULE 536a. DUTY OF OFFICER OF PERSON RECEIVING AND RETURN OF
CITATION
The officer or authorized person to whom process is delivered shall
endorse thereon the day and hour on which he received it, and shall
execute and return the same without delay. The return of the officer
or authorized person executing the citation shall be endorsed on or
attached to the same; it shall state when the citation was served
and the manner of service and be signed by the officer officially or
by the authorized person. The return of citation by an authorized
person shall be verified. When the citation was served by registered
or certified mail as authorized by Rule 536, the return by the
officer or authorized person must also contain the receipt with the
addressee's signature. When the officer or authorized person has not
served the citation, the return shall show the diligence used by the
officer or authorized person to execute the same and the cause of
failure to execute it, and where the defendant is to be found, if he
can ascertain. Where citation is executed by an alternative method
as authorized by Rule 536, proof of service shall be made in the
manner ordered by the court. No default judgment shall be granted in
any cause until the citation with proof of service as provided by
this rule, or as ordered by the court in the event citation is
executed under Rule 536, shall have been on file with the clerk of
the court three (3) days, exclusive of the day of filing and the day
of judgment.
2. Applications will be reviewed and approved or rejected for good
cause stated by the Texas Process Service Review Board, appointed by
the Court. The Board will notify each applicant of its action, and
for each person certified, will post on a list maintained on the
Supreme Court website the person's name and an assigned
identification number. The Office of Court Administration will
provide clerical assistance to the Board.
3. Certification is effective for three years from the last day of
the month it issues.
4. Certification maybe revoked for good cause stated, including a
conviction of a felony or of a misdemeanor involving moral
turpitude. A person suffering such a conviction must immediately
notify the Clerk of the Supreme Court and cease to serve process.
5. A person must not represent that he or she is certified under
this Order if certification has not been approved, has expired, or
has been revoked.
6. Addresses approved schools and has been redacted by this author.
7. A civil process service course that meets the following
requirements, similar to the courses approved in paragraph 6, may
apply to the Board for approval by the Court:
a. a minimum of 7 hours of monitored instruction;
b. instruction on applicable laws, including the historical
development of the law, with emphasis on practical training of
proper service and return of service (for example, using sample
returns depicting both correct and incorrect returns of service);
c. instruction on a process server's exposure to criminal liability;
d. instruction on unique issues involving family law cases; and
e. basic competence testing upon completion of the course.
8. No non-governmental organization that offers an approved civil
process service course may make membership in the organization a
prerequisite to taking the course.
9. The effective date of the order in Misc. Docket No. 05-9122 was
July 1, 2005; the effective date of this amended Order is October
27, 2006. A person who, as of July 1, 2005, is shown to have met the
requirements for an approved private process server already in place
in Dallas County, Denton County, or Harris County is considered to
have been certified under Misc. Docket No. 05-9122 as if the person
had complied with that Order on that date. Persons meeting the
Harris County requirements were certified to serve for all Texas
courts. Persons meeting the requirements set for Dallas or Denton
counties were certified to serve all courts except for courts in
Harris County.
Miscellaneous Docket # 05-9121 "Final Approval of Amendments to
Rules 103 and 536(a) of the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure ordered
that the effective date of the amendments was July 1, 2005 in all
pending cases thus stating the date of origin for the statewide
certification process for those serving process in the state. |
