Arizona Process Server Certified Servers in All 15 Counties, Under Ariz. R. Civ. P. 4 and 4.1

No. Under Rule 4(e), a person seeking certification files an application with the clerk under ACJA § 7-204; once the court or presiding judge of that county approves, the clerk registers the person as a certified private process server, and the registration stays in effect unless the court withdraws the certification. Rule 4(e) then says a certified private process server “will be entitled to serve in that capacity for any state court within Arizona.” Rule 4(d)(1) lists that server beside a sheriff, a constable, a deputy of either and a person the court specially appoints, and Rule 4(d) also lets a party or its attorney serve where the rules expressly authorize it. A.R.S. § 12-3301(A) lets duly appointed or certified private process servers serve all process, writs, orders, pleadings or papers that the law requires or permits to be served, except writs or orders requiring the service officer to sell, deliver or take custody of persons or property, or as Supreme Court rule otherwise limits; it also makes a private process server an officer of the court. A Rule 4(d)(2) special appointment, by contrast, is valid only for the cause named in the motion and is not a certification. Our Arizona servers hold the appointment Rule 4(e) provides: each is certified under ACJA § 7-204, so no special-appointment motion is needed for your case.

Under ACJA § 7-204(E)(2)(a), an applicant for certification must be at least 21, a citizen or legal resident of the United States, and hold a high school diploma or GED. Under § 7-204(E)(2)(c), the applicant files with the clerk in the applicant’s county of residence (a non-Arizona resident may apply in any county) and must pass the certification examination, and A.R.S. § 12-3301(B) requires a full set of fingerprints for a criminal background investigation. ACJA § 7-204(F)(2) bars a private process server who is a party, an attorney, or an employee of an attorney in the action in which process is to be served. Section 7-204(E)(1) exempts three groups from certification: a person specially appointed by the court under Rule 4(d), a party or its attorney serving process under Rule 4(d), and anyone serving a subpoena under Rule 45. For a special appointment, Rule 4(d)(2) has a party file a motion, with a proposed order, before the presiding superior court judge in the county where the action is pending. The appointee must be at least 21 and must not be a party, an attorney or an attorney’s employee in the action. Appointments should be granted freely, are valid only for the cause specified in the motion and are not a certification.

Rule 4(i) allows 90 days after the complaint is filed, and Rule 4.1(b) requires the summons and the pleading to be served together within that time. Rule 6(a) excludes the filing day and, when the last day is a Saturday, Sunday or legal holiday, runs the period to the next day that is none of those. If a defendant is not served in time, the court, on motion or on its own after notice to the plaintiff, must dismiss the action without prejudice against that defendant or order that service be made within a specified time. If the plaintiff shows good cause for the failure, the court must extend the time for an appropriate period. A replacement summons does not reset the count: Rule 4(b)(2) requires it to be issued and served within the Rule 4(i) time for the original summons. Rule 4(i) does not apply to service in a foreign country under Rules 4.2(i), (j), (k) and (l).

Under Rule 4(g)(3), when someone other than a sheriff or deputy sheriff serves, the return must be promptly filed with the court and accompanied by an affidavit establishing proof of service, and a registered private process server’s affidavit must clearly identify the county in which the server is registered. A sheriff’s or deputy’s return is instead officially marked on or attached to the proof of service (Rule 4(g)(2)). Under Rule 4(c), a return on a person identified by a fictitious name must state the true name of the person served. Rule 4(g)(1) says the return should be made no later than when the served party must respond to process; Rule 4(g)(6) says failure to make proof of service does not affect the validity of service, and Rule 4(h) lets the court permit process or proof of service to be amended. Rule 80(c) reaches this affidavit: when these rules require a matter to be proved by affidavit, it may be unsworn, with the same force and effect, if it is signed as true under penalty of perjury, dated, and in substantially this form: “I declare [or certify, verify or state] under penalty of perjury that the foregoing is true and correct. Executed on [date].” Rule 80(c) does not apply to a deposition, an oath of office, or an oath required to be taken before a specified official other than a notarial officer.

The usual route is Rule 4.1(i): delivery to a partner, an officer, a managing or general agent, or any other agent authorized by appointment or by law, plus a mailed copy when the agent is a statutory agent and the statute requires it. Under Rule 4.1(j)(1), if a domestic corporation has no officer or agent within Arizona on whom process can be served, two copies of the summons and the pleading may be deposited with the Arizona Corporation Commission, and that is personal service on the corporation. A return in which the sheriff of the county where the action is pending states that, after diligent search or inquiry, no such officer or agent could be found is prima facie evidence that the corporation has none in Arizona (Rule 4.1(j)(2)). The Commission keeps one copy and immediately mails the other, postage prepaid, to the corporation or any of its officers or directors (Rule 4.1(j)(3)). Separately, A.R.S. § 10-504(B) makes the Commission the agent of a corporation that fails to appoint or maintain a statutory agent at the address on the Commission’s records: duplicate copies are delivered to and left with the Commission, which forwards one by mail to the corporation’s known place of business, and a corporation served through the Commission has 30 days to respond in addition to the time otherwise provided by law. A.R.S. § 10-1510 sets the same statutory-agent and Commission rules for a foreign corporation, and Rule 4.2(h) lets a corporation, partnership or association located outside Arizona but within the United States be served by the same Rule 4.1(i) deliveries.

Section 29-3119(A) has a limited liability company served through its statutory agent. If the company has no statutory agent, or the agent cannot with reasonable diligence be served, § 29-3119(B) allows registered or certified mail, return receipt requested, or a similar commercial delivery service, addressed to the principal address shown on the company’s most recent Corporation Commission filing. That service is effected on the earliest of the date the company receives it, the date on a return receipt the company signs, or five days after a correctly addressed deposit with sufficient postage or payment. If neither route works, § 29-3119(C) allows handing a copy to the individual in charge of any regular place of business or activity of the company, if that individual is not a plaintiff in the action. These steps are not exclusive: § 29-3119(E) says service “may be made by other means under law other than this chapter,” so Rule 4.1(i) delivery to an officer, a managing or general agent, or an authorized agent stays open for an LLC.

Under Rule 4.1(e), unless Rule 4.1(f) applies, a minor less than 16 years old may be served by delivering the summons and the pleading to the minor in the Rule 4.1(d) manner and also delivering a copy of each in the same manner to the minor’s parent or guardian, if any of them reside or may be found within Arizona. If none does, the second copy goes to any adult having the care and control of the minor, or any person of suitable age and discretion with whom the minor resides. Under Rule 4.1(f), if a court has appointed a guardian or conservator for a minor, the guardian or conservator is served in the Rule 4.1(d) manner and the minor is separately served in that same manner. Rule 4.1(g) applies the same two-part service to an incapacitated person or an adult in need of protection for whom a court has appointed a guardian or conservator. If a court has appointed both a guardian and a conservator, the person is served by serving the conservator in the Rule 4.1(d) manner.

Under Rule 4.1(k), if the methods in Rule 4.1(c) through (j) are impracticable, the court may, on motion, order service in another manner; the serving party must also make a reasonable effort to give actual notice and must mail the summons, the pleading and the order to the last-known business or residential address. Rule 4.1(k)(3) allows publication only when the publication rules are met and followed. Under Rule 4.1(l)(1), the party must show that service under Rule 4.1(c) through (k), including an alternative means, is impracticable, and the court may order publication on a motion supported by an affidavit of reasonably diligent efforts, where the current address cannot be determined despite those efforts or the person has intentionally avoided service, and publication is the best means practicable to give notice. The summons and a statement describing how to obtain a copy of the pleading are published at least once a week for 4 successive weeks in a newspaper published in the county where the action is pending, and also in the county of the last-known address if different; where a county has no newspaper, one in an adjoining county is used. If the address is known, the summons and pleading must be mailed on or before the date of first publication. Service is complete 30 days after first publication in all newspapers where publication is required. Rule 4.1(l)(4) requires an affidavit stating the manner and dates of publication and mailing and the circumstances warranting it, with a printed copy of the publication. Under Rule 4.1(m), an unknown heir of a decedent may be served by publication in the county where the action is pending when the action forecloses a mortgage on real property or otherwise involves title to real property and the heir must be a party.

Yes. Under Rule 4.2(a), an Arizona state court may exercise personal jurisdiction over a person, whether found within or outside Arizona, to the maximum extent the Arizona Constitution and the United States Constitution permit, and service made under Rule 4.2 has the same effect as personal service within Arizona. Elsewhere in the United States, Rule 4.2(b) allows service in the same manner as Rules 4.1(d) through (j) by a person authorized to serve process under the law of the state where service is made. If the address is known, Rule 4.2(c) also allows postage-prepaid mail requiring a signed and returned receipt, followed by the serving party’s affidavit once the receipt comes back. In an action involving the operation of a motor vehicle in Arizona, Rule 4.2(e) has a nonresident served as provided in A.R.S. § 28-2327. Outside any judicial district of the United States, unless federal law provides otherwise, Rule 4.2(i) lets an individual (other than a minor, an incapacitated person, an adult in need of protection or a person whose waiver has been filed) be served by an internationally agreed means such as the Hague Service Convention; where there is no such means, or an agreement allows but does not specify other means, the options include mail that the clerk addresses and sends and that requires a signed receipt, unless the foreign country’s law prohibits it. Rule 4(g)(5) proves that service by a receipt signed by the addressee or other evidence satisfying the court of delivery. A foreign state or its political subdivisions, agencies or instrumentalities must be served under 28 U.S.C. § 1608 (Rule 4.2(l)). Unless Rule 4.2(d)(3) applies, or the parties agree or the court orders otherwise, a person served outside Arizona under Rule 4.2 must serve a responsive pleading within 30 days after service is complete.

Arizona handles foreign subpoenas under Ariz. R. Civ. P. 45.1. A party presents the foreign subpoena to the clerk in the county where the discovery will be conducted; Rule 45.1(b)(1) says it should carry the phrase “For the Issuance of an Arizona Subpoena Under Ariz. R. Civ. P. 45.1” below the case number. The clerk promptly issues a signed but otherwise blank subpoena, and the requesting party completes it before service with the foreign caption and case number, the discovery from the foreign subpoena and contact details for all counsel and unrepresented parties. It is then served under Rule 45(d): by any person who is not a party and is at least 18, anywhere within the state, by delivering a copy to the named person and, if the subpoena requires attendance, tendering the fees for one day’s attendance and the mileage allowed by law. No tender is needed when the subpoena commands attendance at a trial or hearing or is issued on behalf of the State of Arizona or any of its officers or agencies. If the subpoena commands production of documents, electronically stored information or tangible things, or inspection of premises before trial, a notice and a copy must be served on each party at least 2 days before it is served on the person to whom it is directed. A proof of service that is filed goes to the clerk for the county where the action is pending and must include the server’s certificate stating the date and manner of service and the names of the persons served. For a material witness attending the trial of a civil action, A.R.S. § 12-303 sets a fee for each day’s attendance and mileage for each mile actually and necessarily traveled from the witness’s Arizona residence to the place of trial, computed one way only. Our Arizona subpoena domestication page walks through the process.