Arkansas Process Server Appointed Servers in All 75 Counties, Under Ark. R. Civ. P. 4

Ark. R. Civ. P. 4(c)(2) names four: the sheriff of the county where service is made, or a deputy, unless the sheriff is a party; a person appointed under Administrative Order No. 20 by the court where the action is filed or a court in the county where service is made; for service outside Arkansas, any person authorized by the law of that place; and, for service by mail or commercial delivery company only, the plaintiff or an attorney of record for the plaintiff. Apart from the sheriff or a deputy, and from mail or courier service by the plaintiff or the plaintiff’s attorney, a person serving a summons inside Arkansas needs that Administrative Order No. 20 appointment.

The applicant files an application with the circuit clerk; in a multi-county district, one application filed in one county may seek appointment in one or more counties of the district. The minimum qualifications are age 18 or older and U.S. citizenship, a high school diploma or equivalent, a valid driver’s license from one of the United States, no conviction for a crime punishable by more than one year in prison or for a crime involving dishonesty or false statement, and familiarity with the documents to be served; a judicial district may add qualifications with the concurrence of all its circuit judges. If the circuit judge finds the applicant qualified, the judge issues an order of appointment, and the circuit clerk files it and gives a certified copy to the server and to the sheriff of the county where the server will serve process. Appointments come from the administrative judge of the judicial district or a circuit judge the administrative judge designates, cover every division of circuit court and every district court in the county, and run for a fixed term of up to three years, renewable. On notice to the administrative judge, a circuit judge may revoke an appointment for that judge’s division for a false return, serious and purposeful improper service, failing the minimum qualifications, misrepresenting authority, position or duty, or other good cause. Each county’s circuit clerk keeps and posts a list of appointed civil process servers, and a server carries a certified copy of the order and a valid driver’s license and shows them on request. The application and the order of appointment are official Arkansas Judiciary forms.

Rule 4(i)(1) gives 120 days after the complaint is filed, or the period of an extension. If a defendant is not served in time, the action is dismissed as to that defendant without prejudice, on motion or on the court’s own initiative. Under Rule 4(i)(2), the court may extend the time on a written motion showing good cause, but only if the motion is made within the 120 days or within a previous extension, and the order must be entered within 30 days after the motion is filed or by the end of the current period, whichever is later. Rule 6(b) does not let the court extend this time except as Rule 4(i) allows. Mail or courier service counts as made on the date the process was accepted or refused. The 120-day limit does not apply to service in a foreign country or to complaints against unknown tortfeasors. If a limitation period is close, ask counsel.

Yes, if that family member is at least 18 and the papers are left at a place where the defendant resides (Rule 4(f)(1)(B)). The paragraph names only a member of the defendant’s family, so a roommate or other adult who is not family does not qualify under it. If the defendant refuses the papers after the server makes the purpose clear, the server may leave them in close proximity to the defendant (Rule 4(f)(1)(A)). The proof of service on the Supreme Court’s summons form records the family member’s name and the address as “a place where the defendant resides.”

Holidays are open for service, Sundays mostly are not. As the Court of Appeals read Ark. Code Ann. § 16-58-106(d)(1) in Macom v. Di Cresce, 2023 Ark. App. 530, a summons, subpoena, notice, order of arrest or order of injunction may be executed on any holiday except Sunday. A Sunday execution is allowed when the officer holding the process believes, or an affidavit by the plaintiff or another person states a belief, that it cannot be executed after that day. The Arkansas Supreme Court has held Sunday service void outside special cases and cases of urgent necessity, so the record needs proof that the party could not be served on another day. In Macom, Sunday service held up because the server’s affidavit showed three attempts on a defendant who worked out of state and was home only on Sunday.

Rule 4(f)(5) through (7) list the registered agent among those who may be served for a corporation, an LLC or a partnership. The Reporter’s Notes say the corporation paragraph “reaches foreign corporations as well as those formed under Arkansas law,” and a limited liability partnership with no office in Arkansas must designate a registered agent, as must a foreign one. A registered agent may be served by certified mail with a return receipt requested (Rule 4(g)(1)(A)(i)). If an entity fails to appoint an agent, no longer has one, or its agent cannot with reasonable diligence be served, Ark. Code Ann. § 4-20-113(b) allows registered or certified mail, return receipt requested, addressed by name to one or more of the entity’s governors at its principal office, under the applicable court rules, using the names and address in its latest annual report filed with the Secretary of State or, if it files none, in its public organic document. That service is perfected at the earliest of the day the entity receives the mail, the date on a return receipt signed for the entity, or five days after mailing if correctly addressed and with sufficient postage. If neither route works, § 4-20-113(c) allows handing a copy to the manager, clerk or other person in charge of any regular place of business or activity of the entity, if that person is not a plaintiff. The Secretary of State’s notice on § 4-20-113 states that, effective September 1, 2007, it no longer accepts service of process on registered entities in Arkansas. When diligent effort still fails, Rule 4(g)(4) lets the court order another method.

Yes, against any defendant other than the United States and its agencies, officers or employees, if the plaintiff or an attorney of record for the plaintiff does the mailing (Rule 4(g), 4(g)(1)). The certified mail must request a return receipt and restrict delivery to the addressee or the addressee’s authorized agent, and the addressee must be a natural person named on the mail, except that a corporation’s or other organization’s registered agent may be served by certified mail with a return receipt requested. A default judgment needs a return receipt signed by the addressee or agent, or one of the other records Rule 4(g)(1)(A)(ii) lists, such as a postal employee’s affidavit of refusal. Unclaimed mail is not a refusal. If delivery is refused, the sender must promptly mail the defendant, by first-class mail, a copy of the process and a notice that the case will proceed and a default judgment may be entered. The first-class route under Rule 4(g)(1)(B) depends on the defendant: if no acknowledgment comes back within 20 days after mailing, service must be made some way other than by mail or commercial delivery company. A commercial delivery company approved by the circuit court must deliver to the defendant or an authorized agent and obtain that person’s signature (Rule 4(g)(2)).

If, despite diligent effort, service cannot be made by the methods Rule 4 authorizes, the plaintiff may move, without notice and with an affidavit or other proof, for an order under Rule 4(g)(4) allowing any method reasonably calculated to give notice, including a warning order. The clerk issues a warning order under Rule 4(g)(3) when the plaintiff seeks a judgment that affects or may affect the rights of persons who need not be subject personally to the court’s jurisdiction, on an affidavit that, after diligent inquiry, the defendant’s identity or whereabouts remains unknown. The order is published weekly for two consecutive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation in the county where the action is filed. For a party allowed to proceed as an indigent, the clerk instead posts it at the courthouse for 30 continuous days and newspaper publication is not required. Either way, the warning order and a copy of the complaint go to the defendant’s last known address by certified mail. No default judgment may be taken until an affidavit, with the proof of publication or posting, states that 30 days have passed since first publication or posting and, if the defendant is known to the plaintiff or the plaintiff’s attorney, that 30 days have passed since a letter enclosing the warning order and complaint was mailed. The warning order tells the defendant to appear within 30 days from first publication or face a default judgment or be barred from asserting an interest. Publication is proved by an affidavit of the newspaper’s editor, proprietor or business manager, with the published notice attached, stating the dates it appeared.

Under Rule 4(d), the person who made service makes proof to the clerk within the time the person served has to respond to the summons (under Rule 12(a), generally 30 days after service, or 60 days for a defendant incarcerated in Arkansas), but failing to make proof does not affect the validity of service. Proof may be made by executing the certificate of service on the summons itself, and if the server is not a sheriff or deputy, the certificate must be sworn. For mail or commercial delivery service, the receipt, envelope, affidavit, acknowledgment or other writing the rule requires is attached. The Supreme Court’s summons form adds the private server’s printed name, address and phone, and a jurat for a notary public. The court may allow a proof of service to be amended unless material prejudice would result (Rule 4(e)). The Supreme Court’s summons form incorporates a proof of service to be made by a sheriff, deputy sheriff or other person, with alternative lines such as “I personally delivered the summons and complaint to the defendant at [place]”, and one reading “I was unable to execute service because:”.

Ark. R. Civ. P. 45.1 governs depositions and discovery in Arkansas for a civil action pending in another state. The party submits the foreign subpoena to the circuit clerk in the county where discovery is sought; the clerk issues an Arkansas subpoena without opening a case, and proof of service goes to the requesting attorney, not the clerk. The subpoena is served under Rule 45(c), which allows service at any place within Arkansas: by the sheriff of the county or a deputy, or by any person who is not a party and is at least 18, by delivering a copy to the person named, or by an attorney of record for a party by any form of mail with a return receipt requested and delivery restricted to the addressee or agent. Rule 45.1(e) applies Rule 45(e), so a deposition witness must be served at least five business days before the deposition unless the court grants leave, and the subpoena must be accompanied by a tender of the witness fee for attendance and the mileage that Rule 45(e) sets. The rule does not extend to proceedings in foreign countries.