Florida Process Server Service in All 67 Counties, Under Chapter 48, Florida Statutes

Under section 48.021(1), process is served by the sheriff of the county where the person is found, but nonenforceable civil process may also be served by a special process server the sheriff appoints or by a certified process server, and civil witness subpoenas by anyone the civil rules authorize. A sheriff may keep a list of special process servers, who serve only in that county and must be disinterested in any process they serve (48.021(2)-(4)). A circuit's chief judge may keep a list of certified process servers, who serve initial nonenforceable civil process on a person found in a circuit where they are listed and foreign process in any circuit where listed; the chief judge may add eligibility rules by administrative order, and a certified server puts the section 48.031(5) details on the first page of at least one process served (48.27(2), 48.29(4), (6), (7)). Neither list excludes appointment by individual motion and order under Rule 1.070(b), which lets the court appoint any competent person not interested in the action (48.27(3)). Where a sheriff's list (48.021) or a chief judge's list (48.27) is kept, our servers hold the appointment for the county or circuit where your defendant is found; in a county with neither, we tell you at intake and give you the steps to have our server appointed in your case under Rule 1.070(b).

The court, on its own initiative after notice or on motion, must direct service within a specified time, or dismiss the action without prejudice or drop that defendant as a party; on a showing of good cause or excusable neglect, it must extend the time for an appropriate period (Rule 1.070(j)). That dismissal is not a voluntary dismissal or an adjudication on the merits under Rule 1.420(a)(1). The 120 days run from filing of the initial pleading directed to that defendant, or for a party added by amendment, from entry of the order granting leave to amend. Under Rule 2.514(a)(1), counting begins the next day that is not a Saturday, Sunday or legal holiday, every later day counts, and a last day on a weekend, a legal holiday or in a period the chief justice extends by order moves to the next day that is none of those. Legal holidays include any day the clerk's office observes as a holiday or the chief justice or chief judge designates (Rule 2.514(a)(6)(B)). If a limitation period is close, ask counsel.

Section 48.031(1)(a) allows delivery to the person, or leaving the copies at the person's usual place of abode with any person residing there who is 15 or older, after informing that person of their contents. Rule 1.070(e) requires a copy of the initial pleading at personal service, and the server endorses the date and hour of service on the original process and all copies. The rest of s. 48.031 allows: service on a spouse anywhere in a county, if the case is not adversarial between them, the spouse requests it or is also a party, and they live together (48.031(2)(a)); for a sole proprietor, service on the person in charge of the business during regular business hours after two attempts to serve the owner there (48.031(2)(b)); and, where the only address public records show is a private mailbox, virtual office or executive office or mini suite, the person in charge there, if the server determines the person keeps one there (48.031(6)). An employer must let a server reach an employee in a private area the employer designates (48.031(1)(b)).

Section 48.091(3) requires the registered office to be open at least 10 a.m. to 12 noon and 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. each day except Saturdays, Sundays and legal holidays, with someone there who can be served. If an individual agent is absent, any employee of the agent present at the office may be served, even on the first attempt; an entity agent may be served as the law for its entity type provides or through any employee present (48.091(4)). If a corporation has no registered agent, or the agent cannot be served after one good faith attempt because of a failure to comply with the law, process may go to the chair of the board, the president, any vice president, the secretary or the treasurer, or anyone on the latest annual report (48.081(3)); for an LLC, to any manager of a manager-managed company, any member of a member-managed company, or anyone on the latest annual report (48.062(3)). If a corporation's agent or annual-report person has a residence, private mailbox, virtual office or executive office or mini suite address, that person may be served under section 48.031 (48.081(5)); section 48.081 does not apply to insurers. If personal service on an entity fails after due diligence, the court, on motion, may authorize any other manner reasonably effective to give actual notice, including e-mail (48.102).

The facts justifying substituted service, showing due diligence was used to locate and personally serve the party and, as applicable, the party's nonresidence or concealment or that it is a business entity for which substituted service is authorized; the party or its attorney files it within 40 days after service on the Secretary of State, or added time the court allows (48.161(3)). Due diligence includes an appropriate number of attempts at times and places the party is reasonably likely to be found (48.161(5)). The route is open, after due diligence, against a nonresident or a party concealing its whereabouts where the court has jurisdiction: process issued in the party's name, in care of the Secretary of State, by personal delivery, registered or certified mail, commercial courier or electronic transmission (48.161(1)-(2)). Notice of service and a copy go forthwith by registered mail, certified mail with return receipt, or commercial courier to the last known physical address, plus e-mail if the parties have recently and regularly communicated that way; proof or return receipts are filed unless delivery is refused or the party conceals itself (48.161(3)-(4)). Service is effective when the affidavit is filed or the notice steps are complete, whichever is later (48.161(8)); if the individual dies, the administrator, executor, curator or personal representative may be served the same way (48.161(6)). A corporation or LLC reaches this route after its agent and annual-report persons fail (48.081(4), 48.062(4)), or the court may order service under section 48.102. A registered foreign entity must first be served in the order Chapter 48 sets, and an individual or foreign entity concealing its whereabouts is deemed to have appointed the Secretary of State for claims arising from its Florida business (48.181(3)-(4), (7)). Section 48.161 does not apply to persons served through a statutory agent under section 48.151.

In the actions s. 49.011 lists, such as quiet title and dissolution or annulment of marriage, where personal service or service under s. 48.194 cannot be had (49.011, 49.021; Rule 1.070(d)). The plaintiff, its agent or attorney first files a sworn statement (49.031). For an individual it shows a diligent search and inquiry for the name and residence, whether the person is over or under 18 if known, and that the residence is unknown, is outside Florida, or is in Florida but the person has been absent more than 60 days or conceals themselves and no one in Florida can be served to bind them (49.041). For a corporation it shows a diligent search for its true name, domicile, principal place of business and status, and that all its officers, directors, general managers, cashiers, resident agents and business agents are absent, cannot be found, conceal themselves, or are unknown or of unknown whereabouts (49.051). After final judgment, a sworn statement is not defective for a missing fact that appears elsewhere in the record (49.031(3)). The clerk or judge issues the notice of action within 60 days after the statement is filed, naming the defendants, the nature of the action, the court and case and any real property (49.08); it sets a date 28 to 60 days after first publication to file and serve written defenses, or 30 days in foreclosure (49.09). It runs once a week for 4 consecutive weeks, 2 in foreclosure, in a newspaper published in the county where the court sits; with no such newspaper, three copies are posted at least 28 days before the return day, one at the courthouse front door (49.10(1), 49.11). If the statement gives a residence more particular than a state or country, the clerk or judge mails the notice within 10 days (49.12). The newspaper's affidavit proves publication (49.10(2)), and the court may appoint an ad litem for a defendant so served who does not respond (49.31).

A plaintiff may notify a defendant of the action and request a waiver of service of a summons. The notice and request go by U.S. certified mail, return receipt requested, or registered mail as s. 1.01 defines it, with a copy of the complaint naming the court, an extra copy of the notice and request including the waiver, and a prepaid means of compliance in writing (Rule 1.070(i)(2)). The Form 1.902 notice asks for the signed waiver within 20 days, or 30 days if the defendant does not reside in the United States, after the defendant receives it. A defendant who timely returns the waiver before being served need not respond to the complaint until 60 days after receiving the request (Rule 1.070(i)(4)); one who fails to comply without good cause bears the later costs of serving them (Rule 1.070(i)(3)). Accepting service of a complaint by mail does not waive any objection to venue or to the court's jurisdiction over the defendant's person (Rule 1.070(i)(1)).

Under s. 48.21(2) the omission invalidates the service, but the return may be amended at any time on application to the court that issued the process, and service is then as effective as if it had been complete. Section 48.21(1) requires the return-of-service form to state the date and time the process came to hand and was served, the manner of service, the name of the person served and, for a representative capacity, that person's position, to list every pleading and document served, and to be signed by the server, who may sign electronically. The person requesting service or the server files the return with the court, and the server notes the date and time of service, initials or signature and any identification number on the first page of at least one process served (48.031(5)); a certified process server's return goes on a form the court has reviewed and approved (48.29(6)). Rule 1.070(b) calls for proof of service by affidavit, promptly and within the time the person served has to respond, though failure to make proof does not affect the validity of service. Where a law or rule requires a document to be verified, section 92.525 allows a signed written declaration: "Under penalties of perjury, I declare that I have read the foregoing [document] and that the facts stated in it are true," and its definition of a document includes an affidavit (92.525(1)-(2), (4)(b)).

Yes. Section 48.20 makes service or execution of any writ, process, warrant, order or judgment on a Sunday void, and whoever serves it or causes it to be served is liable to the aggrieved party for damages. The exception: if the person requesting service makes an affidavit that there is good reason to believe the person to be served intends to escape from Florida under protection of Sunday, an officer furnished with an order from the trial court judge may serve on Sunday, and that service is as valid as on any other day. Section 48.20 names Sunday only. Legal holidays appear in s. 48.091(3), which excuses a registered office from opening on Saturdays, Sundays and legal holidays, and in Rule 2.514(a)(1)(C), which moves a deadline's last day off a legal holiday.

Section 92.251, the Uniform Interstate Depositions and Discovery Act, has the party submit the foreign subpoena to a clerk of court in the Florida county where discovery is sought; the request is not an appearance in Florida courts (92.251(1), (3)(a)). The clerk, following that court's procedure, promptly issues a subpoena that incorporates the terms used in the foreign subpoena and contains or is accompanied by the names, addresses and telephone numbers of all counsel of record and of any party not represented by counsel (92.251(3)(b)-(c)). It is served under Florida law and the Florida Rules of Civil Procedure, Florida's laws and rules govern it, and an application for a protective order or to enforce, quash or modify it goes to the court in the county where discovery is to be conducted (92.251(4)-(6)). The act does not apply to criminal proceedings (92.251(8)).

Rule 1.410(d) allows any person authorized by law to serve process, or any nonparty at least 18 years old; s. 48.021(1) likewise has civil witness subpoenas served by any person the civil rules authorize. Service on the person named must be made as provided by law, and s. 48.031(3)(a) has civil witness subpoenas served as s. 48.031(1) provides for process. Unless an officer authorized by law serves it, proof is by affidavit of the person who served it, except as Rule 1.351(c) provides for documents a nonparty produces without deposition (Rule 1.410(d)). Section 92.142(1) sets a witness fee for each day of actual attendance plus a mileage allowance for the distance actually traveled to and from the court.

In an action for possession, if the tenant cannot be found in the county or no one 15 or older lives at the tenant's usual place of abode after at least two attempts at least 6 hours apart, the summons may be posted in a conspicuous place on the property; the landlord gives the clerk an extra copy and a prestamped envelope, the clerk mails it, service is effective on the later of posting or mailing, and at least 5 days must pass from service before a judgment for final removal (48.183). Where occupants are unknown, the summons issues to “Unknown Party or Parties in Possession”; if the first attempt fails, at least two more are made, once during business hours, once outside them and once on a weekend; the server asks the occupants' names and the return records them or states they could not be obtained; the summons and complaint are also posted on the premises, and on issuance the plaintiff gives the clerk a copy and a prestamped envelope for each unknown occupant, which the clerk mails first-class (48.184(3)-(4)).

Under section 48.194(1), service in another state, territory or commonwealth is made as in Florida, by anyone authorized to serve process where it is made, with no court order; a return under section 48.21, or other competent evidence of the time, manner and place of service, is filed. In a foreclosure seeking in rem or quasi in rem relief, with a known address, the party or its attorney may instead send the process by registered mail, and service is obtained when the person allowed by law signs the return receipt; if it comes back marked “refused,” first-class mail may follow (unclaimed is not refused), and an affidavit setting out the return of service is filed (48.194(2)-(4)). A defendant subject to the long-arm statute, section 48.193, including one engaged in substantial and not isolated activity in Florida, may be personally served outside Florida as section 48.194 provides (48.193(2)-(3)). In a foreign country, section 48.197(1) allows internationally agreed means such as the Hague Service Convention; where there are none, or an agreement allows but does not specify other means, a method reasonably calculated to give notice: the foreign country's own law, a letter rogatory, or, unless that country's law prohibits it, personal delivery to an individual or mail the clerk addresses and sends requiring a signed receipt; and, by motion and court order, other means including e-mail. A minor or incompetent abroad may be served only under section 48.197(1)(b)1., (1)(b)2. or (1)(c) (48.197(2)). Florida sheriffs may also serve process issued by another state's court the same way as Florida process (48.195(1)).