Massachusetts Process Server Summonses by Special Appointment, Subpoenas Statewide, Every County From Berkshire to Nantucket

Who serves a summons

Under Rule 4(c): a sheriff, a deputy sheriff or a special sheriff; any other person duly authorized by law, such as a constable; or some person specially appointed by the court for that purpose. The Reporter’s Notes put it the same way: service runs “through a sheriff or deputy sheriff, constable, or person specially appointed by the court.” Where the rules allow certified or registered mail, the party or the party’s attorney may do the mailing.

Mass. R. Civ. P. 4(c) and Reporter’s Notes

Sheriffs and deputies

Sheriffs and their deputies serve process within their own counties (c. 37, § 11). Deputies are sworn before any official act (§ 3), and a special sheriff has the authority of a deputy (§ 4).

G.L. c. 37, §§ 3, 4, 11

Constables

Appointed for terms of up to three years: by the selectmen in a town, and by the mayor in a city whose council has accepted c. 41, § 91, on a written application to the appointing authority. A bonded constable may serve, within the constable’s own town, writs and process in personal actions and in replevin up to damages or value limits that rise with the size of the bond, and any writ or other process under chapter 239.

G.L. c. 41, §§ 91, 91A, 91B, 92

Private process servers

Serve a Massachusetts summons and complaint by special appointment of the court (Rule 4(c)). Every summons our server serves in Massachusetts needs that appointment: at intake we give you the steps, and the first attempt goes out once the court’s order arrives. A subpoena needs none (Rule 45(c)). Service outside Massachusetts is different: Rule 4(c) and c. 223A, § 7 also allow anyone permitted to serve under Massachusetts law or the law of the place of service, or a person a Massachusetts court designates.

Mass. R. Civ. P. 4(c), 45(c); G.L. c. 223A, § 7

Who serves a subpoena

Any person who is not a party and is at least 18 (Rule 45(c)). G.L. c. 233, § 2 allows “an officer qualified to serve civil process” or “a disinterested person.” No court appointment is involved.

Mass. R. Civ. P. 45(c); G.L. c. 233, § 2

Who issues a subpoena

The clerk of court, a notary public or a justice of the peace (Rule 45(a); c. 233, § 1). The issuer may hand a party a subpoena “signed but otherwise in blank,” and the party fills it in before service.

Mass. R. Civ. P. 45(a); G.L. c. 233, § 1

Deadline to serve

90 days after the complaint is filed (Rule 4(j)). The clock starts at filing, not when the summons issues. A case is commenced by mailing the complaint and entry fee to the clerk by certified or registered mail, filing them with the clerk, or submitting the complaint through the court’s electronic filing system (Rule 3).

Mass. R. Civ. P. 4(j), 3

Missing the 90 days

Unless good cause is shown, the action is dismissed as to that defendant without prejudice, on the court’s own initiative with notice or on motion (Rule 4(j)). On a motion to dismiss for insufficient service, the court may instead quash the process and allow new process to issue and be served (c. 223, § 84).

Mass. R. Civ. P. 4(j); G.L. c. 223, § 84

More time

The self-help page for the District, Boston Municipal and Housing Courts says to go back to the court before the 90 days end and ask a judge for more time by motion. Rule 6(b) lets the court, for cause shown, enlarge a period if asked before it expires; after it expires, the court may permit the act on a motion showing excusable neglect, or by stipulation of the parties.

Mass. R. Civ. P. 6(b), 4 Reporter’s Notes; mass.gov

Time to answer

20 days after service, unless the court orders otherwise; a Rule 12 motion changes the period (Rule 12(a)(2)).

Mass. R. Civ. P. 12(a)⁠(1), (2)

Individuals

The summons and a copy of the complaint are served together, delivered to the person or left at the person’s “last and usual place of abode,” or delivered to an agent authorized by appointment or by statute. A statutory agent may come with a further notice step; the Reporter’s Notes say the plaintiff “must consult the statute and fulfill its requirements.”

Mass. R. Civ. P. 4(d), 4(d)⁠(1)

Abode service

Rule 4(d)(1) says “leaving copies thereof at his last and usual place of abode” and names no household member to receive them. An officer’s return states the place as definitely as practicable, with the street and number if possible (c. 223, § 35). In a District Court action, the officer who serves at the abode also mails a first-class copy of the summons there (c. 223, § 31).

Mass. R. Civ. P. 4(d)⁠(1); G.L. c. 223, §§ 31, 35

Voters at the polls

Personal service of a writ or summons on a defendant “while he is exercising his right to vote shall be null and void.”

G.L. c. 223, § 31A

Minors and incompetent persons

Served like any other defendant under Rule 4(d)(1). The Reporter’s Notes add that “service must precede the appointment of a guardian ad litem.”

Mass. R. Civ. P. 4 Reporter’s Notes (1973)

The Commonwealth and its agencies

Deliver the summons and complaint to the Boston office of the Attorney General and, for an agency, to its office or its chairman, a member, or its secretary or clerk. Certified or registered mail to the Attorney General and the agency also works.

Mass. R. Civ. P. 4(d)⁠(3)

Counties, cities and towns

Deliver to the treasurer or the clerk, leave the copies at the treasurer’s or clerk’s office with the person then in charge, or mail them to the treasurer or clerk by registered or certified mail. An authority, board or committee sued under a common name is served by delivery to its chairman or other chief executive officer, by leaving the copies at its office with the person then in charge, or by registered or certified mail to that officer (Rule 4(d)(5)).

Mass. R. Civ. P. 4(d)⁠(4), (5)

Corporations

Domestic corporations, foreign corporations subject to suit here, and unincorporated associations sued under a common name: an officer, a managing or general agent, the person in charge of the business at the principal place of business in Massachusetts, if any, or another agent authorized by appointment or by law. A corporation’s registered agent is its agent for service (c. 156D, § 5.04), and c. 223, § 37 lists the president, treasurer, clerk, resident agent and other officers.

Mass. R. Civ. P. 4(d)⁠(2); G.L. c. 156D, § 5.04; c. 223, § 37

LLCs

Every Massachusetts LLC keeps a resident agent for service of process: an individual Massachusetts resident, a domestic corporation, or a foreign corporation authorized to do business here.

G.L. c. 156C, § 5

Partnerships, trusts and associations

Rule 4(d)(2) leaves out partnerships on purpose, the Reporter’s Notes explain, “Because Massachusetts law so clearly treats partners as individuals for purposes of suit.” A foreign limited partnership doing business here appoints a resident agent (c. 109, § 52). A voluntary association or trust described in c. 182, § 1 and engaged in business in Massachusetts may be served on any trustee or like officer (c. 223, § 40).

Mass. R. Civ. P. 4 Reporter’s Notes; G.L. c. 109, § 52; c. 223, § 40

No one to serve at a company

When the server returns that after diligent search no person can be found to serve, the court may issue an order of notice on the plaintiff’s application.

Mass. R. Civ. P. 4(d)⁠(2)

Foreign corporations and LLCs

A foreign corporation other than an insurance company that has a usual place of business here, or is engaged in or soliciting business here, may be served like a domestic one (c. 223, § 38). The Secretary of the Commonwealth is deemed its agent for service if it does business here without registering under c. 156D, § 15.03, if its resident agent “cannot, after a diligent search by an officer authorized to serve legal process, be found” at the agent’s business address in its most recent certificate or annual report filed with the Secretary, or if the agent refuses to act, for as long as any liability it incurred here while doing business remains outstanding (c. 156D, § 15.10(b)). A corporation that formerly did business here without registering, or that has withdrawn, may also be served through the Secretary in an action on a liability incurred while it did business here (§ 15.10(c)). The Secretary forwards the process by mail to the last known principal office (for a company from another country, to its resident manager in the United States, if any); for a corporation that never registered, it goes to the address the plaintiff or the plaintiff’s attorney furnishes. The plaintiff pays the Secretary a fee at the time of service (§ 15.10(d)). That section is not the only means of serving a foreign corporation. A foreign LLC is deemed to appoint the state secretary on the same terms (unregistered, agent not found at the address in its most recent certificate, or agent refuses to act), with the same mailing to an address the plaintiff furnishes for an unregistered LLC (c. 156C, § 54(b)).

G.L. c. 156D, § 15.10; c. 156C, § 54; c. 223, § 38

Defendants outside Massachusetts

Where the long-arm statute reaches the defendant (for example by “transacting any business in this commonwealth”), service may be made outside the state (c. 223A, §§ 3, 4). Rule 4(e) allows any Rule 4(d) manner, the manner the place of service uses in its general-jurisdiction courts, or any form of mail addressed to the defendant that requires a signed receipt.

Mass. R. Civ. P. 4(e); G.L. c. 223A, §§ 3, 4

Service in another country

Rule 4(e) adds service as the foreign authority directs in response to a letter rogatory, or as the court orders. Under c. 223A, § 6 these manners serve when “reasonably calculated to give actual notice.” The U.S. Department of State notes that the United States is a party to two multilateral treaties on service of process, the Hague Service Convention and the Inter-American Convention on Letters Rogatory and Additional Protocol, each with its own procedures for service. The State Department advises against service by mail in Hague Service Convention countries that objected to postal channels (Article 10(a)), and notes that personal service by an agent may not be valid under the foreign country’s law.

Mass. R. Civ. P. 4(e)⁠(4), (5); G.L. c. 223A, § 6; U.S. Department of State

Proof of service

Made in writing, promptly, and in any event within the time the person served has to respond. Anyone other than a sheriff, deputy or special sheriff who serves makes an affidavit, and constables make affidavit too. The self-help page for the District, Boston Municipal and Housing Courts describes it as a written statement “signed under the pains and penalties of perjury” describing how service was made on each defendant.

Mass. R. Civ. P. 4(f) and Reporter’s Notes (1996); mass.gov

The return on the summons

The summons comes from the clerk in blank and is filled in by the plaintiff or the plaintiff’s attorney (Rule 4(a)). Its second page is the “Return of Service.” On the Superior Court summons, the Proof of Service of Process block asks for the manner of service under Rule 4(d)(1)–(5) and tells the server to enter the date of service on both the original and the copy served.

Mass. R. Civ. P. 4(a); Superior Court summons; mass.gov

Proof by mail or from another state

Mail service is proved with a receipt signed by the addressee or other evidence of personal delivery the court accepts. Service outside Massachusetts may be proved by the server’s affidavit, or in the manner Massachusetts law, the order under which service is made, or the law of the place of service prescribes for proof.

Mass. R. Civ. P. 4(f); G.L. c. 223A, § 6(b)

Late or missing proof

Late proof does not by itself undo a valid service (Rule 4(f)), but the self-help page for the District, Boston Municipal and Housing Courts says the original summons with the return must be filed within 90 days after the complaint was filed or the court may dismiss the case. Under Rule 4(g), the court may also let a flawed summons or proof be corrected, unless that would clearly cause material prejudice to the party served.

Mass. R. Civ. P. 4(f), (g); mass.gov

Defendant cannot be found

After a return of diligent search that finds neither the defendant, the abode nor an agent, the court may issue an order of notice on the plaintiff’s application (Rule 4(d)(1)). When a defendant is absent from Massachusetts or the officer cannot learn the residence, and no personal service was made on the defendant or an appointed agent, or service failed through the plaintiff’s or officer’s mistake about where or with whom to leave it, the court on the plaintiff’s suggestion continues the action until notice is given “in such manner as it may order” (c. 227, § 7). The self-help page for the District, Boston Municipal and Housing Courts names publication in a newspaper as one such manner.

Mass. R. Civ. P. 4(d)⁠(1); G.L. c. 227, § 7; mass.gov

Acceptance of service

The self-help page for the District, Boston Municipal and Housing Courts says a defendant who accepts service signs the original summons where it says “Acceptance of Service” in the presence of a notary public. A defense of insufficient service of process is waived if left out of a Rule 12 motion the defendant makes (Rule 12(g)), or if it is neither made by motion nor included in the answer or an amendment allowed as a matter of course (Rule 12(h)(1)). Filing electronically does not change service: unless the defendant consents in writing or the court orders otherwise, the case-initiating papers are served by conventional methods, with a notice that the case was electronically commenced (Rule 4 Reporter’s Notes; Mass. R. E. F. 6(c)).

mass.gov; Mass. R. Civ. P. 12(h)⁠(1), 4 Reporter’s Notes

Sunday

“Civil process shall not be served or executed on Sunday, and such service if made shall be void,” and the person who serves it is liable in damages to the person aggrieved. The bar does not apply to publication in a newspaper published on Sunday.

G.L. c. 136, § 8

Holidays and deadlines

Section 8’s text names Sunday only. Holidays matter for counting: a period ending on a Saturday, Sunday or legal holiday runs to the next day that is none of those (Rule 6(a)). For Rule 6, legal holidays are the days in c. 4, § 7 and any other day appointed as a holiday by the President or Congress or designated by Massachusetts law. Section 7 lists January 1, June 19, July 4, November 11 and Christmas (the next day when one falls on a Sunday), plus the listed Mondays and Thanksgiving Day; “with respect to Suffolk county only” it adds Evacuation Day (March 17) and Bunker Hill Day (June 17), on which state and municipal offices in Suffolk County stay open. Chapter 4, § 9 lets a statutory act due on a Sunday or legal holiday be performed on the next business day.

Mass. R. Civ. P. 6(a); G.L. c. 4, §§ 7, 9; c. 136, § 8

Serving a subpoena

Deliver a copy, exhibit and read it to the witness, or leave a copy at the witness’s place of abode. When attendance is required, tender the fees for one day’s attendance and the mileage allowed by law; a production-only subpoena needs no tender, and none is tendered for a subpoena issued on behalf of the United States, the Commonwealth or a political subdivision, or an officer or agency of either. A hearing or trial subpoena may be served anywhere in Massachusetts.

Mass. R. Civ. P. 45(c), (e) and Reporter’s Notes; G.L. c. 233, § 3

Subpoenas in a Massachusetts case

Before a subpoena that commands only production of documents or things, or inspection of premises, before trial is served, a copy goes to each party. The serving party also gives each party a copy of any objection and notice of any production, or a copy of the production. A documents subpoena to a party gives at least 30 days to comply and cannot require a defendant to comply within 45 days after service of the summons and complaint, unless the court allows a shorter or longer time. A deposition subpoena issues only after the notice to take the deposition is served. Disobeying a subpoena without adequate excuse may be deemed contempt.

Mass. R. Civ. P. 45(d)⁠(1), (g)

Distance limits for witnesses

Rule 45(d)(2), for a Massachusetts action other than a hearing or trial and unless the court orders otherwise: a resident need not travel more than 50 airline miles from residence, work or business, whichever is nearest to the place named, and a nonresident served here attends in the county of service, within 50 airline miles of it, or where the court fixes. G.L. c. 233, § 38: a person may be compelled to give a deposition “at a place within twenty miles of his place of abode.” Section 39: a nonresident found here, “within ten miles of the place at which the summons is served upon him.”

Mass. R. Civ. P. 45(d)⁠(2); G.L. c. 233, §§ 38, 39

Out-of-state subpoenas

Massachusetts has not adopted the Uniform Interstate Depositions and Discovery Act. H.5056, a bill to adopt it, was reported favorably on 2/9/2026 and referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means. Today, G.L. c. 233, § 45 lets a witness be summoned and compelled to give a deposition in a case pending in a court of another state or country, before a Massachusetts justice of the peace or notary public or a commissioner appointed under the authority of that state or country. Service for a tribunal outside Massachusetts needs no court order (c. 223A, § 9(b)), and a court may order testimony or documents on application (§ 11), except, unless federal law requires it, in a proceeding concerning legally-protected health care activity. A business that operates in Massachusetts and provides electronic communication or remote computing services to Massachusetts residents or Massachusetts businesses may not comply with a subpoena or other legal process for records it knows relate to a Massachusetts resident, health care provider or business in connection with legally-protected health care activity, except as valid federal law requires, unless the process carries an attestation under penalty of perjury that it does not seek them for an investigation into, or the enforcement of, another state’s law imposing liability for that care; a false attestation carries a statutory penalty for each violation and subjects the attester to the Massachusetts courts (c. 93, § 115(b)-(c), added by Acts 2025, c. 16).

G.L. c. 233, § 45; c. 223A, §§ 9, 11; H.5056; c. 93, § 115

Rules verified October 2026 against the Massachusetts Rules of Civil Procedure and Trial Court self-help pages on mass.gov, the U.S. Department of State’s service of process page, the General Laws, session laws and the H.5056 bill history on malegislature.gov, and the Superior Court summons form. General information, not legal advice. The rules and statutes control.