Mississippi Process Server Service of Process in All 82 Counties, Under Miss. R. Civ. P. 4

Who may serve

Any person who is not a party and is not less than 18 years of age. The sheriff of the county where the defendant resides or is found serves instead when a party or its attorney asks in writing, and returns the summons to the clerk within thirty days of receiving it. A constable must execute and return process lawfully directed to him and may serve process issued by any county, chancery or circuit court. When a process server serves, costs up to the amount the statute allows the sheriff may be taxed as recoverable costs.

Miss. R. Civ. P. 4(c)⁠(1)–⁠(2); Miss. Code § 19-⁠19-⁠5

Time to serve

The action is commenced by filing the complaint, and the clerk issues the summons at once. Whoever receives the summons is responsible for prompt service. Service must be made within 120 days after filing; without good cause shown for the delay, the action is dismissed as to that defendant without prejudice, on the court’s own initiative with notice or on motion. If a limitation period is close, ask counsel.

Miss. R. Civ. P. 3(a), 4(a), 4(h)

More time

Rule 6(b) lets the court enlarge a period for cause shown if asked before it runs out, or after it runs out on motion where the failure was excusable neglect. The Rule 4 advisory notes call it clearly advisable to move within the 120 days; a motion filed later must show good cause for not serving in time.

Miss. R. Civ. P. 6(b); Rule 4 advisory committee notes

Individuals

The summons and complaint are served together, by delivery to the person or to an agent authorized by appointment or by law. If that cannot be done with reasonable diligence, a copy may be left at the usual place of abode with the spouse or another family member above the age of sixteen who is willing to receive service, followed by a first-class mailing to that address; service is complete on the 10th day after the mailing. The advisory notes add that personal and residence service may be made in the county where the defendant resides or can be found.

Miss. R. Civ. P. 4(d)⁠(1)

Minors and incompetent persons

An unmarried minor: delivery to the mother, father, legal guardian, or the person who has care of the minor or with whom the minor lives, and also to the minor once 12 or older. A mentally incompetent person not judicially confined, or a person unable to manage their estate because of advanced age, physical incapacity or mental weakness: delivery to that person and to the guardian or conservator, or with neither, to that person and to someone who lives with or cares for them. A person judicially confined in an institution: delivery to that person and to the guardian, if any; none is required if the superintendent certifies on or with the summons that the person cannot respond to process, and the court appoints a guardian ad litem when there is neither guardian nor conservator. A plaintiff, or anyone whose interest is adverse to the defendant, does not count for this service. When no one else qualifies, the court appoints a guardian ad litem for a minor under 12 and may appoint one for the others.

Miss. R. Civ. P. 4(d)⁠(2)

Prisoners and public bodies

A person confined in a penal institution of the state or a subdivision: delivery to that person, with the minor and incompetent rules still applying. The State or any of its departments, officers or institutions: the Attorney General. A county: the president or clerk of the board of supervisors. A city: the mayor or municipal clerk. Any other governmental entity: the person, officer, group or body that administers it, or its appropriate legal officer, if any.

Miss. R. Civ. P. 4(d)⁠(3)–⁠(8)

Corporations, LLCs and partnerships

A domestic or foreign corporation, or a partnership or other unincorporated association subject to suit under a common name: delivery to an officer, a managing or general agent, or another agent authorized by appointment or by law. A registered agent is authorized to receive service of process for its entity, and the Registered Agents Act’s definition of a person includes a limited liability company; the 2012 Act repealed the separate LLC service section, § 79-29-125.

Miss. R. Civ. P. 4(d)⁠(4); Miss. Code §§ 79-⁠35-⁠2, 79-⁠35-⁠13

No agent on file or reachable

If an entity that filed a registered agent no longer has one, or the agent cannot be served with reasonable diligence, its governors (the people under whose authority its powers are exercised and its affairs managed) are treated as its agent and served under the Rules of Civil Procedure. Their names and the principal office address may be taken from the latest annual report filed with the Secretary of State. If the governors cannot be served with reasonable diligence either, service is made on the Secretary of State under the Rules. Section 79-35-13(e) keeps any other means the law provides, including the entity statutes’ Secretary of State service after a registration is canceled, withdrawn or revoked or the entity is dissolved.

Miss. Code §§ 79-⁠35-⁠2, 79-⁠35-⁠13(b), (e)

Nonresidents

A nonresident, or a foreign corporation not qualified to do business in Mississippi, that contracts with a Mississippi resident for performance in whole or in part in the state, commits a tort in whole or in part in the state, or does business or work here is deemed to be doing business in Mississippi and subject to its courts; service follows the Rules of Civil Procedure. It also reaches a person who was a Mississippi resident when the claim arose but is a nonresident when the action is commenced. A foreign entity is any entity other than a domestic one, and a nonqualified foreign entity is one not authorized to transact business here by a filing with the Secretary of State.

Miss. Code §§ 13-⁠3-⁠57, 79-⁠35-⁠2

First-class mail

Available for an individual other than an unmarried minor or a mentally incompetent person, and for a corporation, partnership or association: the summons and complaint, two copies of a Form 1-B notice and acknowledgment, and a postage-paid return envelope addressed to the sender. The acknowledgment is executed under oath or affirmation, and the sender files it as the return. If none comes back within 20 days after mailing, another method may be used, and unless good cause is shown the court orders the person served to pay the costs of personal service. Form 1-B gives 30 days from the date of the signature to respond.

Miss. R. Civ. P. 4(c)⁠(3), 4(f); Form 1B

Outside Mississippi

In addition to the other methods, a person outside the state may be served by certified mail, return receipt requested; for a natural person the envelope is marked restricted delivery. Service is complete on the delivery date shown by the return receipt, or by an envelope returned marked Refused, and the sender files that as the return. The advisory notes limit this method to persons outside the state, say a mailing returned unclaimed or undeliverable is not effective, and treat delivery to an officer or employee of a foreign corporation, partnership or association who is authorized to receive, or regularly receives, certified mail as effective.

Miss. R. Civ. P. 4(c)⁠(5), 4(f) and advisory notes

Justice court

Rule 4 governs the circuit, chancery and county courts. A civil summons from a justice court is served under § 13-3-5(2) instead: personally if the defendant is found in the county; if not, at the usual place of abode with the defendant’s spouse (the statute says wife) or another family member above sixteen who is willing to receive it; and if neither can be done, by posting a true copy on a door of the usual place of abode, with the clerk mailing a copy on return of service when the home is in a multifamily dwelling.

Miss. R. Civ. P. 1; Miss. Code § 13-⁠3-⁠5

Publication

In a chancery court, or another court where a statute authorizes it, when a sworn complaint or petition or a filed affidavit shows the defendant is a nonresident or cannot be found after diligent inquiry, and states the defendant’s post office address or that it is unknown after diligent inquiry. The clerk prepares and publishes a Form 1-C summons once a week for three successive weeks in a county newspaper (with none, it is posted at the courthouse door and published in an adjoining county or at the seat of government) and mails the summons and complaint first class to any stated post office address. Proof of publication is filed, and the defendant has thirty days from first publication to appear. The advisory notes require strict compliance, or service is ineffective.

Miss. R. Civ. P. 4(c)⁠(4)

Proof of service

The person who serves makes proof to the court promptly, and anyone other than a sheriff does so by affidavit. A process server’s summons follows Form 1A, whose proof page on the reverse is used once per person served: the server checks the mode of service and fills in its details, states being at least 18 and not a party, prints a name, address and telephone number, and swears to it before a notary public. A sheriff’s summons follows Form 1AA. Failure to make proof does not affect the validity of the service, and the court may allow a proof to be amended unless material prejudice to the party served clearly appears.

Miss. R. Civ. P. 4(b), 4(f)–⁠(g); Forms 1A, 1AA

Waiver

A defendant who is not an unmarried minor or mentally incompetent may waive service or enter an appearance, with the same effect as service. The waiver must be written, dated, signed and sworn to or acknowledged, or the signature proven by two subscribing witnesses before an officer authorized to administer oaths, and it must be executed after the day the action was commenced and filed in the cause and noted on the general docket.

Miss. R. Civ. P. 4(e)

Answer and set-date actions

A defendant answers within thirty days after service. Under Rule 4(i), as amended effective July 1, 2026, matters such as adoption, correction of a birth certificate, change of name, termination of parental rights, paternity and legitimation are triable 30 days after service, and matters such as temporary relief in divorce, custody or support, modification or enforcement of custody, support and alimony judgments, and contempt 7 days after service (30 days after first publication for either). They use a Form 1D or 1DD summons returnable to a set date, time and place, and no answer is required unless the court orders one. Rule 4(i)’s special rules control to the extent they conflict with any other provision of the Rules; if one of these matters is near 120 days from filing, ask counsel.

Miss. R. Civ. P. 4(i), 12(a)

Subpoenas

A sheriff, a deputy, or any non-party not less than 18 serves a subpoena on the witness personally, or the witness acknowledges service in writing on it. A non-party witness is tendered one day’s attendance fee plus mileage allowed by law at service, unless the court excuses it for indigence or the subpoena issues for the State; under § 25-7-47 that is the juror day pay the board of supervisors sets, plus mileage traveled in Mississippi only. Proof is a statement certified by the server and filed with the issuing clerk, giving the date and manner, the county, the persons served and the server’s name, address and telephone number.

Miss. R. Civ. P. 45(c); Miss. Code § 25-⁠7-⁠47

Rules current as of October 2026, from the official texts listed below. Mississippi Rules of Civil Procedure 1, 3, 4, 6, 12 and 45 with advisory committee notes (Rule 4 as amended by the Supreme Court’s order of June 8, 2026, effective July 1, 2026) and Forms 1A, 1AA, 1B and 1C (as amended December 21, 2022); Mississippi Code § 3-3-7 (as amended by Laws 2026, chs. 303-306), §§ 11-59-1 et seq. (Laws 2011, ch. 347), § 13-3-5, § 13-3-57, § 19-19-5, § 25-7-47 (Laws 2014, ch. 374) and §§ 79-35-2 and 79-35-13 (Laws 2012, ch. 382), as published by the Mississippi Legislature. General information, not legal advice. The official text controls.