Montana Process Server Service of Process in All 56 Counties, Under Mont. R. Civ. P. 4

Who may serve

A sheriff, deputy sheriff or constable, or any other person over 18 who is not a party to the action, in the county where the person to be served is found. The summons and complaint are served together, and the plaintiff supplies the server with the copies.

Mont. R. Civ. P. 4(d)⁠(1)–⁠(2)

Process server registration

Anyone who makes more than 10 services of process within Montana in one calendar year must be registered under Title 37, chapter 60, and only a registered person may use the title of process server. Sheriffs, constables, coroners, elisors and other government employees acting in the course of employment, and attorneys with a law license, are exempt. A registered process server may serve in any county in the state. “Process” covers writs, warrants, summonses and court orders.

MCA §§ 25-⁠1-⁠1101, 37-⁠60-⁠301(2), 25-⁠3-⁠101(2)

What registration takes

The registration certificate states that the registrant has not been convicted of a felony and has lived in Montana for the year before filing. An applicant must show, among other things, that he or she is at least 18 and finished high school or the equivalent, and must submit fingerprints for a state and FBI criminal history check.

MCA §§ 25-⁠1-⁠1102, 37-⁠60-⁠303(1)–⁠(2)

The sheriff’s part

The sheriff serves process in the manner the law prescribes, certifies on the papers the manner and time of service (or the reasons service failed) and returns them without delay.

MCA § 7-⁠32-⁠2121(9)–⁠(10)

Serving an adult

Rule 4(e) names two ways to serve an adult who is not incompetent: hand the summons and complaint to the person, or deliver them to an agent authorized by appointment or by law to receive service. Mail with acknowledgment, service outside Montana and publication are separate routes, set out below. When the agent is one a statute designates, the further notice that statute requires must also be given.

Mont. R. Civ. P. 4(e)

Serving a minor

A minor over 14 is served in person and a copy is also left at the minor’s usual place of abode with an adult of suitable discretion who lives there, or the papers go to an authorized agent. A minor under 14 may be served through a guardian within Montana; without one, through the father, the mother, a person or agency with care or control of the minor or with whom the minor lives, or as a court order provides.

Mont. R. Civ. P. 4(f)–⁠(g)

Serving an incompetent person

A person adjudged of unsound mind by a Montana court, or under a guardianship ordered in Montana for incompetency, may be served through a guardian who lives in Montana and was appointed and acts under Montana law; with no such guardian, the court must name a guardian ad litem. A party alleged to be of unsound mind but not so adjudged by a Montana court may be served personally.

Mont. R. Civ. P. 4(h)⁠(1)–⁠(2)

Businesses and nonprofits

Corporations, LLCs, partnerships, other unincorporated associations and any business entity on file with the Secretary of State are served by delivery to an officer, director, manager, member of a member-managed LLC, superintendent, managing agent, general agent or partner; by leaving copies with the person in charge of the entity’s Montana office or place of business; through the registered agent named in the Secretary of State’s records; or through another agent or attorney in fact authorized to accept service. An entity whose charter or right to do business here has expired or been forfeited is served through its trustees, stockholders or members.

Mont. R. Civ. P. 4(i)⁠(1), (3); MCA § 35-⁠7-⁠113(1)

Out-of-state companies

Rule 4(i) reaches a foreign business or nonprofit that has a place of business in Montana, does business here permanently or temporarily, or did so when the claim accrued. Keeping a registered agent in Montana does not by itself create personal jurisdiction over the entity.

Mont. R. Civ. P. 4(i)⁠(2); MCA § 35-⁠7-⁠115

When no one at the company can be found

If none of the Rule 4(i) people can be found within Montana with due diligence, the plaintiff files an affidavit saying so, with the last known address or a statement that none could be found, and pays the fee set in Rule 4(j)(3). The clerk then orders process served on the Secretary of State, who mails the summons and complaint by certified mail, return receipt requested; that service is deemed personal service on the corporation or LLC. When no designated person is then located and served personally, publication must follow, first made within 60 days after the summons is mailed to the Secretary of State, or the action is deemed dismissed as to that entity.

Mont. R. Civ. P. 4(j)

Corporations under Title 35

Where a corporation has no registered agent, or the agent cannot be served with reasonable diligence, it may be served by registered or certified mail, return receipt requested, addressed to the secretary at its principal office; failing that, the Secretary of State becomes its agent for service. That statute does not set the only means of serving a corporation, and an entity whose agent cannot be served may also be served under the court rules.

MCA §§ 35-⁠14-⁠504(2)–⁠(4), 35-⁠7-⁠113(2)

Government defendants

A city, village, town, school district, county, or a public agency or board of one, is served through a commissioner, trustee, board member, mayor or the head of its legislative department. The State and any state board or agency are served through the attorney general and any other party a statute prescribes. When an officer or employee is sued individually over duties performed on the government’s behalf, the party serves the government entity and also serves the officer or employee under Rules 4(e) through 4(h) or 4(n).

Mont. R. Civ. P. 4(k)–⁠(l)

Estates and trusts

An estate is served through its personal representative; a trust through any one of its trustees.

Mont. R. Civ. P. 4(m)

Time to serve

The party requesting the summons bears the burden of having it properly issued, served and filed with the clerk. A Montana action is commenced by filing the complaint, and the plaintiff then has three years from filing to accomplish service. Absent an appearance by the defendant, the court must dismiss without prejudice, on motion or on its own initiative, if service is not made. A fictitious defendant may be replaced by a real one within three years of the original complaint. A party who serves some but not all defendants may proceed to judgment against those served.

Mont. R. Civ. P. 3, 4(c)⁠(1), 4(t), 4(s)⁠(1)

Mail with acknowledgment

The summons and complaint may be sent first class, postage prepaid, with two copies of a notice and acknowledgment that follows Form 18-A and a prepaid return envelope. Mail service is not available against a minor, an incompetent person, or a corporation, partnership or other unincorporated association. With no acknowledgment returned within 21 days, service must be made in person, and the court must order the defendant to pay the cost of personal service absent good cause. Service is complete on the date the defendant shows on the signed acknowledgment, which the sender files with the court.

Mont. R. Civ. P. 4(d)⁠(3), 4(r)⁠(2)

Acknowledgment and waiver form

Rule 4(d)(3) calls for a notice and acknowledgment conforming substantially to Form 18-A. The form asks the defendant to return the signed acknowledgment within 21 days of the date it was sent, or 42 days for the State of Montana, a state agency or a state officer or employee, and Form 18-B gives the defendant 21 days from signing (42 for the State, a state agency or a state officer or employee) to answer or move under Rule 12. Under the rule itself, a copy of the summons goes in the mailing, service must be made in person if no acknowledgment comes back within 21 days after mailing, and service is complete on the date the defendant shows on the signed and dated acknowledgment.

Mont. R. Civ. P. 4(d)⁠(3)⁠(A), (C), (E); Forms 18-⁠A, 18-⁠B

Service outside Montana

A person who cannot be served personally within Montana with due diligence may be served outside the state in the manner used within it, with the same force and effect. Where publication is allowed, personal service outside Montana replaces the publication steps.

Mont. R. Civ. P. 4(n)

Publication

Only in the cases Rule 4(o)(1) lists, such as actions over Montana property in which the defendant claims an interest, or dissolution of a Montana resident’s marriage. An affidavit must show, among the grounds Rule 4(o)(3) lists, that the defendant lives out of state, has left, cannot be found after due diligence or is hiding to avoid service (an attachment or garnishment case needs proof that a valid attachment or garnishment was made instead), and the judge or clerk orders publication once a week for three successive weeks in a newspaper published in the county where the action is pending, or, if none is published there, in a newspaper published in an adjoining county with general circulation in the county where the action is pending. The summons and complaint are mailed to the defendant’s residence no later than 14 days after the first publication, unless the residence is unknown. First publication (or personal service outside Montana) must come within 60 days after the affidavit is filed, or the action is dismissed as to that party; service is complete on the last publication.

Mont. R. Civ. P. 4(o)

Proving service

A sheriff or other officer certifies the time, date and place of service; any other server gives an affidavit. Publication is proved by the publisher’s affidavit (with an affidavit of mailing where a copy was mailed), and the defendant’s written admission of the date and place of service also counts. A proof signed by a registered process server must include the server’s registration number.

Mont. R. Civ. P. 4(r)⁠(1); MCA § 25-⁠1-⁠1107

What the affidavit states

The time, date, place and manner of service. A server who is not the sheriff or a person designated by law also states that he or she is of legal age and knew the person served to be the person named in the papers and the person intended to be served.

Mont. R. Civ. P. 4(r)⁠(4)

Unsworn declarations

Where Montana law calls for an affidavit, an unsworn written declaration subscribed as true under penalty of perjury has like force and effect; signed outside Montana it reads “I declare under penalty of perjury and under the laws of the state of Montana that the foregoing is true and correct.”

MCA § 1-⁠6-⁠105(1)

Late or flawed proof

Failing to make proof of service does not affect the validity of service, and the court may allow process or proof of service to be amended at any time unless material prejudice would result. Insufficient service of process is a Rule 12(b)(5) defense.

Mont. R. Civ. P. 4(q), 4(r)⁠(3), 12(b)⁠(5)

Answer time

The Form 1 summons gives the defendant 21 days after service to answer or move under Rule 12, or 42 days for the State of Montana, a state agency or a state officer or employee.

Mont. R. Civ. P. Form 1

Nonjudicial days

Section 3-1-302 bars opening court or transacting judicial business on the legal holidays of § 1-1-216 and on a day the President or the Governor appoints for a public fast, thanksgiving or holiday, apart from instructing a deliberating jury, receiving a verdict or discharging a jury, and a magistrate’s criminal powers; injunctions, writs of prohibition and habeas corpus may be issued and served on any day. Section 1-1-216 names each Sunday as a legal holiday, along with New Year’s Day, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Presidents’ Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Indigenous Peoples’ Day and Columbus Day, Veterans’ Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas and state general election day; a named date that falls on a Sunday is observed the Monday after, and one on a Saturday the Friday before.

MCA §§ 3-⁠1-⁠302, 1-⁠1-⁠216

Montana subpoenas

The clerk issues a subpoena signed but otherwise blank to a party who asks, and the party completes it before service; an attorney may also issue and sign a subpoena as an officer of a court in which the attorney is authorized to practice. Any non-party at least 18 may serve it by delivering a copy to the person named, tendering one day’s attendance fees and the mileage allowed by law when attendance is commanded. Parties get at least 10 days’ notice before a commanded production or inspection, and a deposition or production may be required only at a place within the state, within the distance limits Rule 45 sets. Proof, when needed, is a statement of the date and manner of service and the names of the persons served, certified by the server.

Mont. R. Civ. P. 45(a)⁠(3), (b), (c)

Witness fees

The party who caused the witness to be subpoenaed pays the witness’s fees, and a civil witness need not attend unless mileage and one day’s fees are tendered or paid on demand.

MCA §§ 26-⁠2-⁠506(1), 26-⁠2-⁠507

Subpoenas from other states

Montana adopted the Uniform Interstate Depositions and Discovery Act as Rule 28(c). A party submits the subpoena from another state to a clerk of court in the county where discovery is to be conducted, which is not an appearance in Montana courts; the clerk promptly issues a Montana subpoena incorporating its terms, with the names, addresses and telephone numbers of all counsel of record and any unrepresented party. It is served under Rule 45, and applications for a protective order or to enforce, quash or modify it go to the court for that county.

Mont. R. Civ. P. 28(c)

Rules verified October 2026 against the Montana Rules of Civil Procedure (Rules 3, 4, 6, 12, 28 and 45 and Forms 1 and 18-A) and the sections of Titles 1, 3, 7, 25, 26, 35 and 37 cited on this page, in the 2025 Montana Code Annotated published by the Montana Legislature. General information, not legal advice. The rule or statute controls.