A Rhode Island summons travels with its complaint and the Language Assistance Notice, all served together (Rule 4(e)), and civil process served on a Sunday is utterly void under G.L. 9-5-24. Served 123 LLC arranges service from Woonsocket to Westerly: a Superior Court summons or a subpoena goes to a local process server, any non-party adult under Rule 4(c) and Rule 45(b), while a District Court or Family Court summons goes to a Rhode Island state constable, with up to three attempts per address and never one on a Sunday.
Upload the summons, the complaint, the Language Assistance Notice and any other required document, the Rhode Island address, and which court issued the summons. Rule 4(b) sends the original summons to the server too, for the return.
A written quote for that county shows the cost and, on process server orders, the turnaround before anything is dispatched.
The proof comes back made on the original summons or an attached paper, as Rule 4(j) directs: the constable’s return, or the affidavit of a server who is not an officer.
Request a free written quote. Each address starts in Rhode Island. Serving someone in another state? Change the first address’s State and we take you to that state’s page with your entries kept.
Rhode Island return: the server makes proof of service on the original summons or a paper attached to it and returns it to the plaintiff’s attorney or the self-represented litigant; a server who is not a Title 9, Chapter 5 officer makes an affidavit (Super. R. Civ. P. 4(j)).
Superior Court Rule 4(l) gives 120 days after commencement, and Rule 3 commences the action when the complaint, the other required documents and the fees are filed. Rule 6(a) skips the filing day and carries a last day that lands on a Saturday, Sunday or legal holiday to the next day that is none of those.
Three court rule sets apply: the Superior Court Rules of Civil Procedure, the District Court Civil Rules and the Family Court Rules of Domestic Relations Procedure. Title 9, Chapter 5 of the General Laws adds the officers, the Sunday bar and the workplace rule, and Title 7 covers registered agents.
No civil process whatsoever shall be served on Sunday, but every such service shall be utterly void.
Rules verified October 2026 against the Rhode Island Superior Court Rules of Civil Procedure (Rules 3, 4, 5, 6, 12 and 45), the District Court Civil Rules (Rules 4 and 45) and the Family Court Rules of Domestic Relations Procedure (Rules 4 and 45), as compiled by the Rhode Island Judiciary, and G.L. 7-1.2, 7-13.1, 7-16, 9-5, 9-18.1, 9-29, 17-1, 25-1 and 45-15 as published by the Rhode Island General Assembly. General information, not legal advice. The rule or statute controls.
Superior Court Rule 4 and the Title 7 agent statutes set the routes, and a single Served 123 order handles all of them: hand delivery or the abode, the workplace, companies and their agents, the Secretary of State, defendants beyond Rhode Island or overseas, publication and any method the court orders. Each set carries the summons, the complaint, the Language Assistance Notice and every other required document. Only the division of sheriffs and a waiver the defendant signs stay outside it.
Every route above, one order.
Get a Free Quote Online →Unless service was waived, the person who served writes the proof on the original process, or on a paper attached to it for that purpose, and sends it straight back to the plaintiff’s attorney or the self-represented litigant. That is why the original summons travels to the server with the copies (Rule 4(b)).
Someone who is not a Title 9, Chapter 5 officer makes an affidavit. A sheriff, a certified constable or, in the cases G.L. 9-5-6 and 9-5-10 name, a town sergeant serves as an officer under that chapter, outside the affidavit requirement. The District Court rule reads the same (Dist. Ct. R. Civ. P. 4(h)).
A missing proof does not undo valid service, and Rule 4(k) lets the court allow an amendment unless material prejudice would result.
For attorneys, collection teams, insurers and self-represented parties with someone to serve in Providence, Warwick, Cranston, Pawtucket, Newport or anywhere else in the state.
Upload the summons, the complaint, the Language Assistance Notice and any other required document, the Rhode Island address, and which court issued the summons. Rule 4(b) sends the original summons to the server too, for the return.
A written quote for that county shows the cost and, on process server orders, the turnaround before anything is dispatched.
A District Court or Family Court summons goes to a Rhode Island state constable; a Superior Court summons, an out-of-state case or a subpoena goes to a local process server. Up to three attempts per address, none on a Sunday, each logged with its date, time and observations.
The proof comes back made on the original summons or an attached paper, as Rule 4(j) directs: the constable’s return, or the affidavit of a server who is not an officer.
Rhode Island sets no window for a first attempt: Superior Court Rule 4(l) allows 120 days from commencement (District Court Rule 4(j): 365 days; Family Court Rule 4 sets no time limit for service). Our turnaround sets when the first attempt is made; a first attempt is not service. No attempt is made on a Sunday, because G.L. 9-5-24 voids Sunday service; a turnaround that ends on a Sunday moves to Monday.
What You Get Back
Bristol, Kent, Newport, Providence and Washington: pick a county on the map or in the list to start a quote.
Every answer points to the Rhode Island rule or General Laws section it rests on. General information, not legal advice.
Yes, if the person is not a party and is at least 18. Superior Court Rule 4(c) also lets a duly authorized Title 9, Chapter 5 officer serve: the division of sheriffs or a certified constable, whose process runs throughout the state, and in the cases G.L. 9-5-6 and 9-5-10 name, a town sergeant. A non-officer server makes an affidavit of service under Rule 4(j).
Copy LinkThose courts’ Rule 4(c) names a duly authorized Title 9, Chapter 5 officer, any other person authorized by law, or a person the court specially appoints, and appointments are made freely when substantial savings in travel fees will result. We arrange service of a District Court or Family Court summons through a Rhode Island state constable, so no court appointment step is needed. Subpoenas in those courts follow Rule 45, which allows any non-party adult.
Copy Link120 days after the action is commenced, and Rule 3 commences it on the filing of the complaint, all other required documents and the fees. If service is not made in time, the court, on motion or on its own initiative after notice, dismisses without prejudice as to that defendant or directs service within a set time; on good cause it must extend. Service in a foreign country under Rule 4(g) is excepted. District Court Rule 4(j) allows 365 days; Family Court Rule 4 sets no time limit for service.
Copy LinkNo. G.L. 9-5-24 provides that no civil process whatsoever shall be served on Sunday and that every such service is utterly void. Sunday is also a legal holiday under G.L. 25-1-1.
Copy LinkSome person of suitable age and discretion then residing at the defendant’s dwelling house or usual place of abode. The summons, complaint, Language Assistance Notice and all other required documents are left together. In a Family Court divorce or divorce from bed and board, delivery is personal instead, and after a return that diligent effort failed, service may then be made by another method the court orders.
Copy LinkNo. Under G.L. 9-5-35 no employer may refuse or obstruct service of court process on an employee at the place of employment, and the service is no ground for dismissal. The employer may designate an area where service is made.
Copy LinkUnder G.L. 7-1.2-503 the Secretary of State becomes a domestic corporation’s agent when no registered agent is kept or the agent cannot with reasonable diligence be found at the registered office. Duplicate copies are left with the Secretary of State or the corporation department clerk, one is forwarded by certified mail to the registered office, and the service is returnable in not less than 30 days. A limited partnership follows a matching route under G.L. 7-13.1-121. For a domestic LLC, G.L. 7-16-11(e) makes the Secretary of State the agent; for a foreign corporation or foreign LLC, duplicate copies are left with the Secretary of State, one goes by registered mail to its principal office, the service is returnable in not less than 30 days, and the plaintiff gives notice as the court orders (G.L. 7-1.2-1410, 7-16-50.1). Rule 4(e)(3) also allows an officer, director, manager, managing or general agent, an employee at an office of the corporation, or an agent authorized by appointment or by law.
Copy LinkAn affidavit, made on the original process or a paper attached to it and returned at once to the plaintiff’s attorney or the self-represented litigant, who files it within the time the person served has to respond. Failure to make proof does not affect the validity of the service.
Copy LinkYes. Under Rhode Island’s Uniform Interstate Depositions and Discovery Act, the party submits the foreign subpoena either to the Superior Court clerk in the county where discovery is sought or to a lawyer in good standing of the Rhode Island bar, without that counting as an appearance. The Rhode Island subpoena incorporates the foreign subpoena’s terms and lists the names, addresses, telephone numbers and email addresses of all counsel of record and unrepresented parties. It is served under the Superior Court Rules of Civil Procedure; protective orders and motions to quash go to the Superior Court in the discovery county.
Copy LinkThe plaintiff may send a written request through the EFS, first-class mail or other reliable means, allowing at least 30 days to return the waiver (60 if the defendant is addressed outside the United States). A defendant in the United States who fails to comply, on a request from a plaintiff in the United States, bears the costs of service later incurred unless good cause is shown. A timely waiver gives 60 days to answer from the date the request was sent (90 if the defendant was addressed outside the United States), no proof of service is needed once the waiver is filed, and venue and jurisdiction objections are kept.
Copy LinkUpload the summons, complaint and Language Assistance Notice with the address. A written quote comes before any work begins.
