Who may serve a summons or a subpoena?
Two rules are set out below: one on serving process without a license, and one on subpoenas.
Serving process without an Oklahoma license, or claiming to be licensed when not, is a misdemeanor. The exception is narrow: an out-of-state server serving out-of-state papers. 12 O.S. § 158.1(I)
Any person 18 or older may serve a subpoena. When attendance is demanded, the attendance fee and mileage are tendered with it. 12 O.S. § 2004.1(B)(1)
Some questions are left open here on purpose: everyone who may serve a summons, whether you may serve papers in your own case, and what a serve by someone unlicensed means for the case. The rule that says who may serve a summons is 12 O.S. § 2004(C)(1)(a). How these rules apply to your papers is a question for an attorney.
Who issues an Oklahoma process server license?
A judge does.
Licenses are issued by the presiding judge of the judicial administrative district, or a designated judge. 12 O.S. § 158.1(A)
Applying for a license is a different question from hiring a licensed server, and this guide does not cover it. If you want to become a process server, start with the statute itself, 12 O.S. § 158.1.
Our own license is of this kind, and the page on process serving says how we use it.
Can a licensed server serve papers anywhere in Oklahoma?
Yes. The authority that comes with the license is statewide.
The license states the holder is "an officer of the court only for the purpose of service of process"; authority is statewide; the license is carried on duty. 12 O.S. § 158.1(C)
That is why a server based in one city can take papers for another part of the state. We serve from Oklahoma City, and distance changes the fee, not the authority.
The license is an Oklahoma one. Papers to be served in another state, or papers from another state's court, are outside this guide: ask an attorney.
How do you check a process server's license?
Ask to see it. The license is carried on duty (12 O.S. § 158.1(C)), so a server at work has it at hand. Two records of licensed servers are also kept.
Court clerks keep the list of licensed servers; the Administrative Office of the Courts keeps a statewide registry. 12 O.S. § 158.1(J), (K)
Ask the server which county the license was issued in, then ask the court clerk there about the list.
To see ours, ask us. The About page says how the licenses can be seen.
How are papers served, and how is service proved?
By delivery in one of the ways the statute allows. A licensed server then swears to what was done.
Oklahoma's rule allows delivery to the person, or leaving copies at the person's home with someone 15 or older who lives there. A business is served through a person the statute names, such as an agent authorized to receive service. 12 O.S. § 2004(C)
A licensed process server's return of service is made by affidavit, stating the county of issuance, the person served, and the date, place and method of service. 12 O.S. § 2004(G)(2)
Which method is open for a given paper is for the statute to say, and a question for an attorney before the first attempt. A careful server also keeps a log as the work goes: each attempt, successful or not, with the day, the hour and the place.
An affidavit is the server's sworn account of the delivery. Whether that delivery was good service is for the court to decide. If you were the one served and doubt how it was done, that is a question for an attorney, and the papers are what to bring.
What happens when the person cannot be found?
The job turns from delivering to finding, and the calendar starts to matter.
Someone who is never home, or who will not come to the door, gets more attempts at other times and in other places. If the address itself is wrong, the next step is a locate, also called a skip trace: records research to find where the person lives now, checked in the field. We are licensed for both, so the papers and the search stay with one practice.
Service must be made within 180 days after the case is filed, unless good cause is shown. 12 O.S. § 2004(I)
Service by publication requires a statement that service cannot be made with due diligence by any other method. 12 O.S. § 2004(C)(3)
The log of every attempt is there for counsel when that statement is needed.
What to do as the deadline comes closer is the attorney's decision, not the server's. Law offices can read how we work with them on the page for attorneys, and how a serve fits a larger file under civil litigation support.
Who sets a process server's fee?
The server and the client, between them.
Fees are agreed between server and client, not handled by the court clerk. 12 O.S. § 158.2
Because the fee is a matter of agreement, quotes differ. Before you accept one, ask what it covers:
- how many attempts are included;
- mileage, and any charge for a rush or a set time;
- the affidavit of service;
- what happens, and what it costs, if the address turns out to be wrong.
We put no fee on this site. For a quote, call and say what the papers are and when they are due, text with a good time to reach you, or book a consultation if the serve is one part of a larger matter. The terms are settled before the first attempt.
When should you call the police first?
If someone is in danger right now, call 911. Fuller Investigations is not an emergency service.
Court papers can make a tense situation worse, and a process server is not there to protect anyone. If you have been threatened by the person the papers are for, or you are afraid of what follows once they are delivered, call the police before you arrange the serve. Then tell the server, before any attempt.
Protective orders are not covered here. Ask the court clerk or an attorney how one is served.