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Thread: Process Server Laws: Minnesota

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    Licensing Laws: Minnesota

    RULE 1 SCOPE OF RULES

    These rules govern the procedure in the district courts of the State of Minnesota in all suits of a civil nature, with the exceptions stated in Rule 81. They shall be construed and administered to secure the just, speedy, and inexpensive determination of every action.

    ADVISORY COMMITTEE COMMENTS—1996 AMENDMENTS

    This change conforms the rule to its federal counterpart. The amendment is intended to make clear that the goals of just, speedy, and inexpensive resolution of litigation are just as important—if not more important —in questions that do not involve interpretation of the rules. These goals should guide all aspects of judicial administration, and this amendment expressly so states.



    RULE 4 SERVICE

    * * *

    4.04 Service by Publications; Personal Service out of State

    (a) Service by Publications. Service by publication shall be sufficient to confer jurisdiction:

    (a1) When the defendant is a resident individual domiciliary having departed from the state with intent to defraud creditors, or to avoid service, or remains concealed therein with the like intent;

    (b2) When the plaintiff has acquired a lien upon property or credits within the state by attachment or garnishment, and

    (1A) The defendant is a resident individual who has departed from the state, or cannot be found therein, or

    (2B) The defendant is a nonresident individual or a foreign corporation, partnership or association;

    When quasi in rem jurisdiction has been obtained, a party defending the action thereby submits personally to the jurisdiction of the court. An appearance solely to contest the validity of quasi in rem jurisdiction is not such a submission.

    (c3) When the action is for marriage dissolution or separate maintenance and the court has ordered service by published notice;

    (d4) When the subject of the action is real or personal property within the state in or upon which the defendant has or claims a lien or interest, or the relief demanded consists wholly or partly in excluding the defendant from any such interest or lien;

    (e5) When the action is to foreclose a mortgage or to enforce a lien on real estate within the state.

    The summons may be served by three weeks' published notice in any of the cases enumerated herein when the complaint and an affidavit of the plaintiff or the plaintiff's attorney have been filed with the court. The affidavit shall state the existence of one of the enumerated cases, and that affiant believes the defendant is not a resident of the state or cannot be found therein, and either that the affiant has mailed a copy of the summons to the defendant at the defendant's place of residence or that such residence is not known to the affiant. The service of the summons shall be deemed complete 21 days after the first publication.

    (b) Personal Service Outside State. Personal service of such summons outside the state, proved by the affidavit of the person making the same sworn to before a person authorized to administer an oath, shall have the same effect as the published notice provided for herein.

    (c) Service Outside United States. Unless otherwise provided by law, service upon an individual, other than an infant or an incompetent person, may be effected in a place not within the state:

    (1) by any internationally agreed means reasonably calculated to give notice, such as those means authorized by the Hague Convention on the Service Abroad of Judicial and Extrajudicial Documents; or

    (2) if there is no internationally agreed means of service or the applicable international agreement allows other means of service, provided that service is reasonably calculated to give notice:

    (A) in the manner prescribed by the law of the foreign country for service in that country in an action in any of its courts of general jurisdiction; or

    (B) as directed by the foreign authority in response to a letter rogatory or letter of request; or

    (C) unless prohibited by the law of the foreign country, by

    (i) delivery to the individual personally of a copy of the summons and the complaint; or

    (ii) any form of mail requiring a signed receipt, to be addressed and dispatched by the court administrator to the party to be served; or

    (3) by other means not prohibited by international agreement as may be directed by the court.

    ADVISORY COMMITTEE COMMENTS—1996 AMENDMENTS

    Rule 4.04 is amended to conform the rule to its federal counterpart, in part. The new provision adopts verbatim the provisions for service of process outside the United States contained in the federal rules. This modification is appropriate because this subject is handled well by the federal rule and because it is advantageous to have the two rules similar. This is particularly valuable given the dearth of state-court authority on foreign service of process. Existing portions of the rule are renumbered for clarity.



    RULE 5 SERVICE AND FILING OF PLEADINGS AND OTHER PAPERS

    * * *

    5.02 Service; How Made

    Whenever under these rules service is required or permitted to be made upon a party represented by an attorney, the service shall be made upon the attorney unless service upon the party is ordered by the court. Written admission of service by the party or the party's attorney shall be sufficient proof of service. Service upon the attorney or upon a party shall be made by delivering a copy to the attorney or party; transmitting a copy by facsimile machine to the attorney or party’s office; or by mailing a copy to the attorney or party at either's the attorney's or party's last known address or, if no address is known, by leaving it with the court administrator. Delivery of a copy within this rule means: Handing it to the attorney or to the party; or leaving it at either's the attorney's or party's office with a clerk or other person in charge thereof; or, if there is no one in charge, leaving it in a conspicuous place therein; or, if the office is closed or the person to be served has no office, leaving it at the attorney's or party's dwelling house or usual place of abode with some person of suitable age and discretion then residing therein. Service by mail is complete upon mailing. Service by facsimile is complete upon completion of the facsimile transmission.

    * * *

    5.04 Filing Certificate of Service

    Upon the filing of any paper with the court, all papers required to be served upon a party shall be filed with the court either before service or within a reasonable time thereafter; but unless filing is ordered by the court on motion or upon its own initiative, depositions, interrogatories, requests to admit, and requests for production and answers and responses thereto shall not be filed. Unless required to be filed for issuance of a subpoena for a deposition, a notice of taking deposition need not be filed. All papers after the complaint required to be served upon a party, together with a certificate of service, shall be filed with the court within a reasonable time after service, except expert disclosures and reports, depositions upon oral examination and interrogatories, requests for documents, requests for admission, and answers and responses thereto shall not be filed unless upon order of the court or for use in the proceeding.

    5.05 Filing; Facsimile Transmission

    Any paper may be filed with the court by facsimile transmission. Filing shall be deemed complete at the time that the facsimile transmission is received by the court and the filed facsimile shall have the same force and effect as the original. Only facsimile transmission equipment that satisfies the published criteria of the Supreme Court shall be used for filing in accordance with this rule.

    Within 5 days after the court has received the transmission, the party filing the document shall forward the following to the court:

    (a) a $5 transmission fee; and

    (b) the original signed document; and

    (c) the applicable filing fee, if any.

    Upon failure to comply with the requirements of this rule, the court in which the action is pending may make such orders as are just, including but not limited to, an order striking pleadings or parts thereof, staying further proceedings until compliance is complete, or dismissing the action, proceeding, or any part thereof.

    The administrator shall not refuse to accept for filing any paper presented for that purpose solely because it is not presented in proper form as required by these rules or any local rules or practices.

    ADVISORY COMMITTEE COMMENTS—1996 AMENDMENTS

    Most of Rule 5.02 is new and for the first time provides for service by facsimile. Service by this method has become widespread, generally handled either by express agreement of counsel or acquiescence in a service method not explicitly authorized by rule.

    The committee considered a suggestion that the provision for leaving a document with the court administrator be changed, deleted, or clarified. Although it is not clear from the rule what the administrator should do in the rare event that a document is filed with the administrator rather than delivered or mailed to the attorney, the committee believes the rule should be retained as it provides notice to the court that although service may comply with the rule, effective notice has not been received by the party entitled to notice. This will facilitate the court’s consideration of the sufficiency of service under all of the circumstances.

    The amendment to Rule 5.02 provides an express mechanism for service by facsimile. Service by facsimile has become widely accepted and is used in Minnesota either by agreement or presumption that it is acceptable under the rules or at least has not been objected to by the parties. The committee believes an express authorization for service by facsimile is appropriate and preferable to the existing silence on the subject. The committee’s recommendation is modeled on similar provisions in the Wisconsin and Florida rules. See Wis. Stat. §§ 801.14(2) & .15(5)(b); Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.080(b)(5). Service by facsimile is allowed in other jurisdictions as well. See, e.g., Ill. S. Ct. R. 11(b)(4); S. Dak. R. 15-6-5(b); Cal. R. Civ. P. 2008.

    In addition providing for service by facsimile, Rule 6.05 is amended to create a specific deadline for timely service. This rule adds an additional day for response to any paper served by any means other than mail (where 3 extra days are allowed under existing Rule 6.05, which is retained) and where service is not effected until after 5:00 p.m., local time. This rule is intended to discourage, or at least make unrewarding, the inappropriate practice of serving papers after the close of a normal business day. Service after 5:00 p.m. is still timely as of the day of service if the deadline for service is that day, but if a response is permitted, the party served has an additional day to respond. This structure parallels directly the mechanism for dealing with service by mail under the existing rule.

    Rule 5.05 is amended to add a provision relating to filing that was adopted as part of Fed. R. Civ. P. 5(e) in 1991. It is important that Rule 5 specifically provide that the court administrator must accept for filing documents tendered for that purpose regardless of any technical deficiencies they may contain. The court may, of course, direct that those deficiencies be remedied or give substantive importance to the deficiencies of the documents. The sanction of closing the courthouse to the filing should not be imposed or if imposed, should be imposed by a judge only after reviewing the document and the circumstances surrounding its filing. The rejection of documents for filing may have dire consequences for litigants and is not authorized by statute or rule.



    RULE 6 TIME

    6.01 Computation

    In computing any period of time prescribed or allowed by these rules, by the local rules of any district court, by order of court, or by any applicable statute, the day of the act, event, or default from which the designated period of time begins to run shall not be included. The last day of the period so computed shall be included, unless it is a Saturday, a Sunday, or a legal holiday, or, when the act to be done is the filing of a paper in court, a day on which weather or other conditions have made the office of the court administrator inaccessible, in which event the period runs until the end of the next day which is not a Saturday, a Sunday, or a legal holiday one of the aforementioned days. When the period of time prescribed or allowed is less than 7 days, intermediate Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays shall be excluded in the computation. As used in this rule and in Rule 77(c), "legal holiday" includes any holiday defined or designated by statute.

    * * *

    6.04 For Motions; Affidavits

    A written motion, other than one which may be heard ex parte, and notice of the hearing thereof shall be served no later than 5 days before the time specified for the hearing, unless a different period is fixed by these rules or by order of the court. Such an order may for cause shown be made on ex parte application. A motion may be supported by papers on file by reference; supporting papers not on file When a motion is supported by affidavit, the affidavit shall be served with the motion; and, except as otherwise provided in Rule 59.04, opposing affidavits may be served not later than one day before the hearing, unless the court permits them to be served at some other time.

    6.05 Additional Time After Service by Mail or Service Late in Day

    Whenever a party has the right or is required to do some act or take some proceedings within a prescribed period after the service of a notice or other paper upon the party, or whenever such service is required to be made a prescribed period before a specified event, and the notice or paper is served upon the party by mail, three days shall be added to the prescribed period. If service is made by any means other than mail and accomplished after 5:00 p.m. local time on the day of service, one additional day shall be added to the prescribed period.

    ADVISORY COMMITTEE COMMENTS—1996 AMENDMENTS

    The amendment to Rule 6.01 conforms the rule to its federal counterpart. The committee believes it is desirable to define explicitly what constitutes a "legal holiday." Given the nature of Minnesota’s weather, the committee believes specific provision for dealing with inclement weather should be made in the rules. The federal rule enumerates specific holidays. That drafting approach is not feasible in Minnesota because Minn. Stat. § 645.44, subd. 5, defines legal holidays, but allows the judiciary to pick either Columbus Day or the Friday after Thanksgiving as a holiday. Whichever is selected is defined to be a holiday under the rule.

    The amendment to Rule 6.05 conforms the rule to the federal rule except for the last sentence which is new and has no federal counterpart. This provision is intended to discourage the unseemly practices of sliding a "service" under the door of opposing counsel or sending a facsimile transmission after the close of business and asserting timely service. Such service will be timely under the rules, but will add a day to the time to respond. If the paper is due to be served a fixed number of days before an event, that number should be increased by one as well, making it necessary to serve late in the day before the deadline.
    What you don't know can, and usually does hurt you!
    ~ Darin Biddle ~



  2. #2
    Darin Biddle's Avatar
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    Originally posted by Mike Brostrom
    Well, I did a search on this site for MN laws on Process Serving, but I cannot find if I need an actual PI license to do process serving in MN. Can anyone help me out here? I don't know if the same rules apply like IPIU where as long as I don't give out business cards etc, then I don't need a license? Please advise Thanks

    Mike
    I posted the state laws above.

    Originally posted by Mike Brostrom
    I keep running into brick walls here. I called the Court Administrator for my county and she has never even heard of a process server. I then called the Clerk of Courts and got the same results, so I tried the Civil desk...they said they didn't know of any paperwork I needed to complete before I could become a process server...any ideas anyone?

    I also called about 9 different law offices in my area, and they either said they had some people, or they just have the Sheriff do it...strike 2 I guess! argh, I hope IPIU hooks me up with someone who needs me, this sounds interesting.
    Thanks
    Mike
    If at first you don't succeed..... Trust me, persistance does pay off in these circumstances. Keep trying them until they give in. You may want to post you services in the court house and even get competitive in pricing with the servers that are already working with the attorneys.
    What you don't know can, and usually does hurt you!
    ~ Darin Biddle ~



  3. #3
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    MN Licensing for Process Service

    Your question regarding Licensing for Process Service in MN would be best posed for advise to Marie Ohman (Executive Director) at the Private Detectives and Protective Agents Services Board at the State. They are a branch of the MN Department Of Public Safety which is the governmental department that regulates and licenses Police Officers and the like. You can find thier website by doing a search for MN Department Of Public Safety.

    They have a direct email link to Marie Ohman and she encourages questions from throughout the industry. Good luck.
    STEVEN KEARNEY
    Investigator
    Security Director
    Wisconsin - USA

    No Detail Is Minor

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    Hi Steven,

    Glad you have joined our family, here at IPIU.

    I would like to invite you to post your introduction in the Introduction Lounge . This way other members can greet you properly and give you some very valuable information.

    Hope to see you there.

    Deborah Siehl

  5. #5
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    After reading the above rules and amendments on process serving it is very interesting the language used in allowing facsimile service Rule 5.02. My interpretation is since there has been no objections to facsimile service it is now is an accepted form of service. It seems it will be only a matter of time if not already, email service will be allowed if there are no objections by either party.

  6. #6
    Keith Burch is offline *** Certified

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    Can I serve process in MN if the papers are from WI courts where I am a P.I. ? In other words can I serve WI papers to someone who has moved to MN ?

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