Opinion
Misc. Docket No. 05-9122
Effective July 1, 2005
Signed and Entered June 29, 2005
WALLACE B. JEFFERSON, Chief Justice, NATHAN L. HECHT, Justice, J. DALE WAINWRIGHT, Justice, SCOTT BRISTER, Justice, DAVID M. MEDINA, Justice, PAUL W. GREEN, Justice, PHIL JOHNSON, Justice.
Rules 103 and 536(a), Texas Rules of Civil Procedure, permit, among others, any person who is not a party to or interested in the outcome of a suit and who is certified under order of the Supreme Court of Texas to serve process. To improve the standards for persons authorized to serve process and to reduce the disparity among Texas civil courts for approving persons to serve process,
IT IS ORDERED:
1. To be certified to serve process under Rules 103 and 536(a), Texas Rules of Civil Procedure, a person must file with the Clerk of the Supreme Court a sworn application in the form prescribed by the Court. The application must contain a statement that the applicant has not been convicted of a felony or of a misdemeanor involving moral turpitude. Form applications may be obtained in the Clerk's office or on the Supreme Court website. The application must include a criminal history record obtained within the preceding 90 days from the Texas Department of Public Safety in Austin, Texas, and certificate from the director of a civil process service course approved as provided by this Order that the applicant has completed the approved course within the prior year.
2. Applications will reviewed and approved or rejected for good cause by the Texas Process Service Review Board, appointed by the Court. The Board will notify each applicant of its action, and for each person certified, will post on a list maintained on the Supreme Court website the person's name and an assigned identification number. The Office of Court Administration will provide clerical assistance to the Board.
3. Certification is effective for three years from the last day of the month it issues.
4. Certification may be revoked for good cause, including a conviction of a felony or of a misdemeanor involving moral turpitude. A person suffering such a conviction must immediately notify the Clerk of the Supreme court and cease to serve process.
5. A person must not represent that he or she is certified under this Order if certification has not been approved, has expired, or has been revoked.
6. The following civil process service courses are approved: a. the course now offered by the Houston Young Lawyer's Associations, for certification for every state court; b. the course now offered by the Texas Process Server's Association, for certification except for courts in Harris County; c. a course offered by an academy or other provider licensed or approved by the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement, for certification for every state court.
7. A civil process service course that meets the following requirements, similar to the courses approved in paragraph 6, may apply to the Board for approval by the Court:
a. a minimum of 7 hours of monitored instruction;
b. instruction on applicable laws, including the historical development of the law, with emphasis on practical training of proper service and return of service (for example, using sample returns depicting both correct and incorrect returns of service);
c. instruction on a process server's exposure to criminal liability;
d. instruction on unique issues involving family law cases; and
e. basic competence testing upon completion of the course.
8. No non-governmental organization that offers an approved civil process service course may make membership in the organization a prerequisite to taking the course.
9. The effective date of this Order is July 1, 2005. A person who on that date is shown to have met the requirement for an approved private process server already in place in Dallas County, Denton County, or Harris County is considered to have been certified under this Order as if the person had complied with this Order on that date. Persons meeting the Harris County requirements will be certified to serve for all Texas courts. Persons meeting the requirements set for Dallas or Denton counties will be certified to serve all courts except for courts in Harris County.