Opinion
6:24-cv-2185-JSS-EJK
12-12-2024
LOIS M. SOMERVILLE, Plaintiff, v. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, ROGER B. HANDBERG, UNITED STATES ATTORNEY GENERAL, AETNA LIFE INSURANCE CO., CVS CAREMARK, and UNKNOWN OTHERS, Defendants.
ORDER
JULIE S. SNEED UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE
Plaintiff, proceeding pro se, moves the court to appoint a U.S. Marshal to effect service of process. (Dkt. 9.) Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 4(c)(3) provides that “the court may order service be made by a United States marshal.” However, the court is only obligated to appoint a U.S. Marshal to effect service of process if the plaintiff is proceeding in forma pauperis or as a seaman. See Fed.R.Civ.P. 4(c)(3). Because Plaintiff has paid her filing fee, the court is not obligated to order service be made by a United States Marshal.
Plaintiff states that she requires a Marshal to effect service of process “because [she] broke her arm . . . after filing suit and is not well enough to research and execute effective Service of Process.” (Dkt. 9 at 1.) However, “although Rule 4(c)(3) . . . gives the [c]ourt discretion to order the United States Marshal to serve civil process, the Advisory Committee Notes state that [such] appointment . . . is generally proper when it is necessary to keep the peace, a circumstance not present in the instant case,” Nappi v. Welcom Prods., Inc., No. 8:13-cv-3183-T-33TGW, 2014 WL 2050826, at *2 (M.D. Fla. May 19, 2014) (quotation omitted). Plaintiff's protestations that Defendants may be “difficult for a typical process server” to locate and serve are unavailing both because she does not indicate that she has yet attempted to serve process, nor does she explain why a U.S. Marshal would not suffer from the same difficulties. (Dkt. 9 at 1); see id. (“[T]he [c]ourt finds no indication that appointing a U.S. Marshal under Rule 4(c)(3) would result in any more success than [the plaintiff]'s private process servers have already experienced.”).
Accordingly, Plaintiff's Motion for Marshal Service of Process for Summons and Complaint (Dkt. 9) is DENIED.
ORDERED.