Serving a Defendant

If a defendant is to be served at a place of employment:

• If you direct us to serve a defendant at a place of employment, it is your responsibility to perform the research necessary to provide us with the defendant's department, current job site and current working hours.
• Trying to locate a particular employee of a major corporation with numerous divisions scattered throughout several sites in the metropolitan area creates needless delays and reduces the chances of successful service.

Specifying residence service as an option:

• State Statute 25-505.01 provides that an attorney can specify the manner of service on his or her praecipe.
• By specifying personal service only on a praecipe when the law also allows residence service reduces the options for effecting service.
• Unless you have a particular requirement for personal service for a writ that can also be legally served by residence service, please be sure to specify on your praecipe that you wish "personal or residence service".

Difficult service or avoiding service defendant procedures:

Supplemental defendant information

If you know that a defendant is going to be difficult to serve or has a history of avoiding service, please provide us with as much information as possible. Additional information increases the likelihood of successful service. Helpful information includes:

• Complete defendant personal information including middle initial, date of birth, social security number, last known address, place of employment, etc.
• Physical description including age, height, weight, hair color, glasses, moustache, scars, marks, tattoos, etc.
• Vehicle descriptions, photograph of the defendant, etc.

Alternate (substitute or constructive) service

If you have trouble locating an avoiding or difficult defendant, you have the option of filing a motion for substitute or constructive service under state statute 25-517.02. We adhere to strict service procedures and rigorous documentation that can assist you when filing a motion for alternate service.

Do not ask us to leave a summons or other writ at an avoiding defendant's residence in the hope that he or she will appear. The Douglas County Sheriff's Office will only serve process according to the law. If we can not serve a writ, a return of not found must be made, and State statute 25-507.01 requires us to return not found summonses to the issuing court.

Violent, mentally unstable defendants or those with communicable or infectious diseases

Our process servers work in an increasingly dangerous environment and they are not law enforcement officers and are not armed. Their physical safety is paramount. Please indicate on your praecipe if a defendant has:

• a history of violence
• a history of mental instability
• a history of alcohol or drug abuse
• a history of weapons offenses
• a communicable or infectious disease