Alaska Process Server Requirements: Licensing, Laws & Service Rules

The licensing age is twenty-one. That is a different threshold from the eighteen-year minimum that Civil Rule 45(c) applies to service of a civil subpoena by a nonparty, so the two figures are not interchangeable.

The regulation requires at least thirty days of Alaska residency immediately preceding the application date. A server licensed elsewhere is not automatically qualified here.

13 AAC 67.020(b) provides that a person may not be licensed if, within the ten years immediately preceding the application, the person was convicted of a felony, a misdemeanor crime involving abuse or assault, or a misdemeanor crime involving dishonesty or fraud as defined in AS 11.46 and AS 11.56, by a court of this state, the United States, another state or territory, or the military, unless a full pardon has been granted.

The same subsection bars licensing a person doing business under a name identical to another licensed process server’s business name, or so similar as to create confusion or mislead a reasonable person.

A valid Alaska business license is an eligibility requirement, not a formality. Applicants whose work will also require a municipal license must hold that license as well.

The Department of Public Safety publishes its civilian process-server regulations, application forms, surety bond form, study guide, and the current list of licensed process servers. Procedures, forms, and administrative fees can change, so confirm the current official materials before applying.

A qualifying firm may provide a single surety bond covering each of its process servers, provided the bond meets the applicable minimum and a certificate of the bond is filed with each employee’s license application. If a process server is removed from coverage, the firm must notify the department in writing immediately, and the notification must include specified information where the server is ineligible for coverage or was terminated for a violation that is a cause for revocation.

A process server no longer covered by a firm bond or a personal bond must return the license to the department immediately. The license is returned on proof of a new bond and satisfaction of the other eligibility requirements. If proof of a new bond is not submitted within ninety days of the termination of the previous bond, the license is revoked.

A surety bond is not the same as general liability insurance. It does not guarantee that any particular service event is legally valid, and it does not relieve a server of the obligation to comply with professional standards, court rules, or the licensing regulations.

Under Rule 4(a), the clerk issues the summons and delivers it to the plaintiff or the plaintiff’s attorney, who is responsible for causing the summons and a copy of the complaint to be served in accordance with the rule.

Rule 4(b) requires the summons to be signed by the clerk, bear the seal of the court, identify the court and the parties, be directed to the defendant, and state the address information the rule requires. It must state the time within which the defendant must appear and defend, warn that failure to do so will result in judgment by default, and notify the defendant of the continuing duty to inform the court and other parties of a current mailing address and telephone number under Civil Rule 5(i). The summons must also conform to the current court form.

Rule 4(c)(1) provides that service of all process be made by a peace officer, by a person specially appointed by the Commissioner of Public Safety for that purpose, or, where a rule so provides, by registered or certified mail.

Rule 4(c)(2) provides that a subpoena may be served as provided in Rule 45 without special appointment. Rule 4(c)(4) provides that special appointments for process other than seizure-related process be made freely when substantial savings in travel fees and costs will result.

Rule 4(c)(5) defines “peace officer” for purposes of the rules to include state police officers, members of the police force of an incorporated city, village, or borough, United States Marshals and their deputies, other officers whose duty is to enforce and preserve the public peace, and, within the authority conferred on them, persons specially appointed under Rule 4(c)(3).

Rule 4(d)(4) governs a domestic or foreign corporation or limited liability company. Service is made by delivering a copy of the summons and complaint to a managing member, an officer, a managing or general agent, or any other agent authorized by appointment or by law to receive service of process.

Rule 4(d)(5) governs a partnership: personal delivery to a general partner, a managing or general agent, another agent authorized by appointment or by law, or a person having control of the business of the partnership, or as provided by order of the court.

Rule 4(d)(6) governs an unincorporated association: personal delivery to an officer, a managing or general agent, or another person authorized by appointment or by law, or as provided by order of the court.

Rule 4(d)(7) governs service on the state: a copy of the summons and complaint is sent by registered or certified mail to the Attorney General of Alaska in Juneau, and also to the chief of the attorney general’s office in Anchorage when the matter is filed in the Third Judicial District or in Fairbanks when it is filed in the Fourth Judicial District.

Rule 4(d)(8) governs an officer or agency of the state: the state must be served as provided in Rule 4(d)(7), and a copy of the summons and complaint must also be delivered to the officer or agency.

Rule 4(d)(9) governs a borough, incorporated city, town, school district, public utility district, or other public corporation in the state: delivery to the chief executive officer, chief clerk, or secretary.

Rule 4(d)(11) addresses the situation in which a state officer or agency serves by statute as agent for a non-governmental defendant; service is then made in the manner the statute provides.

Rule 4(d)(12) governs personal service on a party outside Alaska. Service is made in the same manner as if it were made within the state, except that it must be performed by a sheriff, constable, bailiff, peace officer, or other officer having like authority in the jurisdiction where service is made, by a person specifically appointed by the court to make service, or by service as provided in Rule 4(h). In actions concerning liens on, claims to, or encumbrances on property within the state, service must also be made on the person in possession or in charge of the property. Rule 4(d)(13) addresses personal service in a foreign country.

A qualifying nonparty adult may serve a civil subpoena without the special appointment that Rule 4(c)(1) ordinarily contemplates. That does not make the same person authorized to serve every other type of judicial process, and it does not displace the civilian licensing program for governed professional activity.

The distinction is not a loophole to be stretched. It is a specific rule for a specific document.

Service of a subpoena on a person named in it is made by delivering a copy and tendering the fees for one day’s attendance and the mileage prescribed by rule. When the subpoena is issued on behalf of the state, a municipality, a borough, a city, or an officer or agency of one of those entities, fees and mileage need not be tendered.

A subpoena may also be served by registered or certified mail. In that case the clerk mails it for delivery only to the person subpoenaed, and, unless not required, encloses a warrant or postal money order for one day’s attendance fees and the prescribed mileage. The returned delivery receipt must be addressed to the party requesting the subpoena or that party’s attorney. Proof of service is made by affidavit.

An out-of-state subpoena should not automatically be treated as directly enforceable in Alaska. The applicable interstate discovery and deposition procedure under the Alaska civil rules, and any court order, should be reviewed before service is attempted.

If service is made by a person other than a peace officer, that person must make affidavit of it. The proof of service must be in writing and must set forth the manner, place, and date of service and all pleadings or other papers served with the process.

Rule 4(f) states that failure to make proof of service does not affect the validity of the service. Under Rule 4(g), the court may at any time, in its discretion and on terms it considers just, allow process or proof of service to be amended, unless it clearly appears that material prejudice would result to the substantial rights of the party against whom the process issued.

A correctable paperwork defect is therefore a different problem from a service event that never met the rule.

A professional should report an unsuccessful attempt accurately and should distinguish firsthand observations from information supplied by others. A return is evidence about an event; it cannot establish an event that did not occur.

Inquiry must be made of any person the inquirer has reason to believe possesses knowledge or information about the absent party’s residence, address, or the matter inquired about. Unless the court orders otherwise, diligent inquiry must include a reasonable effort to search the internet for the absent party’s whereabouts.

The inquiry is undertaken in person or by letter, and the inquirer must state that an action has been or is about to be commenced against the party inquired for and that the object of the inquiry is to give that party notice so the party may appear and defend. When the inquiry is made by letter, postage must be enclosed sufficient for the return of an answer.

The affidavit must fully specify the inquiry made, of whom and in what manner, and must describe efforts made to search the internet.

Under Rule 4(e)(2), the notice must be continuously posted for four consecutive weeks on the Alaska Court System’s legal notice website. Before the last week of posting, the party seeking service must send the absent party a copy of the notice and the complaint or pleading by registered or certified mail with return receipt requested and postage prepaid, and also by regular first class mail.

The notice is addressed in care of the absent party’s residence or the place where the party usually receives mail, unless it appears by affidavit that the residence or place is unknown or cannot be determined after inquiry.

Rule 4(e)(3) allows the court, in its discretion, to require service in any other manner reasonably calculated to give actual notice and an opportunity to be heard. The rule identifies possible methods: publication in a print or online newspaper or other publication at least once a week for four consecutive weeks; service to the party’s e-mail account; posting to the party’s social networking account; physically posting the notice and complaint on a public bulletin board or on the front door of the party’s residence; or any method the court determines to be reasonable and appropriate.

Rule 4(e)(4) requires the party to send the notice and complaint by mail as provided in Rule 4(e)(2) even when service is allowed by one of those additional methods, with proof of mailing made by affidavit of deposit in a post office.

Rule 4(e)(6) prescribes proof by method: certification of the court clerk for posting on the legal notice website, with a printed copy and the posting dates attached; an affidavit or attorney certificate for publication, with a printed copy marked with dates; an affidavit for e-mail service with a copy of the transmission attached; an affidavit for social networking service with a screen print attached; an affidavit of posting for physical posting; and proof as directed by the court for other court-authorized methods.

A generic statement that the defendant could not be located is not the inquiry the rule describes. The affidavit is the record of what was actually done, and a process server should not unilaterally declare that an assignment qualifies for posting, publication, or electronic service without the authority the rule requires.

Under 13 AAC 67.240(a), the department may suspend a license when it determines, following an investigation, that the process server lacks the ability, knowledge, skill, or professional judgment to perform the professional duties required by AS 22.20, the chapter, court rules, or department procedures; failed to perform those duties where the failure is not a cause for revocation; failed to notify the department of a change of name, address, or telephone number as required by 13 AAC 67.910; or failed to comply with the fee requirements of 13 AAC 67.220.

Under 13 AAC 67.240(b), revocation grounds include no longer being qualified under 13 AAC 67.020; intentional or reckless failure to perform duties where the failure placed a member of the public in jeopardy of death or injury or placed a person’s property in jeopardy of loss or injury; conviction since licensure of a felony or of a specified misdemeanor involving abuse, assault, dishonesty, or fraud; falsifying or omitting information in the license application or supporting documents; impersonating a law-enforcement officer; misapplying property; misaccounting; exam misconduct; failure to comply with service-of-process requirements; failure to maintain the required surety bond; a third suspension arising from conduct that is a cause for suspension; or failure to keep adequate records as required by 13 AAC 67.930.

13 AAC 67.930 requires a process server to maintain up-to-date records of all process identifying the type of document received, the date it was received, its disposition, the date it was returned, and all fees collected and disbursed. Those records must be made available for inspection by department personnel at any reasonable time.

A service defect does not automatically prove criminal misconduct, and a professional disciplinary finding is not a criminal conviction. A false service affidavit may raise issues beyond licensing discipline, but any additional offense must satisfy its own statutory requirements.

What a process server charges and what a party may recover as costs from an opposing party are different questions. Cost recovery is governed by Supreme Court Administrative Rule 11, and the Court System’s service booklet publishes the amounts currently recoverable for service and mileage. A client should not assume that a quoted fee is fully recoverable.

Requests submitted through The Process Server are reviewed individually. Availability and pricing are confirmed before acceptance, and a price quoted for a different location or assignment should not be assumed to apply in Alaska.