Florida Senate - 2025 SB 826 By Senator Fine 19-00771-25 2025826__ 1 A bill to be entitled 2 An act relating to service of process; amending s. 3 48.021, F.S.; requiring that all process be served by 4 the sheriff of the county where the person to be 5 served is found; deleting provisions relating to other 6 persons authorized to serve process; amending s. 7 48.031, F.S.; authorizing sheriffs to serve spouses 8 with certain substituted service at any place in the 9 county; deleting provisions authorizing other persons 10 to serve process; repealing s. 48.27, F.S., relating 11 to certified process servers authorized by sheriffs; 12 repealing s. 48.29, F.S., relating to certification of 13 process servers authorized by judges; repealing s. 14 48.31, F.S., relating to removal of such certified 15 process servers and false return of service; amending 16 ss. 113.07 and 316.29545, F.S.; conforming provisions 17 to changes made by the act; reenacting s. 48.196(2), 18 F.S., relating to service of process in connection 19 with actions under the Florida International 20 Commercial Arbitration Act, to incorporate the 21 amendment made to s. 48.021, F.S., in a reference 22 thereto; providing an effective date. 23 24 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 25 26 Section 1.Section 48.021, Florida Statutes, is amended to 27 read: 28 48.021Process; by whom served. 29 (1)All process must shall be served by the sheriff of the 30 county where the person to be served is found, except 31 nonenforceable civil process, criminal witness subpoenas, and 32 criminal summonses may be served by a special process server 33 appointed by the sheriff as provided in this section or by a 34 certified process server as provided in s. 48.27. Civil witness 35 subpoenas shall be served by any person authorized by rules of 36 civil procedure. 37 (2)(a)The sheriff of each county may, in his or her 38 discretion, establish an approved list of natural persons 39 designated as special process servers. The sheriff shall add to 40 such list the names of those natural persons who have met the 41 requirements provided for in this section. Each natural person 42 whose name has been added to the approved list is subject to 43 annual recertification and reappointment by the sheriff. The 44 sheriff shall prescribe an appropriate form for application for 45 appointment. A reasonable fee for the processing of the 46 application shall be charged. 47 (b)A person applying to become a special process server 48 shall: 49 1.Be at least 18 years of age. 50 2.Have no mental or legal disability. 51 3.Be a permanent resident of the state. 52 4.Submit to a background investigation that includes the 53 right to obtain and review the criminal record of the applicant. 54 5.Obtain and file with the application a certificate of 55 good conduct that specifies there is no pending criminal case 56 against the applicant and that there is no record of any felony 57 conviction, nor a record of a misdemeanor involving moral 58 turpitude or dishonesty, with respect to the applicant within 59 the past 5 years. 60 6.Submit to an examination testing the applicants 61 knowledge of the laws and rules regarding the service of 62 process. The content of the examination and the passing grade 63 thereon, and the frequency and the location at which the 64 examination is offered must be prescribed by the sheriff. The 65 examination must be offered at least once annually. 66 7.Take an oath that the applicant will honestly, 67 diligently, and faithfully exercise the duties of a special 68 process server. 69 (c)The sheriff may prescribe additional rules and 70 requirements directly related to subparagraphs (b)1.-7. 71 regarding the eligibility of a person to become a special 72 process server or to have his or her name maintained on the list 73 of special process servers. 74 (d)An applicant who completes the requirements of this 75 section must be designated as a special process server provided 76 that the sheriff of the county has determined that the 77 appointment of special process servers is necessary or 78 desirable. Each special process server must be issued an 79 identification card bearing his or her identification number, 80 printed name, signature and photograph, and an expiration date. 81 Each identification card must be renewable annually upon proof 82 of good standing. 83 (e)The sheriff shall have the discretion to revoke an 84 appointment at any time that he or she determines a special 85 process server is not fully and properly discharging the duties 86 as a special process server. The sheriff shall institute a 87 program to determine whether the special process servers 88 appointed as provided for in this section are faithfully 89 discharging their duties pursuant to such appointment, and a 90 reasonable fee may be charged for the costs of administering 91 such program. 92 (3)A special process server appointed in accordance with 93 this section shall be authorized to serve process in only the 94 county in which the sheriff who appointed him or her resides and 95 may charge a reasonable fee for his or her services. 96 (4)Any special process server shall be disinterested in 97 any process he or she serves; and if the special process server 98 willfully and knowingly executes a false return of service or 99 otherwise violates the oath of office, he or she shall be guilty 100 of a felony of the third degree, punishable as provided for in 101 s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084, and shall be permanently 102 barred from serving process in Florida. 103 Section 2.Paragraph (a) of subsection (2) of section 104 48.031, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 105 48.031Service of process generally; service of witness 106 subpoenas. 107 (2)(a)Substituted service on the spouse of the person to 108 be served may be made at any place in a county by a sheriff of 109 such county an individual authorized under s. 48.021 or s. 48.27 110 to serve process in that county, if the cause of action is not 111 an adversarial proceeding between the spouse and the person to 112 be served, if the spouse requests such service or the spouse is 113 also a party to the action, and if the spouse and person to be 114 served reside together in the same dwelling, regardless of 115 whether such dwelling is located in the county where substituted 116 service is made. 117 Section 3.Section 48.27, Florida Statutes, is repealed. 118 Section 4.Section 48.29, Florida Statutes, is repealed. 119 Section 5.Section 48.31, Florida Statutes, is repealed. 120 Section 6.Subsection (2) of section 113.07, Florida 121 Statutes, is amended to read: 122 113.07Bond by surety company; when required. 123 (2)The provisions of this law do not apply to deputy 124 sheriffs or, notaries public, or special process servers 125 appointed to serve process under the provisions of s. 48.021. 126 Section 7.Subsection (3) of section 316.29545, Florida 127 Statutes, is amended to read: 128 316.29545Window sunscreening exclusions; medical 129 exemption; certain law enforcement vehicles, process server 130 vehicles, and private investigative service vehicles exempt. 131 (3)The department shall exempt from the window 132 sunscreening restrictions of ss. 316.2953, 316.2954, and 133 316.2956 vehicles that are owned or leased by process servers 134 certified pursuant to s. 48.29 or by private investigators or 135 private investigative agencies licensed under chapter 493. 136 Section 8.For the purpose of incorporating the amendment 137 made by this act to section 48.021, Florida Statutes, in a 138 reference thereto, subsection (2) of section 48.196, Florida 139 Statutes, is reenacted to read: 140 48.196Service of process in connection with actions under 141 the Florida International Commercial Arbitration Act. 142 (2)The process served under subsection (1) shall include a 143 copy of the application to the court together with all 144 attachments thereto and shall be served in the following manner: 145 (a)In any manner agreed upon, whether service occurs 146 within or without this state; 147 (b)If service is within this state: 148 1.In the manner provided in ss. 48.021 and 48.031, or 149 2.If applicable under their terms, in the manner provided 150 in ss. 48.161, 48.183, 48.23, or chapter 49; or 151 (c)If service is outside this state: 152 1.By personal service by any person authorized to serve 153 process in the jurisdiction where service is being made or by 154 any person appointed to do so by any competent court in that 155 jurisdiction; 156 2.In any other manner prescribed by the laws of the 157 jurisdiction where service is being made for service in an 158 action before a local court of competent jurisdiction; 159 3.In the manner provided in any applicable treaty to which 160 the United States is a party; 161 4.In the manner prescribed by order of the court; 162 5.By any form of mail requiring a signed receipt, to be 163 addressed and dispatched by the clerk of the court to the person 164 being served; or 165 6.If applicable, in the manner provided in chapter 49. 166 Section 9.This act shall take effect July 1, 2025.