OK
Oklahoma House Bill HB1618

Oklahoma 2024 Regular Session

Oklahoma House Bill HB1618 Compare Versions

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334 BILL NO. 1618 By: Worthen of the House
435
536 and
637
738 Gollihare of the Senate
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1443 An Act relating to civil procedure; amending 12 O.S.
1544 2021, Section 158.1, which relates to the licensure
1645 of private process servers; deleting mailing
1746 requirement; authorizing notice to be delivered by
1847 electronic means; and providing an effective date.
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23-SUBJECT: Civil Procedure
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2551 BE IT ENACTED BY THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA:
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2752 SECTION 1. AMENDATORY 12 O.S. 2021, Section 158.1, is
2853 amended to read as follows:
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3054 Section 158.1 A. Service and return of process of court
3155 documents may be by an authorized licensed private process server .
3256 The presiding judge of the judicial administrative d istrict in which
3357 the county is located, or an associate district judge or district
3458 judge of the county a s may be designated by the presiding judge,
3559 shall be authorized to issue a license to make service of proces s of
3660 court documents to persons deemed quali fied to do so.
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3861 B. Any person who is:
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4062 1. Eighteen (18) years of age or older;
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4263 2. Of good moral character;
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4491 3. Found ethically and mentally fit;
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4692 4. A resident of the State of Oklahoma for a period of not less
4793 than six (6) months; and
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4994 5. A resident of the county or judicial admi nistrative district
5095 in which the application is submitted for a period of not less than
5196 thirty (30) days,
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5397 may obtain a license by filing an application with the court clerk
5498 on a verified form to be prescribed by the Administrative Office of
5599 the Courts. The form shall require the applicant to identify
56100 whether the applicant has had a process server lice nse issued by the
57101 State of Oklahoma, a ny other state, or any county in Oklahoma at any
58102 time prior to the current application.
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60103 Any person who has been convicte d of a violent crime, as defined
61104 in Section 571 of Title 57 of the Okla homa Statutes, or a crime t hat
62105 requires the person to register pu rsuant to the Sex Offenders
63106 Registration Act in this state or another state shall be prohibited
64107 from applying for or obt aining a license to serve process in this
65108 state. If a person is curren tly licensed to serve proce ss in this
66109 state and the person has a previous felony conviction for a crime
67110 enumerated in Section 571 of Title 57 of the Oklahoma St atutes or a
68111 crime that requires the person to register pursuant to the Sex
69112 Offenders Registratio n Act, the person shall be prohibited from
70113 applying for renewal o f the license as provided for in subsection C
71114 of this section.
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72141
73142 C. The applicant filing for a l icense to serve process a nywhere
74143 in this state shall pay a license fee of One Hundred Fifty Dol lars
75144 ($150.00), and the regu lar docketing, posting, mailing, and f iling
76145 fees prescribed by law . The license shall contain the full legal
77146 name, address, county i n which the license was i ssued, a brief
78147 description of the licensee and a recent photograph of the licensee.
79148 The license shall state that the licensee is an off icer of the court
80149 only for the purpose of service of process . The authority of the
81150 licensee shall be statewide. The license shall be carried by the
82151 licensee while on duty as a private proc ess server. At the end of
83152 one (1) calendar year from the date of issuance of the initial
84153 license, the license shall be renewed for a period of three (3)
85154 years. The license shall be ren ewed each succeeding three (3)
86155 years. A fee of Fifteen Dollars ($15.0 0) per renewal shall be
87156 charged for each statewide license renewal . A license issued
88157 pursuant to this subsection entitles the holder of the license to
89158 serve process in any county in thi s state.
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91159 All fees collected pursuant to this section shall be deposit ed
92160 in the court fund.
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94161 D. Upon the filing of an application for a l icense, the court
95162 clerk shall give thirty (30 ) days of notice of hearing by causing
96163 the notice to be continually posted for thirty (30) days on the
97164 website of the county, or be posted in t he courthouse. The
98165 applicant shall cause notice of the hearing to b e made no less than
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99193 twenty (20) days prior to the hearing one time by publication in a
100194 legal newspaper of the county, as defined in Section 106 of Title 25
101195 of the Oklahoma Statutes, in whi ch the application is filed . The
102196 applicant shall be responsible for payment of the publication fee,
103197 and shall file in the case the proof of publication affidavit from
104198 the newspaper prior to the hearing. The court clerk shall mail
105199 deliver by electronic means or deliver a copy of the notice at least
106200 twenty (20) days prior to the hearing to the distri ct attorney, the
107201 sheriff in the county in which the application was filed, the
108202 Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation and the Administrative Office
109203 of the Courts and. The notice shall contain the name of the
110204 applicant and the time and place the presiding judge or, the
111205 associate district judge , or district judge designate d by the
112206 presiding judge, will act upon the application.
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114207 E. If, at the time of consideration of the application or
115208 renewal, there are no protests and the applicant appears qualified,
116209 the application for t he license shall be granted by the presiding
117210 judge or such associate distric t judge or district judge as is
118211 designated by the presiding judge and, upon executing bond running
119212 to the State of Oklahoma in the amount of Five Thousand Dollars
120213 ($5,000.00) for faithful performance of his or her duties and filing
121214 the bond with the court clerk, the applicant shall be authorized and
122215 licensed to serve court documents in any county in this state. If,
123216 at the time of consideration of the application for the license, th e
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124244 presiding judge, associate district judge or dist rict judge as is
125245 designated by the presiding judge determines that the applicant does
126246 not meet all of the qualifications ne cessary for a license, the
127247 applicant shall be prohibited from reapplying for a lic ense to serve
128248 process for a period of not less than one (1) year from the da te of
129249 denial.
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131250 F. If any citizen of this state files a written protest setting
132251 forth objections to the licensing of the applicant, the district
133252 court clerk shall so advise the pres iding judge or such associate
134253 district judge or dis trict judge as is designa ted by the presiding
135-judge, who shall set a later date for hearing of application and ENR. H. B. NO. 1618 Page 4
254+judge, who shall set a later date for hearing of application and
136255 protest. The hearing shall be held within sixty (60) days and after
137256 notice to all persons kno wn to be interested.
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139257 G. Proof of service of proces s shall be shown by affid avit as
140258 provided for by subsection G of Section 2004 of this title.
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142259 H. The district attorney of t he county wherein a license
143260 authorized under this act has been issued or the Attor ney General
144261 may file a petition in the district cou rt to revoke the license
145262 issued to any licensee, as authorized pursuant to the provisions of
146263 this section, alleging the vio lation by the licensee of any of the
147264 provisions of the law . After at least thirty (30) days of notice by
148265 certified mail to the licen see, the chief or presidi ng judge,
149266 sitting without jury, shall hear the petition and enter an order
150267 thereon. If the license is revoked, the licensee shall not be
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151295 permitted to reapply for a license for a p eriod of five (5) years
152296 from the date of revocation . Notwithstanding any ot her provision of
153297 this section, any licensee whose license has been revoked one time
154298 shall pay the sum of One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00) as a renewal
155299 fee. If a second revocation occurs, the chief or presiding judge
156300 shall not allow an applicant to renew t he license.
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158301 I. Any person who knowingly and willfully serves process in
159302 Oklahoma without a proces s server license issued by the State of
160303 Oklahoma or who holds himself or herself o ut to be a process server
161304 licensed by the State of Oklahoma when the person is not licensed as
162305 such shall, upon conviction, be guilty of a misdemeanor. The
163306 provisions of this subsection shall not apply to a process server
164307 licensed in another state who is serving court documents issued by a
165308 court in another state to a person in Ok lahoma.
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167309 J. The court clerk shall make available at all times in the
168310 office of the court clerk the list of licensed private process
169311 servers. Any person in need of the services of a process server may
170312 designate one from the names o n the list, before presen ting summons
171313 to the court clerk for issuance, without necessity for individual
172314 judicial appointment.
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174315 K. No later than January 1, 2013, the Administrative Office of
175316 the Courts shall establish and maintain a statewide registry which
176317 shall contain a list of licensed private process servers. The
177318 Administrative Office of the Courts shall promulgate rules for the
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178346 creation and maintenance of the statewide registry . Rules for the
179347 statewide registry for private process servers must have a pproval of
180-the Supreme Court. ENR. H. B. NO. 1618 Page 5
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348+the Supreme Court.
182349 SECTION 2. This act shall become effective November 1, 2023.
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184-Passed the House of Representatives the 1st day of March, 2023.
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189- Presiding Officer of the House
190- of Representatives
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193-Passed the Senate the 17th day of April, 2023.
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198- Presiding Officer of the Senate
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201-OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR
202-Received by the Office of the Governor this ____________________
203-day of ___________________, 20_______, at _______ o'clock _______ M.
204-By: _________________________________
205-Approved by the Governor of the State of Oklahoma this _____ ____
206-day of ___________________, 20_______, at _______ o'clock _______ M.
207-
208-
209- _________________________________
210- Governor of the State of Oklahoma
211-
212-OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY OF STATE
213-Received by the Office of the Secretary of State this __________
214-day of ___________________, 20_______, at _______ o'clock _______ M.
215-By: _________________________________
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350+COMMITTEE REPORT BY: COMMITTEE ON JUDICIARY
351+April 4, 2023 - DO PASS