TITLE TWO — COMMENCEMENT OF ACTION; SERVICE OF PROCESS, PLEADINGS, MOTIONS AND ORDERS
Rule 4.2. Proof of Service; Return
Return Required. The person serving process shall make proof of service in writing to the court promptly, and in any event within the time during which the person served must respond to the process. Proof is made by filing a return through the electronic filing system under the proof-of-service filing code.
Contents of the Return. A return shall state:
the case number, the court, and the title of the action;
the username of the person served and the role in which that person was served, and, where the person served was served as an agent, officer, or administrative head, the capacity in which that person received the process and the party for whom the process was received;
the process served and each document delivered with it;
the date and time of delivery, stated in Coordinated Universal Time;
the manner of delivery, and whether delivery was physical or electronic, as 7 R. Stat. § 131.103 distinguishes;
the place of delivery, including the county and, where delivery was made in-game, the in-game location; and
the identity and capacity of the person making service.
Affidavit. Where service was made by a person other than a sheriff or deputy sheriff, or other than the Marshal of the Supreme Court or a deputy marshal, the return shall be by the affidavit of the person making service. The affidavit may be sworn before the clerk or a deputy clerk, who may administer oaths and take affidavits under 3 R. Stat. §§ 121.204 and 131.104, or before a notary public, who is authorized to administer oaths and take verifications under 3 R. Stat. § 312.101.
Proof Where the Court Ordered Alternative Service. Where service was made in a manner ordered under Rule 4(8) or Rule 4.1(10), the return shall be accompanied by a demonstration of the delivery in photograph, animated image, or video form, exhibited before the judge, showing the account or channel to which delivery was made, the documents delivered, and the time of delivery. The judge shall record on the docket that the demonstration was made and whether it satisfies the order.
Recording of Service by the Clerk. Upon the acceptance of a return, the clerk shall record upon the party record of the person served the time at which service was made and the method of service, in the terms stated in the return.
The party record accommodates a served-at time, a free-text description of the method, and a pro se flag, and accommodates nothing further. Particulars of service beyond these are preserved only in the return itself.
Where the clerk records a method, the clerk shall use the terms of the return and shall not characterize, summarize, or evaluate it.
The System Neither Verifies Nor Links. The electronic filing system does not verify a proof of service, and nothing in the record links a return to the process it proves.
The truth of a return rests upon the electronic signature of the person filing it under Rule 5.2 and upon the representations that person makes under Rule 11, and upon the affidavit where Rule 4.2(3) requires one. A false return is punishable as a violation of Rule 11 and as perjury.
No filing is rejected, and no filing is held, for want of an accompanying proof of service, and no rule shall require the electronic filing system to withhold acceptance of a filing until a related return appears.
A recorded served-at time is evidence of service and is not conclusive of it. A party contesting service raises the objection by motion under Rule 12(1), and the court determines the fact upon the return, the demonstration required by Rule 4.2(4), and such other evidence as the parties present.
Where a return has been filed and no service particulars appear upon the party record, or where the recorded particulars differ from the return, the return governs and the court may direct the clerk to correct the record.
Failure to Make Proof. Failure to make proof of service does not affect the validity of the service. The court may, upon motion or upon its own initiative, order that proof be made within a time it specifies, and may permit proof of service to be amended as Rule 4(6) provides. An amended or corrected return is made by a new filing bearing its own filing date; no return already received is altered.
Return by the Sheriff. The return of a sheriff or deputy sheriff, or of the Marshal of the Supreme Court or a deputy marshal, need not be by affidavit and is made upon the officer’s own statement. Where the sheriff is unable to make service, the sheriff shall so return, stating the efforts made and the results of the diligent search, upon which return the plaintiff may apply for an order of notice under Rule 4(4)(6) or for an order under Rule 4(8).
The Return as Part of the Record. An accepted return is part of the record of the case and, in a case that is not a sealed matter, appears upon the public docket. A return that has been tendered but not filed, and a return that has been rejected, are not public, and the reason for a rejection is not public. Rule 5.3 governs rejection and the corrected refiling of a return.