Rule 4 - Filing of Cases
Rule 4.9 - Procedure for Special Appointment of Process Servers
1. Any party seeking to have the Court specially appoint a person to serve process in accordance with applicable Supreme Court rules shall file a written motion with the Court, requesting approval and/or appointment of a named individual, which shall be accompanied by a proposed order approving the individual to serve process. Any approval or appointment of a process server shall be valid only for the case in which the order is issued.
2. Individuals wishing to be specially appointed by the Court to serve process by motion as provided in paragraph 1 above shall file a notarized affidavit with the motion stating the information required in section(a) below, and stating that the individual meets all of the qualifications as set out in section (b) below.
a. The individual’s information shall include:
(1) Legal name
(2) Current address
(3) Occupation and employer, and
(4) Telephone number.
b. The individual must meet the following qualifications:
(1) Be at least eighteen (18) years of age
(2) Be a citizen of the United States
(3) Have a high school diploma or equivalent
(4) Not have plead guilty or been convicted of a felony or a misdemeanor involving moral turpitude
(5) Not be a fugitive from justice or currently charged with a felony or a misdemeanor involving moral turpitude
(6) Not be related to or employed by a party in the action
(7) Be of good moral character
(8) Not have been disqualified to act as a process server within the preceding twelve (12) months, and
(9) If service is to be made outside the State of Missouri, authorized to serve process in the jurisdiction in which it is to be served.
3. For those who perform service of process within the regular course of their business, the Court Administrator shall maintain a list of qualified process servers who have been approved as such by the Presiding Judge. To be eligible for the ”Approved List” an individual shall submit to the Presiding Judge a notarized application and affidavit, containing the information required by section (2)(a) above, and setting out their qualifications (including those items listed in section (2)(b) above), their experience, and verifying that service of process is in the regular course of their employment or business. Approval by the Presiding Judge shall be good for the calendar year in which the approval is granted and shall remain effective until December 31st of that year. Applications and accompanying documentation shall be maintained by the Court Administrator’s Office for three years, at which time they will be destroyed. Placement on the Approved List shall allow said individual to be approved or appointed to serve process without submitting an affidavit stating the prerequisites of section (2) above, in every case. When a party requests that a pre-approved process server be approved or appointed to serve process in a particular case, and verifies that the information contained in the qualifying affidavit is still accurate, the Court Administrator or any Deputy Court Administrator may approve or appoint such person to serve process for that case, so long as the named individual is on the Approved List. If any information in the qualifying affidavit has changed, such information must be updated with the filing of the motion, which must then be submitted to the court for a ruling. All individuals placed on the Court’s Approved List will receive a registration number. That number should be included, with the individual’s name, on all subsequent motions for approval or appointment.
4. A person will not be appointed to serve process if said person is deemed to be ineligible by a judge of this circuit. A person may be deemed ineligible and disqualified for:
a. Making a false return of service
b. Serious and purposeful improper service of process
c. Failing to meet the criteria set out in section (3)
d. Misrepresentation of duty or authority, or
e. Other good cause.
5. Appointment as a special or private process server does not confer the Court’s authority to carry a concealed firearm.
6. Appropriate forms for the Motion/Order and Affidavits are available on the Court’s website at www.16thcircuit.org.
Revision -Effective 10/21/2022