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- The proper forms, including the Complaint (J.P. Civ. Form
1) and the appropriate Summons form (one of J.P. Civ. Form 2, 3 or 4),
and Answer to Complaint (J.P. Civ. Form 7) for debt actions, must be filed
in the Justice of the Peace Courts, a case number assigned to the case,
and the summons signed by the court official. Once these forms have been
processed, the Justice of the Peace Court will notify a Plaintiff who
wishes to use a special process server designated by the Chief Magistrate
of the availability of the forms for service by the designated special
process server.
- A Plaintiff wishing to use a special process server may only
use a business or individual who has been designated by the Chief Magistrate
of the Justice of the Peace Courts as a special process server for cases
filed in the Justice of the Peace Courts. The special process server is not an officer of the court and does not have an official function
with the Justice of the Peace Courts.
- Designation as a special process server in Justice of the
Peace Courts must be renewed annually and automatically expires one year
after the date of the designation, unless the Chief Magistrate or designee
withdraws the designation prior to that time. The special process servers
are responsible for renewing their designation (or refiling an application).
- All Justice of the Peace Civil Courts maintain a list of all
designated special process servers and will make the list available for
review by individuals upon request.
- Special process servers must perform personal service of the
Justice of the Peace Court documents in a businesslike manner in accordance
with all applicable statutes, rules of procedure and Justice of the Peace
Court policies and procedures regarding personal service.
- Special process servers must return personally "served" documents
to the Justice of the Peace Court noted on the documents no later than
three (3) days following service, except forthwith summonses must be returned
immediately to the court.
- Special process servers must return processed documents bearing
no scheduled hearing or trial date information to the Justice
of the Peace Court noted on the document no later than thirty (30)
days from the date the document was picked up from the court, whether
served or non-est.
- Special process servers must return documents bearing a
hearing date at least four (4) business days prior to the hearing
date, whether served or non-est.
- Special process servers must accurately, completely and legibly
provide to the court the requisite information on each document relative
to service, including process server's signature and date and time of
service and the signature of the person accepting service if required.
- For landlord/tenant cases: If service other than personal
service is made, proof of satisfaction of all the requirements for service
must be provided to the court (i.e., certification of posting of notice
and complaint on rental unit and proof of mailing notice and complaint,
within one day of posting, by certified or registered mail to the Defendant.) See 25 Del. C. ยง 5706.
- Payments related to the serving of process in cases filed
in the Justice of the Peace Court will come from the parties utilizing
the special process servers and the State of Delaware or the Justice of
the Peace Courts are not responsible for payments or for any other
matters related to services provided by special process servers in any
capacity. serve process in a case in which they or their spouses are related
to any of the parties in the case or they have a personal or financial
interest or involvement in the case
- Special process servers must be 21 years of age or older
and a resident of the State of Delaware.
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