Bill Text: FL S1420 | 2021 | Regular Session | Introduced

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Bill Title: Service of Process

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Failed) 2021-04-30 - Died in Judiciary [S1420 Detail]

Download: Florida-2021-S1420-Introduced.html

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       Florida Senate - 2021                                    SB 1420
       
       
        
       By Senator Rodriguez
       
       
       
       
       
       39-01225-21                                           20211420__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to service of process; amending s.
    3         48.031, F.S.; requiring employers to facilitate
    4         service by making employees available to accept
    5         service; increasing penalties for employers who fail
    6         to facilitate service; requiring persons in charge of
    7         private mailboxes, virtual offices, and executive
    8         offices or mini suites to confirm whether a person to
    9         be served maintains a private mailbox, virtual office,
   10         or executive office or mini suite at that location;
   11         providing penalties for a person in charge who refuses
   12         to make such confirmation; amending ss. 48.062 and
   13         48.081, F.S.; authorizing service on the registered
   14         agents of limited liability companies and corporations
   15         and other specified persons at any hour at a residence
   16         or personal mailbox; specifying that service is not
   17         required to be first attempted during the hours a
   18         corporation’s registered office is required to be
   19         open; amending s. 48.27, F.S.; authorizing certified
   20         process servers to serve any nonenforceable civil
   21         process; amending ss. 48.111 and 1001.40, F.S.;
   22         authorizing municipal, state, and county agencies,
   23         boards, commissions, departments, or subdivisions, and
   24         school districts to designate one or more employees to
   25         accept service in lieu of specified officers and
   26         members; providing an effective date.
   27          
   28  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   29  
   30         Section 1. Paragraph (b) of subsection (1) and subsection
   31  (6) of section 48.031, Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
   32         48.031 Service of process generally; service of witness
   33  subpoenas.—
   34         (1)
   35         (b) An employer, when contacted by an individual authorized
   36  to serve process, shall facilitate service of process by making
   37  the employee available to accept service and allow the
   38  authorized individual to serve the an employee in a private area
   39  designated by the employer. An employer who fails to comply with
   40  this paragraph commits a noncriminal violation of s. 843.02,
   41  punishable by a fine of up to $1,000.
   42         (6)(a) If the only address for a person to be served which
   43  is discoverable through public records is a private mailbox, a
   44  virtual office, or an executive office or mini suite,
   45  substituted service may be made by leaving a copy of the process
   46  with the person in charge of the private mailbox, virtual
   47  office, or executive office or mini suite, but only if the
   48  process server determines that the person to be served maintains
   49  a mailbox, a virtual office, or an executive office or mini
   50  suite at that location.
   51         (b) If the process server presents the name and address of
   52  the person to be served to the person in charge of the private
   53  mailbox, the virtual office, or the executive office or mini
   54  suite, the person in charge must confirm whether the person to
   55  be served maintains a private mailbox, a virtual office, or an
   56  executive office or mini suite at that location. Refusal by the
   57  person in charge to make such confirmation is a violation of s.
   58  843.02.
   59         (c)(b) For purposes of this subsection, the term “virtual
   60  office” means an office that provides communications services,
   61  such as telephone or facsimile services, and address services
   62  without providing dedicated office space, and where all
   63  communications are routed through a common receptionist. The
   64  term “executive office or mini suite” means an office that
   65  provides communications services, such as telephone and
   66  facsimile services, a dedicated office space, and other
   67  supportive services, and where all communications are routed
   68  through a common receptionist.
   69         Section 2. Subsection (4) of section 48.062, Florida
   70  Statutes, is amended to read:
   71         48.062 Service on a limited liability company.—
   72         (4)(a) If the address for the registered agent, member, or
   73  manager is a residence, a private mailbox, a virtual office, or
   74  an executive office or mini suite, service on the domestic or
   75  foreign limited liability company may be made by serving the
   76  registered agent, member, or manager in accordance with s.
   77  48.031.
   78         (b) If the address for the registered agent, member, or
   79  manager is a residence or a private mailbox, the service may be
   80  made at any hour and does not first need to be attempted during
   81  the hours a corporation’s registered office is required to be
   82  open under s. 48.091(2).
   83         Section 3. Paragraph (b) of subsection (3) of section
   84  48.081, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
   85         48.081 Service on corporation.—
   86         (3)
   87         (b)1. If the address for the registered agent, officer,
   88  director, or principal place of business is a residence, a
   89  private mailbox, a virtual office, or an executive office or
   90  mini suite, service on the corporation may be made by serving
   91  the registered agent, officer, or director in accordance with s.
   92  48.031.
   93         2. If the address for the registered agent, officer, or
   94  director is a residence or a private mailbox, the service may be
   95  made at any hour and does not first need to be attempted during
   96  the hours a corporation’s registered office is required to be
   97  open under s. 48.091(2).
   98         Section 4. Paragraph (a) of subsection (2) of section
   99  48.27, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
  100         48.27 Certified process servers.—
  101         (2)(a) The addition of a person’s name to the list
  102  authorizes him or her to serve initial nonenforceable civil
  103  process on a person found within the circuit where the process
  104  server is certified when a civil action has been filed against
  105  such person in the circuit court or in a county court in the
  106  state. Upon filing an action in circuit or county court, a
  107  person may select from the list for the circuit where the
  108  process is to be served one or more certified process servers to
  109  serve initial nonenforceable civil process.
  110         Section 5. Section 48.111, Florida Statutes, is amended to
  111  read:
  112         48.111 Service on public agencies and officers.—
  113         (1) Process against any municipal corporation, agency,
  114  board, or commission, department, or subdivision of the state or
  115  any county which has a governing board, council, or commission
  116  or which is a body corporate shall be served:
  117         (a) On the president, mayor, chair, or other head thereof;
  118  and in his or her absence;
  119         (b) On the vice president, vice mayor, or vice chair, or in
  120  the absence of all of the above;
  121         (c) On any member of the governing board, council, or
  122  commission.
  123         (2) Process against any public agency, board, commission,
  124  or department not a body corporate or having a governing board
  125  or commission shall be served on the public officer being sued
  126  or the chief executive officer of the agency, board, commission,
  127  or department.
  128         (3) In any suit in which the Department of Revenue or its
  129  successor is a party, process against the department shall be
  130  served on the executive director of the department. This
  131  procedure is to be in lieu of any other provision of general
  132  law, and shall designate said department to be the only state
  133  agency or department to be so served.
  134         (4) A public agency, board, commission, department, or
  135  subdivision described in subsection (1), subsection (2), or
  136  subsection (3) may designate one or more of its employees to
  137  accept service in lieu of the public officers and members
  138  described in subsection (1), subsection (2), or subsection (3).
  139         Section 6. Section 1001.40, Florida Statutes, is amended to
  140  read:
  141         1001.40 District school board to constitute a corporation.—
  142         (1) The governing body of each school district shall be a
  143  district school board. Each district school board is constituted
  144  a body corporate by the name of “The School Board of ....
  145  County, Florida.”
  146         (2)(a) In all suits against district school boards, service
  147  of process must shall be made had on the chair of the district
  148  school board or, if he or she cannot be found, on the district
  149  school superintendent as executive officer of the district
  150  school board or, in the absence of the chair and the district
  151  school superintendent, on another member of the district school
  152  board.
  153         (b) A school district may designate one or more district
  154  employees to accept service of process in lieu of the school
  155  board officers and members described in paragraph (a).
  156         Section 7. This act shall take effect July 1, 2021.