What happens when you can’t find your servee or they are evading service? In Oregon, you use non-traditional methods of process service. But first, you must file a Motion for Alternative Service with the court.
Oregon Rules of Civil Procedure (ORCP) Rule 7D(6) allows a court to order alternative methods of service if service cannot be made by any other method specified by rule or statute. Service may be made by any method or combination of methods most reasonably calculated to advise the recipient of the action.
What does that mean? It means, you need to serve the person in the way that is most likely to work.
If you have a valid email address, cell phone number, and/or social media accounts for your servee, you can ask the court to grant you permission to serve them electronically via any of those methods.
If you don’t have any of those things, you can still serve via mail (USPS First Class and Certified), posting (usually in the courthouse of the county where the case originated), or publication in a local newspaper. Those are the traditional methods of alternative service and — as you can guess — are sometimes less likely to work than the electronic methods mentioned above.
Once the court grants you permission, there are rules about how each of those options is carried out, so it’s important to work with a process server who knows those rules and can follow them for you.
And in order to get your Motion for Alternative Service approved, you’ll first need to show that you tried everything to serve the defendant. That means, you made at least three attempts at every known address. And that your process server also searched for other possible addresses for you.
Once the process server files their Proof of Non-Service (or Return of Service, Unserved) with the court, you can include that as an exhibit to your Motion for Alternative Service.
Got a question about how this works? Please share in the comments below or send us an email. We’d love to chat with you.
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