Florida Senate - 2019 COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
Bill No. SB 462
Ì447100aÎ447100
LEGISLATIVE ACTION
Senate . House
Comm: RCS .
02/12/2019 .
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The Committee on Judiciary (Powell) recommended the following:
1 Senate Amendment (with title amendment)
2
3 Delete lines 60 - 62
4 and insert:
5 Section 2. The changes made by this act to s. 48.23,
6 Florida Statutes, are intended to clarify existing law and shall
7 apply to actions pending on the effective date of this act.
8 Section 3. Subsection (1) of section 48.021, Florida
9 Statutes, is amended to read:
10 48.021 Process; by whom served.—
11 (1) All process shall be served by the sheriff of the
12 county where the person to be served is found, except initial
13 nonenforceable civil process, criminal witness subpoenas, and
14 criminal summonses may be served by a special process server
15 appointed by the sheriff as provided for in this section or by a
16 certified process server as provided for in s. 48.27 ss. 48.25
17 48.31. Civil witness subpoenas shall may be served by any person
18 authorized by rules of civil procedure.
19 Section 4. Subsections (2) and (5) and paragraph (a) of
20 subsection (6) of section 48.031, Florida Statutes, are amended
21 to read:
22 48.031 Service of process generally; service of witness
23 subpoenas.—
24 (2)(a) Substituted Substitute service may be made on the
25 spouse of the person to be served may be made at any place in a
26 the county by an individual authorized under s. 48.021 or s.
27 48.27 to serve process in that county, if the cause of action is
28 not an adversarial adversary proceeding between the spouse and
29 the person to be served, if the spouse requests such service or
30 the spouse is also a party to the action, and if the spouse and
31 person to be served reside are residing together in the same
32 dwelling, regardless of whether such dwelling is located in the
33 county where substituted service is made.
34 (b) Substituted Substitute service may be made on an
35 individual doing business as a sole proprietorship at his or her
36 place of business, during regular business hours, by serving the
37 person in charge of the business at the time of service if two
38 attempts to serve the owner are have been made at the place of
39 business.
40 (5) A person serving process shall place, on the first page
41 only of at least one of the processes served, the date and time
42 of service, his or her initials or signature, and, if
43 applicable, his or her identification number and initials for
44 all service of process. The person serving process shall list on
45 the return-of-service form all initial pleadings delivered and
46 served along with the process. The person requesting service or
47 the person authorized to serve the process shall file the
48 return-of-service form with the court.
49 (6)(a) If the only address for a person to be served which
50 is discoverable through public records is a private mailbox, a
51 virtual office, or an executive office or mini suite,
52 substituted substitute service may be made by leaving a copy of
53 the process with the person in charge of the private mailbox,
54 virtual office, or executive office or mini suite, but only if
55 the process server determines that the person to be served
56 maintains a mailbox, a virtual office, or an executive office or
57 mini suite at that location.
58 Section 5. Subsection (4) of section 48.062, Florida
59 Statutes, is amended to read:
60 48.062 Service on a limited liability company.—
61 (4) If the address provided for the registered agent,
62 member, or manager is a residence, a or private mailbox, a
63 virtual office, or an executive office or mini suite, service on
64 the domestic or foreign limited liability company, domestic or
65 foreign, may be made by serving the registered agent, member, or
66 manager in accordance with s. 48.031.
67 Section 6. Subsection (1) of section 48.194, Florida
68 Statutes, is amended to read:
69 48.194 Personal service outside state.—
70 (1) Except as otherwise provided herein, service of process
71 on persons outside of this state shall be made in the same
72 manner as service within this state by any person officer
73 authorized to serve process in the state where the person is
74 served. No order of court is required. A An affidavit of the
75 officer shall be filed, stating the time, manner, and place of
76 service. The court may consider the return-of-service form
77 described in s. 48.21 affidavit, or any other competent
78 evidence, in determining whether service has been properly made.
79 Service of process on persons outside the United States may be
80 required to conform to the provisions of the Hague Convention on
81 the Service Abroad of Judicial and Extrajudicial Documents in
82 Civil or Commercial Matters.
83 Section 7. Subsection (1) of section 48.21, Florida
84 Statutes, is amended to read:
85 48.21 Return of execution of process.—
86 (1) Each person who effects service of process shall note
87 on a return-of-service form attached thereto, the date and time
88 when it comes to hand, the date and time when it is served, the
89 manner of service, the name of the person on whom it was served,
90 and, if the person is served in a representative capacity, the
91 position occupied by the person. The return-of-service form must
92 list all pleadings served and be signed by the person who
93 effects the service of process. However, a person who is
94 authorized under this chapter to serve process and employed by a
95 sheriff who effects such the service of process may sign the
96 return-of-service form using an electronic signature certified
97 by the sheriff.
98
99 ================= T I T L E A M E N D M E N T ================
100 And the title is amended as follows:
101 Delete lines 2 - 9
102 and insert:
103 An act relating to judicial process; amending s.
104 48.23, F.S.; providing that a person who acquires for
105 value a lien on property during the course of
106 specified legal actions takes such lien free of claims
107 in certain circumstances; specifying the effect of a
108 valid, recorded notice of lis pendens in certain
109 circumstances involving a judicial sale; providing
110 applicability; amending s. 48.021, F.S.; revising
111 authority of special process servers; revising a
112 cross-reference; requiring that civil witness
113 subpoenas be served by certain persons; amending s.
114 48.031, F.S.; revising requirements for substituted
115 service on the spouse of the person to be served;
116 revising requirements for documenting service of
117 process; conforming terminology; amending s. 48.062,
118 F.S.; revising requirements for service on limited
119 liability companies; amending s. 48.194, F.S.;
120 revising provisions specifying who may serve process
121 outside of the state; revising requirements for
122 documenting that service has been properly made
123 outside the state; amending s. 48.21, F.S.; revising
124 requirements for return-of-service forms; authorizing
125 certain persons to electronically sign return-of
126 service forms; providing an effective date.