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.