English
EspañolEvading service: A won't answer door to receive V's court petition. What can V do?
In some states, anyone over age 18 other than the petitioner can serve court papers such as a restraining order. If your state allows this, petitioners can hire a professional process server or they may even have a relative or friend who is willing to serve it – either way, the person who serves it then fills out an affidavit of service that the petitioner would file in court. A process server may try to serve the respondent someplace other than their home (i.e., work, a place where they “hang out,” etc.). If your state requires law enforcement (police or sheriff) to serve the order, perhaps they may also be willing to try to serve the respondent in a creative manner if this is something that you think may work in your case.
If service cannot be completed after multiple attempts, many states would require the person who attempted service to record the details of each attempt in an “affidavit of attempted service” form. It may be called something different in your state but it basically records the attempts at service for the court case. Generally, with an affidavit of attempted service, the person would write each date and time that service was attempted, and how they knew that the respondent was at home but refusing to answer, if that was the case. The person also writes down the actions they did, such as knock on the door 5 times, and what the respondent did or said, if anything. However, I don’t know if this is what is done in your state - you may want to ask the clerk or an attorney for specifics on how it should be done.
With an affidavit of attempted service filed in court, a petitioner may be able to go back into court to ask the judge for permission to have the respondent served by “alternate service” if the respondent is purposefully evading (avoiding) service. You may want to consult with an attorney in [STATE] to see what sorts of alternate service have been allowed in restraining order cases in your state and how to best advocate for that.. Here is a link for free and paid lawyers:LINK
