MEMO
TO: Joint Procedure Committee
FROM: Mike Hagburg
DATE: January 2, 2013
RE: Rule 4, N.D.R.Civ.P., Persons Subject to Jurisdiction; Process; Service
At the September meeting, the committee discussed Judge Nelson's proposal to consider including N.D.C.C. § 39-01-11 in Rule 4.
N.D.C.C. § 39-01-11 is a substituted service statute under which nonresidents who use roads in the state appoint the director of the DOT as their agent for service of process in any action growing out of a motor vehicle accident in the state. It has several associated statutes that support it.
The committee indicated that there are many substituted service statutes in the code and a better idea than including them in Rule 4 would be to cross-reference them so that they would be easier for people to locate and apply.
Staff has prepared proposed amendments to Rule 4's explanatory note referencing a
non-inclusive list of substituted service statutes. The proposed amendments, along with the text
from the included statutes, is attached. Of these, N.D.C.C. § 10-01.1-13 may be the most
important as it is a catch-all statute that covers service on dissolved and foreign business
entities.