Qualifications

• Lawful service of process in Arizona can only be made by a sheriff, a sheriff's deputy or a private process server registered with the clerk of the court. To qualify as a private process server you must be at least 21 years old and have been a resident of Arizona for the year immediately preceding your application. You cannot serve process in a case in which you're a party, an attorney or an employee of an attorney involved. Registration as a private process server in one county allows you to serve process anywhere in the state.
  
  

Serving

• A summons and complaint must be served together. If the service is on an individual, it can be made by delivering a copy of the summons and complaint in person, or by leaving the copies at their residence with someone other than a minor who also lives there. Valid service can also be made on the person's attorney or other authorized agent. If service is upon a minor under 16 years old, copies must be delivered to their father, mother or guardian. In the absence of anyone fitting this legal description, anyone living in the same residence as the minor or having care and control of them can receive service.
  
  

Waiving Service

• If the service is accepted, proof of service is filed in the case in the form of an endorsement by a sheriff's deputy or affidavit of a private process server. The subject also has the right, however, to waive service; by doing so they do not necessarily waive the right of objection to the venue or the jurisdiction of the court over them. In this case, the process server should file proof of the waiver. In lieu of accepting service of a summons, a person can simply appear in open court, either personally or through legal representation, or file a responsive pleading (typically through their attorney). An appearance or a filing has the same effect as a summons duly served.
  
  

Time Frame

• Service of a summons and complaint must be made within 120 days of these documents being filed with the court. Otherwise, the subject of the summons or any other party can move the court to drop the charges against the party. The court can also dismiss the charges in this situation on its own. It can also set a new deadline for effective service, particularly if the plaintiff can demonstrate a good reason why process has not been served, such as if the subject has absconded. If the subject is known to reside in a foreign country, the 120 day deadline does not apply.
  
  

Other Service

• Service on the state of Arizona itself must be made on the state's attorney general. Service on a county or municipal agency or other governmental subdivision must be on the chief executive officer, secretary, clerk or recording officer. Service on an Arizona corporation can be made on a partner, an officer, a managing or general agent, or any other agent authorized by the company to accept process. If no such person can be found in the state, process on a corporation can nevertheless be effected by filing two copies of the summons and complaint with the state's Corporation Commission.