Residency Requirement Advances in the Legislature 

After three years of effort it looks like Washington process servers will finally receive a protection afforded process servers in many other states.  HB-1913, which adds a residency requirement to RCW 18.180.010, is advancing nicely under the watchful eye of our ace lobbyist Steve Lindstrom.

Here is the current wording of RCW 18.180.010.

(1) A person who serves legal process for a fee in the state of Washington shall register as a process server with the auditor of the county in which the process server resides or operates his or her principal place of business.
(2) The requirement to register under subsection (1) of this section does not apply to any of the following persons:
(a) A sheriff, deputy sheriff, marshal, constable, or government employee who is acting in the course of employment;
(b) An attorney or the attorney's employees, who are not serving process on a fee basis;
(c) A person who is court appointed to serve the court's process;
(d) An employee of a person who is registered under this section;
(e) A person who does not receive a fee or wage for serving process.


And here is the new wording as proposed in the bill.

(1) Except as provided in subsection (2) of this section, a person who serves legal process for a fee in the state of Washington shall:
(a) Be eighteen years of age or older;
(b) Be a resident of the state of Washington; and
(c) Register as a process server with the auditor of the county in which the process server resides or operates his or her principal place of business.
(2) The requirements under subsection (1)(b) and (c) of this section do not apply to any of the following persons:
(a) A sheriff, deputy sheriff, marshal, constable, or government employee who is acting in the course of employment;
(b) An attorney or the attorney's employees, who are not serving process on a fee basis;
(c) A person who is court appointed to serve the court's process;
(d) A person who does not receive a fee or wage for serving process.


NOTE:  There are two major changes.

First, of course, is the residency requirement.  Once the bill passes a person must be a resident of the State of Washington if he/she wants to serve process for a fee in this state.

The second change is the removal of the employee exemption.  Once the bill passes ALL process servers, who serve for a fee, must register.  Being an employee of a registered server will no longer exempt a server from registering.

We're very close but we're not there yet.  It must still pass the Senate Rules Committee and the full Senate.  Then it needs the Governor's signature.  Stay tuned.

Comments (2)
Robin Mullins February 27th, 2010 02:40:33 PM