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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) | 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
Residencey is great for you that are on the coast and interior, but for us that work the borders it is a real pain. I work two States and live on the border of another State for monetary reasons. My bussines is registared in Washington state, and that is where all my mail goes for bussines and personal as the town in which I live has no Post Office but shares across the border nearley all my work is done in Washington. I think that the residency requirement that you propose amounts to a monoply play for the larger Process Services, rather than a real need.
I'm sorry to hear you say this at such a late point in the process. WSPSA has been working on this for over three years. Yours is the first negative comment we've heard. The number of positive comments, especially by "small" process service companies along the Oregon border, has been substantial. This will definitely improve their business, for some by as much as 25%. We asked the Oregon association if they would move to have their residency requirement repealed but they declined which left us with little choice but to play tit for tat with them. Idaho does not have a residency requirement. If Oregon were to repeal theirs then I would back a bill to repeal the one we're just getting into place. I'm sorry you are caught in the cross fire but WSPSA certainly hasn't been secretive about this effort so there has been plenty of opportunity to speak out about it. The bill goes to our governor. If she signs it then it will take effect sometime this summer. It has nothing to do with a monopoly or larger companies and yes it is a real need.