Bill > SB85

This bill amends the California Code of Civil Procedure to provide additional flexibility for serving legal summonses when standard methods of service have failed. Specifically, the bill allows a court to authorize alternative methods of serving a summons, including electronic means like email, if a plaintiff can demonstrate that they have made reasonable efforts to serve the summons using traditional statutory methods. To qualify for this alternative service, the plaintiff must provide detailed documentation of their previous service attempts, explaining why each method was unsuccessful at known addresses or potential locations of the defendant. The bill importantly excludes actions against public entities or public employees from these provisions, meaning the new service rules do not apply to government-related legal proceedings. The underlying goal of the bill is to ensure that defendants receive actual notice of legal actions against them, even when conventional service methods prove challenging, while maintaining a standard of reasonable diligence by the plaintiff.

Justice

https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billStatusClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260SB85