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service of process in this video, you will learn how to servethe person you are suing with the complaint or petition. when you start a lawsuit, you must tell theperson you're suing about it. this is known as serving the other party, or "serviceof process." without proper service of process, the judge will not decide your case. service happens when the person you are suingreceives a copy of your complaint or petition, along with a "summons" form. a summonstells the person about the lawsuit and when and how to appear in court.

after you complete the summons, make at leasttwo copies. bring the summons and copies to the circuit clerk when you file your complaintor petition. the circuit clerk will stamp the summons and copies and give them backto you. service can be done in 1 of 4 ways: - by the sheriff;- by a detective or special process server; - by certified mail, and, in some types ofcases; - by publishing notice of the lawsuit in thelocal newspaper you can have the sheriff deliver the courtpapers to the person you are suing. take or mail the stamped summons and copies to thesheriff's office where the defendant lives.

there is a fee for this service. if you mailthe papers to the sheriff, be sure to include an addressed, stamped, return envelope withthe papers. a licensed private detective or "specialprocess server" can also serve the person with the court papers. in most cases, youfirst must ask the judge's permission to do this by filing a "motion for appointmentof special process server." once the person is served with notice of thelawsuit, the sheriff, detective or process server fills out a sworn statement on theback of the summons copy and mails it back to you or returns it to the circuit clerk. the returned summons shows the judge thatthe person knew about the case.

in some cases, you may be able to serve someoneby certified mail or by publication. these options require special steps. finally, if the party you are suing is a business,more rules apply. for more information on service of process,talk with a lawyer, ask your local circuit clerk's office, or visit "illinois-legal-aid-dot-org." -2-