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Federal and State Laws Prohibiting
Interference with Service of Process
Rules of Civil Procedure are
from
CivilProcedure.info
Federal Rules of Civil Procedure
site
Federal Law
Prohibiting Interference with
Service of Process:
- According to the Federal Law
on this subject (Title 18 U.S.C.
§ 1501), which provides in
relevant part:
Assault on Process Server
Whoever knowingly and willingly
obstructs, resists or opposes
any officer of the United
States, or other person duly
authorized, in serving, or
attempting to serve or execute,
any legal or judicial writ or
process of any court of the
United States...shall, except as
otherwise provided by law, be
fined not more than $300 or
imprisoned not more than one
year, or both.
State Laws Prohibiting
Interference with Service of
Process:
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA CODE
Title 22 Criminal Offenses
Sec. 22-722. Prohibited Acts;
Penalty
(a.) A person commits the offense of
obstruction of justice if that
person:
(2.) Knowingly uses intimidating or
physical force, threatens or
corruptly persuades another person,
or by threatening letter or
communication, endeavors to
influence, intimidate, or impede a
witness or officer in any official
proceeding, with intent to:
(c.) Evade a legal process that
summons the person to appear as a
witness or to produce a document in
an official proceeding
2000 FLORIDA STATUTES
Title XLVI – Crimes
Chapter 843 – Obstructing Justice
843.01 – Resisting officer with
violence
843.02 – Resisting officer
without violence to his or her
person. – Whoever shall resist,
obstruct, or oppose any officer as
defined in s. 943.10(1), (2), (3),
(6), (7), (8), or (9); member of the
parole commission or any
administrative aide or supervisor;
personnel or representative of the
Dept. of Law Enforcement; or
other person legally authorized to
execute process or in the lawful
execution of any legal duty, without
offering or doing violence to the
person of the officer, shall be
guilty of a misdemeanor of the first
degree, punishable as provided in S.
775.082 or s. 775.083
ILLINOIS COMPILED STATUTES
Criminal Offenses
Criminal Code of 1961
(720 ILCS 5/31-3)
Sec. 31-3. Obstructing service of
process.
Whoever knowingly resists or
obstructs the authorized service or
execution of any civil or criminal
process or order of any court
commits a Class B misdemeanor.
IOWA CODE 1999
719.1 Interference with Official
Acts.
1. A person who … who knowingly
resists or obstructs the service or
execution by any authorized person
of any civil or criminal process or
order of any court, commits a
serious misdemeanor. …
3. The terms “resist” and
“obstruct,” as used in this section,
do not include verbal harassment
unless the verbal harassment is
accompanied by a present ability and
apparent intention to execute a
verbal threat physically.
KANSAS STATUTES
Chapter 21 – Crimes and Punishments
21-3808. Obstructing legal process
or official duty.
(a) Obstructing legal process or
official duty is knowingly and
intentionally obstructing, resisting
or opposing any person authorized
by law to serve process in the
service or execution or in the
attempt to serve or execute any
writ, warrant, process or order of a
court, or in the discharge of any
official duty.
(b) (1) Obstructing legal process …
in the case of a felony, … is a
severity level 9, nonperson felony.
(2) Obstructing legal process … in a
case of misdemeanor, … is a class A
nonperson misdemeanor.
MICHIGAN PENAL CODE
750.479 Resisting or obstructing
officer in discharge of duty
Any person who shall knowingly and
willfully obstruct, resist or oppose
any sheriff, coroner, township
treasurer, constable or any other
officer or person duly authorized,
in serving, or attempting to serve …
any process, rule or order made or
issued by lawful authority … or who
shall assault, beat or wound any …
constable or other officer duly
authorized, while serving, or
attempting to serve … any such
process, … shall be guilty of a
misdemeanor, punishable by
imprisonment in the state prison not
more than 2 years, or by a fine of
not more than 1,000 dollars.
MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972
Sec. 97-9-75. Resisting service of
process
Any person who knowingly and
wilfully opposes or resists any
officer or other authorized person
in serving or attempting to serve or
execute any legal writ or process,
shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.
MISSOURI REVISED STATUTES
CHAPTER 575 – OFFENSES AGAINST THE
ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE
575.160 Interference with legal
process
1. A person commits the crime of
interference with legal process if,
knowing any person is authorized by
law to serve process, for the
purpose of preventing such person
from effecting the service of any
process, he interferes with or
obstructs such person.
2. “Process” includes any writ,
summons, subpoena, warrant or other
than an arrest warrant, or other
process or order of the court.
3. Interference with legal process
is a class B misdemeanor 575.170.
Refusing to make an employee
available for service of process
1. Any employer, or any agent who is
in charge of a business
establishment, commits the crime of
refusing to make an employee
available for service of process if
he knowingly refuses to assist any
officer authorized by law to serve
process who calls at such business
establishment during the working
hours of an employee for the purpose
of serving process on such employee,
by failing or refusing to make such
employee available for service of
process.
2. Refusing to make an employee
available for service of process is
a class C misdemeanor.
MONTANA CODE ANNOTATED 2000
25-3-105. Person serving process -
penalty for obstruction.
A process server registered under
chapter 1, part 11, a licensed
attorney, or a sheriff, constable,
coroner, elisor, or other government
employee who is acting in the course
of the person’s employment while
serving process is a public servant
for the purpose of determining the
offense of obstructing a public
servant as provided in 45-7-302.
A person who obstructs a person
serving process is guilty of
obstruction of a public servant and
is punishable as provided in
45-7-302.
NEW MEXICO STATUTES ANNOTATED
Chapter 30 – Criminal Offenses
30-22-1. Resisting, evading or
obstructing an officer.
Resisting, evading or obstructing an
officer consists of:
A. Knowingly obstructing, resisting
or opposing any officer of this
state or any other duly
authorized person serving or
attempting to serve or execute any
process or any rule or order of
any of the courts of this state or
any other judicial writ or process.
SOUTH DAKOTA CODIFIED LAWS
Title 22 – Crimes
Chapter 11 – Obstruction of the
Administration of Govt.
Sec. 22-11-1. Resisting execution of
service of process.
Any person who resists the execution
or service of any legal process is
guilty of a Class 2 misdemeanor.
TENNESSEE CODE ANNOTATED
39-16-602 Resisting stop, frisk,
half, arrest or search-prevention or
obstruction of service of legal writ
or process.
(c) It is an offense for a person to
intentionally prevent or obstruct an
officer of the state or any
other person known to be a civil
process server in serving,
or attempting to serve or execute,
any legal writ, or process.
(d) A violation of this section is a
Class B misdemeanor.
TEXAS PENAL CODE
Chapter 38. Obstructing Governmental
Operation
Sec. 38.16. Preventing Execution of
Civil Process
(a) A person commits an offense if
he intentionally or knowingly by
words or physical action prevents
the execution of any process in a
civil cause.
(b) It is an exception to the
application of this section that the
actor evaded service of process by
avoiding detection.
(c) An offense under this section is
a Class C misdemeanor.
UTAH CODE ANNOTATED 1953
76-8-301. Interference with Public
Servant
(1) A person is guilty of
interference with a public servant
if he:
(a) uses force, violence,
intimidation, or engages in any
other unlawful act with a purpose to
interfere with a public servant
performing or purporting to perform
an official function; or
(b) knowingly or intentionally
interferes with the lawful service
of process by a public servant.
(2) Interference with a public
servant is a class B misdemeanor.
CODE OF VIRGINIA
Title 8.01.
CIVIL REMEDIES AND PROCEDURES
§ 18.2-409. Resisting or obstructing
execution of legal process.
Every person acting jointly or in
combination with any other person to
resist or obstruct the execution of
any legal process shall be guilty of
a Class 1 misdemeanor.
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