Indiana § 23-19-6-11 - Consent to service of process; conduct constituting agent for service of process; procedures; continuances

§ 23-19-6-11. Consent to service of process; conduct constituting agent for service of process; procedures; continuances

Sec. 11. (a) An irrevocable consent to service of process required by this article must be signed and filed in the form required by a rule or order under this article. A consent appointing the secretary of state as the person's agent for service of process in an action or proceeding against the person, or the person's successor or personal representative under this article or a rule adopted or order issued under this article after the consent is filed, has the same force and validity as if the service were made personally on the person filing the consent. A person that has filed a consent complying with this subsection in connection with a previous application for registration or notice filing need not file an additional consent.

(b) If a person, including a nonresident of this state, engages in an act, practice, or course of business prohibited or made actionable by this article or a rule adopted or order issued under this article and the person has not filed a consent to service of process under subsection (a), the act, practice, or course of business constitutes the appointment of the secretary of state as the person's agent for service of process in an action or proceeding against the person or the person's successor or personal representative.

(c) Service under subsection (a) or (b) may be made by providing a copy of the process to the office of the secretary of state, but it is not effective unless:

(1) the plaintiff, which may be the commissioner, promptly sends notice of the service and a copy of the process, return receipt requested, to the respondent at the address set forth in the consent to service of process or, if a consent to service of process has not been filed, at the last known address of the respondent, or takes other reasonable steps to give notice; and

(2) the plaintiff files an affidavit of compliance with this subsection in the action or proceeding on or before the return day of the process, if any, or within the time that the court, or the commissioner in a proceeding before the commissioner, allows.

(d) Service under subsection (c) may be used in a proceeding before the commissioner or by the commissioner in a civil action in which the commissioner is the moving party.

(e) If process is served under subsection (c), the court, or the commissioner in a proceeding before the commissioner, shall order continuances as are necessary or appropriate to afford the defendant or respondent reasonable opportunity to defend.

As added by P.L.27-2007, SEC.23.