Tennessee § 21-1-203 - Personal service dispensed with.

§ 21-1-203. Personal service dispensed with.

Personal service of process on the defendant in a court of chancery is dispensed with in the following cases: When the defendant is a nonresident of this state; When, upon inquiry at the defendant's usual place of abode, the defendant cannot be found so as to be served with process, and there is just ground to believe that the defendant is gone beyond the limits of the state; When the sheriff makes return upon any leading process that the defendant is not to be found; When the name of the defendant is unknown and cannot be ascertained upon diligent inquiry; When the residence of the defendant is unknown and cannot be ascertained upon diligent inquiry; When judicial and other attachments will lie, under this code, against the property of the defendant; and When a domestic corporation has ceased to do business and has no known officers, directors, trustees or other legal representatives on whom personal service may be had. The order for publication in lieu of personal service may be made at any time after the filing of the bill. The order of publication should contain the names of the parties, the style of the court in which the proceedings are had and the name of the place where the court is held, without any brief or abstract of facts, unless directed by the court. When the suit is against an unknown defendant, the order of publication should describe the unknown party, as near as may be, by the character in which the unknown party is sued, and by reference to the unknown party's title or interest in the subject matter of the litigation. Evidence of the publication in pursuance of the order may be by affidavit of the printer or actual production of the newspaper in court.