Legal Definitions - nonservice

NONSERVICE

Nonservice refers to the failure to serve a legal document, such as a summons, warrant, or other process, in a civil or criminal case.

• A process server attempts to deliver a summons to a defendant, but the defendant cannot be located. This is considered nonservice.
• A police officer tries to serve a warrant to a suspect, but the suspect is not at home. This is also an example of nonservice.

These examples illustrate how nonservice occurs when a legal document cannot be delivered to the intended recipient. This can happen for various reasons, such as the recipient being unavailable or intentionally avoiding service.