Is Sheriff serving civil summons a neutral 3rd party, or representing the plaintiff?

[willdufauve]

Is a Sheriff serving a civil summons on a defendant a neutral 3rd party, or are they representing the plaintiff’s interests when they serve the summons on behalf of the plaintiff?

In this matter the Sheriff served the summons on a civil suit and also gave the defendant written legal advice on how to answer it. The written legal advice was a sample letter template - essentially a contrite apology, an admission of fault and a stipulated judgment mandating a monthly payment plan (of the alleged $ damages which had not yet even been adjudicated). There was no information given on other options for the defendant who was being served such as dispute/deny, get a lawyer, Alternative Dispute Resolution, etc. The plaintiff is one of the largest debt collection firms in MASS.

To me, this seems troubling and very inappropriate. Even though the service was proper, as the summons was delivered into the defendant’s hand, the Sheriff offered and gave flawed and biased legal advice and purposeful misinformation on behalf of a plaintiff (under the mantle of the Office of the Sheriff - Commonwealth of Massachusetts’ official letterhead) so created prejudice.

Does this offer any potential for nullification of service, mistrial, dismissal, counterclaims?

[catleg]

This sounds a lot like the way the courts handled debt cases in Indiana, see article in the news forum.

You could write to the Mass Atty General for all the good it will do. :-(

[AngelinaCat]

I have a problem with a sheriff deputy or representative giving any kind of advice other than: "You have a summons; you have xx number of days to answer. You may wish to consult an attorney." If they go beyond that scenario, I don't believe that is proper.

A sheriff's deputy or representative, is considered an 'Officer of the Court', but that is all. They are not to give legal advice--at least that is how it operates here in Florida. You may wish to check your state's statutes, and the local rules of the civil court district that you are in. Every state and district is a little bit different in how they handle things.

My best wishes to you!

[bcohen]

The so-called "legal advice" was most likely an additional document attached to the summons by the plaintiff with the hopes that the defendent is dumb enough to sign off on a stipulated judgement. That way, they need not go through the hassle and expense of actually proving their case, showing up in court, and so on. Signing the form allows the plaintiff to skip the bench trial/motion for summary judgement and go straight to the garnishment.

I very seriously doubt the sheriff's deputy actually said that he was giving advice on how to proceed. The law is very clear that officers of the court (which would include a law enforcement officer acting as a process server) CANNOT give legal advice. They CAN however answer procedural questions such as how to fill out a form, how long does it take for some action to proceed, etc.

[AngelinaCatHub]

The Sheriff Deputy, or process server, or a lawyer are all officers of the Court. The Sheriff may not even know the content. I used the Sheriff as a server for a C & D letter once. Pay the 20 bucks and they must deliver it. He is an impartial server that is all. Some forms he MUST read to you such as an injunction against domestic violence or Peace Bond, whatever your state now calls it. He reads a set of rules such as: You may not carry or posses a firearm, you may not contact said party, you may not be withing x feet of said party. That is not pointing the finger at you. It is something like Miranda Rights in that case. He has no vested interest as he is only delivering you a message to report for a hearing. 'Hub

[Bell30656]

In Georgia, the process server (Deputy) and the courts won't give you any legal advice.

[treehugger1]

You can generally be served anything with the summons. The complaint (summons) should be the important part. The local law enforcement could probably care less what is in the summons.

And, in my experience it is never unusual to get any information related to how you should respond; pro se or lawyer-up. If one chooses to respond, then one must know how the game is played.

Why not send back your own 'stipulated judgment' for $0.10 per month until you die or declare bankruptcy?

[catleg]

When we got served by the deputies here, the extent of advice was "give these to your lawyer".

[frogger]

The sheriff's department is a paid process server. Part of the filing fee is for service by the sheriff's department. In most areas, you can have the fee removed and use your own server, provided that the server is court approved.

The sheriff's department is (or should be), an impartial party to the process, as they are only being paid to serve. They should not under any circumstances, be giving legal advice.