Process Serving in Connecticut

Connecticut’s Superior Court is the sole court of original jurisdiction for all causes of action, except those over which the probate courts have original jurisdiction by statute (C.G.S. § 51-164s). A civil action is commenced by legal process: a writ of summons or attachment that describes the parties, the court, the return day and the date and place for filing an appearance, accompanied by the complaint and signed by a commissioner of the Superior Court or a judge or clerk (§ 52-45a). Service is governed by Chapter 896 of the General Statutes, which directs process to a state marshal, constable or other proper officer and ties service and return to the return day. The Connecticut Practice Book sets the time to appear and plead. Court Runner USA connects you with process servers who serve papers across Connecticut.

General information, not legal advice. Last checked October 2026.

Sources:

• Conn. Gen. Stat. § 51-164s
• Conn. Gen. Stat. Chapter 896 — Civil Process, Service and Time for Return
• Connecticut Practice Book
• CT Judicial Branch Law Libraries — Service of Process guide

Under C.G.S. § 52-50(a), all process must be directed to a state marshal, a constable or other proper officer authorized by statute, or, subject to subsection (b), to an indifferent person. As amended in 2023, § 52-50(b) provides that process may not be directed to an indifferent person unless a statute authorizes it, and an indifferent person who serves process knowing that he or she is not authorized commits a class A misdemeanor. The official civil summons (JD-CV-1) is addressed “To: Any proper officer.”

State marshals provide legal execution and service of process as independent contractors paid on a fee-for-service basis (§ 6-38a). A state marshal may, on a special occasion, depute any proper person in writing on the back of the process to serve it; that person must then swear before a justice of the peace that the process was faithfully served (§ 52-53). Support enforcement officers and certain state investigators may serve specified support matters (§ 52-50(c)-(d)). Once a case is under way, later pleadings and papers may be served by any indifferent person (Practice Book § 10-17). Original process in Connecticut is therefore normally served by a state marshal or another proper officer rather than by a private process server.

Sources:

• Conn. Gen. Stat. §§ 52-50, 52-53
• Conn. Gen. Stat. § 6-38a — State marshals
• JD-CV-1 Summons — Civil
• Connecticut Practice Book § 10-17

Except as otherwise provided, process in a civil action is served by leaving a true and attested copy, including the complaint, with the defendant or at the defendant’s usual place of abode in Connecticut (C.G.S. §§ 52-54, 52-57(a)). Private corporations are served on a listed officer, a general or managing agent or manager, a director resident in Connecticut, or the person in charge of the business or of the principal office. A corporation’s registered agent is also its agent for service, and copies may be left with the agent or at an individual agent’s usual place of abode (§§ 52-57(c), 33-663, 33-929).

Partnerships with no resident partners, voluntary associations without resident officers, and nonresidents subject to the long-arm statute may be served through the Secretary of the State, with copies mailed as the statutes require (§§ 52-57(d)-(e), 52-59b(c)). Towns, cities and other public bodies are served on the officials listed in § 52-57(b). A person subject to Connecticut jurisdiction may be served out of state in the same manner as in-state service by a person authorized under local law (§ 52-57a). Where a party lives out of state or is unknown, the court may make an order of notice, which may call for publication (§§ 52-68, 52-52).

Sources:

• Conn. Gen. Stat. Chapter 896 (§§ 52-52 to 52-68)
• Conn. Gen. Stat. §§ 33-663, 33-929

Process returnable to the Superior Court must be served at least 12 days, inclusive, before the return day (C.G.S. § 52-46) and returned to the clerk at least six days before the return day, except in summary process actions and petitions for parentage and support (§ 52-46a). The return day may be any Tuesday, and all process must be made returnable no later than two months after the date of the process (§ 52-48). Under § 52-593a, a claim is not lost to an expiring limitation period if the process is personally delivered to a state marshal, constable or other proper officer within the period and served within 30 days of delivery.

The defendant’s appearance should generally be filed on or before the second day after the return day, and the return day is not a hearing date (Practice Book § 3-2; JD-CV-1 instructions). Pleadings, including motions addressed to the complaint, must advance within 30 days from the return day, with three days in summary process and fifteen days in mortgage foreclosure actions (Practice Book § 10-8).

Sources:

• Conn. Gen. Stat. §§ 52-46, 52-46a, 52-48
• Conn. Gen. Stat. § 52-593a
• Connecticut Practice Book §§ 3-2, 10-8
• JD-CV-1 Summons — Civil

Process may be served only by a state marshal, constable or other proper officer, or by an indifferent person where a statute authorizes it; knowingly serving without authority is a class A misdemeanor (C.G.S. § 52-50). Process served by an officer who has not given the bond required by law abates (§ 52-51), and officers serve within their precincts, subject to the rules for completing service elsewhere (§ 52-56). A person deputized by a state marshal must not fill out the process or direct anyone to fill it out (§ 52-53).

Section 52-71, which made process void if issued or served on Sunday, has been repealed, and the statutes cited here do not set another general Sunday or holiday prohibition for civil service. The return day in a summary process action may be any weekday, Monday through Saturday, except a holiday (§ 52-48(a)). Special defendants have their own rules: municipalities and municipal employees are served through the town or city clerk and the officials listed in § 52-57(b), and separate sections govern actions against the State (§ 52-64) and service on nonresident motor vehicle operators (§§ 52-62, 52-63).

Sources:

• Conn. Gen. Stat. Chapter 896 (§§ 52-50 to 52-71)
• CT Judicial Branch Law Libraries — Service of Process guide

In Connecticut, service is proved by the serving officer’s return. When service is made at the defendant’s usual place of abode, the officer must note in the return the address where the attested copy was left (C.G.S. § 52-54). Where a partnership is served through the Secretary of the State, the return must include a statement of the required mailing and the receipt (§ 52-57(d)). To rely on the § 52-593a savings rule, the officer endorses under oath on the return the date the process was delivered for service. A person specially deputized by a state marshal must swear before a justice of the peace that the process was faithfully served, and the justice certifies the oath on the process (§ 52-53).

After service by a proper officer, the original papers and the officer’s return of service are filed with the clerk (JD-CV-1 instructions) at least six days before the return day (§ 52-46a). Publication under an order of notice is proved by the return of an officer authorized to serve process or by the affidavit of any person showing the publication was made as directed (§ 52-52(b)). The statutes cited here do not state whether an ordinary marshal’s return must be notarized.

Sources:

• Conn. Gen. Stat. §§ 52-46a, 52-52, 52-53, 52-54, 52-57
• Conn. Gen. Stat. § 52-593a
• JD-CV-1 Summons — Civil