Process Serving in Mississippi

Mississippi’s trial courts include general-jurisdiction Circuit and Chancery Courts and limited-jurisdiction County, Justice, and Municipal Courts. Circuit Courts hear civil lawsuits; Chancery Courts hear matters including equity, family, guardianship, and land disputes; County Courts share jurisdiction in some civil matters and have a stated jurisdictional limit of $200,000. Justice Courts hear small-claims civil cases up to $3,500. The Mississippi Rules of Civil Procedure govern civil actions in Circuit, Chancery, and County Courts, subject to the rules’ stated exceptions; Justice Courts have separate rules. Service requirements, available methods, and response dates can vary with the court, the type of case, the defendant, and any applicable statute or court order. Check the governing rule and case-specific instructions before arranging service. Court Runner USA connects you with process servers who serve papers across Mississippi.

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

Sources:

• Mississippi Rules of Civil Procedure
• Mississippi Judiciary: Trial Courts
• Mississippi Judiciary: Justice Court

For a civil action governed by the Mississippi Rules of Civil Procedure, service may be made by a person who is at least 18 and is not a party, except where the rule provides for service by the sheriff or publication. At a party’s or attorney’s written request, the sheriff of the county where the defendant resides or is found may serve process. The rule does not state a separate license, appointment, or state-residency requirement for an eligible private process server (M.R.C.P. 4(a)(1), 4(c)(1)–(2), 4(c)(4)). Check special rules for the court and proceeding.

Sources:

• Mississippi Rules of Civil Procedure

The summons and complaint must be served together. An individual may be served personally, or through an agent authorized by appointment or law. If personal service cannot be made with reasonable diligence, a copy may be left at the person’s usual abode with the spouse or a willing family member over 16; a copy must then be mailed first class, postage prepaid, to the defendant at that location. This residence service is complete on the tenth day after mailing (M.R.C.P. 4(d)(1)).

First-class mail with two copies of the prescribed notice and acknowledgment and a prepaid return envelope is available for defendants in the classes specified by the rule; service is made by filing the executed acknowledgment. If no acknowledgment arrives within 20 days after mailing, another permitted method may be used (M.R.C.P. 4(c)(3)). For a person outside Mississippi, certified mail, return receipt requested, is permitted; for a natural person, the envelope must be marked “restricted delivery.” Service is complete on delivery shown by the return receipt or on return of an envelope marked “Refused” (M.R.C.P. 4(c)(5)).

Publication is limited to Chancery Court proceedings and other proceedings where a statute authorizes it, and requires the specified sworn showing that the defendant is a nonresident or cannot be found after diligent inquiry. Publication is once a week for three successive weeks; the defendant has 30 days from first publication to appear. If an address is provided, the clerk must also mail a copy as the rule directs (M.R.C.P. 4(c)(4)). Corporations, partnerships, and covered associations may be served by delivery to an officer, managing or general agent, or another agent authorized by appointment or law. The rule names the recipients for the State, counties, municipalities, and other governmental entities (M.R.C.P. 4(d)(4)–(8)).

Sources:

• Mississippi Rules of Civil Procedure

The summons and complaint must be served within 120 days after the complaint is filed. If service is not made within that time and the party responsible cannot show good cause, the action must be dismissed without prejudice as to that defendant (M.R.C.P. 4(h)). A defendant generally must serve an answer within 30 days after service of the summons and complaint, or within a time directed under Rule 4 (M.R.C.P. 12(a)). For publication, the rule gives the defendant 30 days from the first publication to appear and defend (M.R.C.P. 4(c)(4)(B)). For certain listed Chancery matters, Rule 4(i) specifies when the matter may be tried after service or publication and provides that no answer is required unless ordered; check whether that provision applies. Rule 6 governs computation of rule deadlines and how weekends, legal holidays, and courthouse closures affect the final day (M.R.C.P. 6(a), 4(i)).

Sources:

• Mississippi Rules of Civil Procedure

A party to the action cannot serve under the private-process-server provision, which requires a nonparty who is at least 18; sheriff service and publication are separately provided for (M.R.C.P. 4(c)(1)–(2), 4(c)(4)). Special recipients and additional delivery requirements apply to unmarried infants and certain mentally incompetent or otherwise incapable defendants. For example, service on an unmarried infant is made on a listed parent, guardian, or caregiver, and if the infant is 12 or older the infant must also be served. Rule 4 also provides for service on confined incompetent persons and, in specified circumstances, appointment of a guardian ad litem (M.R.C.P. 4(d)(2)). The rule specifies service recipients for the State, counties, municipalities, and other governmental entities (M.R.C.P. 4(d)(5)–(8)). The cited civil rules do not state a general prohibition on serving process on Sundays or holidays; Rule 6 addresses deadline computation, not a general day-of-service prohibition. Confirm any applicable statute, local rule, or case-specific order before serving on a Sunday or holiday.

Sources:

• Mississippi Rules of Civil Procedure

The person serving process must promptly make proof to the court. If the server is not a sheriff, the server must make an affidavit of service; the rule does not specify a required affidavit format or state a general notarization requirement. For first-class mail and acknowledgment service, the sender files the acknowledgment received. For certified-mail service outside the state, the sender files the return receipt or the returned envelope marked “Refused.” Failure to make proof does not itself affect the validity of service (M.R.C.P. 4(f)). The sheriff must mark the date the summons was received and return it to the issuing clerk within 30 days of receipt (M.R.C.P. 4(c)(2)).

Sources:

• Mississippi Rules of Civil Procedure