This bill amends several sections of Florida Statutes related to the service of process, primarily focusing on the role of sheriffs in this process. It mandates that all process must be served by the sheriff of the county where the individual to be served is located, eliminating previous provisions that allowed other individuals, such as special process servers, to serve process. Additionally, the bill authorizes sheriffs to serve spouses with substituted service at any location within the county, further restricting the authority of other individuals to serve process. The bill also repeals sections related to the certification and appointment of special process servers, effectively centralizing the responsibility of serving process with county sheriffs.

Furthermore, the bill makes conforming amendments to other statutes to align with these changes, including the repeal of sections that previously governed the certification of process servers and their authority. It reenacts a section related to service of process in connection with the Florida International Commercial Arbitration Act to incorporate the new requirements. The bill is set to take effect on July 1, 2025.

Statutes affected:
S 826 Filed: 48.021, 48.031, 48.27, 48.29, 48.31, 113.07, 316.29545