An Oklahoma bill, if passed, would prohibit those who have been convicted of a violent crime, who has been required to register under the Sex Offenders Registration Act, or who has felony to apply for a process server license or renewal of a license.
Sponsored by Representative Rande Worth and Senator Darrell Weaver, OK HB 1162 was introduced in February 2019. Currently process servers in Oklahoma, in addition to being above 18, ethically and morally fit and a resident of Oklahoma for no less than six months, must be licensed and bonded. The bill would add text to the rules prohibiting certain individuals from applying or being approved for a license or having their license renewed if they are currently licensed:
Any person who has been convicted of a violent crime, as defined in Section 571 of Title 57 of the Oklahoma Statutes, or a crime that requires the person to register pursuant to the Sex Offenders Registration Act in this state or another state shall be prohibited from applying for or obtaining a license to serve process in this state. If a person is currently licensed to serve process in this state and the person has a previous felony conviction for a crime enumerated in Section 571 of Title 57 of the Oklahoma Statutes or a crime that requires the person to register pursuant to the Sex Offenders Registration Act, the person shall be prohibited from applying for a renewal of the license as provided for in subsection C of this section.
The bill also rewords the rule to extend process to all service of process, not just that in civil cases. The updated text would read:
Section 158.1 A. Service and return of process in civil cases of court documents may be by an authorized licensed private process server. The presiding judge of the judicial administrative district in which the county is located, or an associate district judge or district judge of the county as may be designated by the presiding judge, shall be authorized to issue a license to make service of process in civil cases of court documents to persons deemed qualified to do so.
To read the full text of the bill, click here.
