Florida Alias Summons

Florida Alias Summons

If the defendant has not been served by your court date, the judge will continue your case to allow more time for service before retrying your case. To serve the defendant, you will need to fill out a “alias summons.” A summons is a court form that instructs the defendant on when and where to appear in court. An alias summons is simply the name given to a summons when the defendant was unable to be served the first time. To serve the defendant with an alias summons, proceed in the same manner as you did with the sheriff’s or clerk’s offices.

Law and Legal Definition of Alias Summons

A summons is a court document that informs a person that a complaint has been filed against them. It can be served by a sheriff or another authorized person for process service, known as a Process Server. An alias summons is a summons served after the first attempt at serving a summons fails. It is also known as a pluries summons, which is a more general term for an additional summons.

The summons contains the names of both the plaintiff and the defendant, the title and file number of the case, the court’s name and address, the name and address of the plaintiff’s attorney, and instructions on how to file a required response to the complaint within a certain time (such as 30 days after service), usually with a form on the back on which information of service of summons and complaint is to be filled out and signed by the process server. To begin the time limit for the defendant to respond, a copy of the summons must be served on each defendant at the same time as the complaint. Following service on the defendants, the original summons, along with the “return of service” proving service of the summons and complaint, is filed with the court to demonstrate that each defendant was served.

Follow this link for a sample of an Alias Summons, as provided by Clerk and Comptroller Michelle R. Miller’s Office in Port St. Lucie FL.