Service of process on society.
1. Every society authorized to do business in this state shall appoint in writing the Commissioner and each successor in office to be its true and lawful attorney upon whom all lawful process in any action or proceeding against it must be served, and shall agree in the writing that any lawful process against it which is served on the Commissioner is of the same legal force and validity as if served upon the society, and that the authority continues in force so long as any liability remains outstanding in this state. A copy of the appointment, certified by the Commissioner, constitutes sufficient evidence of the appointment and must be admitted in evidence with the same validity as the original.
2. Service must be made only upon the Commissioner, or if absent, upon the person in charge of his office. It must be made in duplicate and constitutes sufficient service upon the society. When legal process against a society is served upon the Commissioner, he shall forthwith forward one of the duplicate copies by registered mail, prepaid, directed to the secretary or corresponding officer.
3. No such service may require a society to file its answer, pleading or defense in less than 30 days from the date of mailing the copy of the service to a society.
4. Legal process must not be served upon a society except in the manner provided in this section.
5. At the time of serving any process upon the Commissioner, the plaintiff or complainant in the action shall pay to the Commissioner a fee of $5.
6. For the purposes of this section, “process” includes only the summons or the initial documents served in an action. The Commissioner is not required to serve any documents after the initial service of process.
Last modified: February 27, 2006