Motorists and Evasive Defendants:
Alaska law provides alternative methods when personal service is challenging. For instance, to serve a non-resident owner of a motor vehicle (often in cases of traffic collisions involving non-residents), the summons can be served via the Department of Motor Vehicles as a statutory agent?.
If the defendant cannot be located for personal service, Rule 4 permits alternate service with court approval, such as posting the notice on the Alaska Court System’s legal notice website or by publication?.
These methods are used only after demonstrating that standard service efforts have been unsuccessful. Documentation according to your company policy will insure seamless integration on behalf of your client surrouding alternative service needs and requirements.
For this reason, it is imperative to log beginning and ending mileage, date, and time of each endeavor – both when departing for the endeavor, when arriving at the subject location, and the result of each endeavor’s attempt.
Software that logs this information transparently and tracks GPS locations in real time offers a bulletproof method for ensuring compliance with the statutory requirements for alternative service.