The Judicial Branch Certification Commission (or JBCC) in Texas has recently been instructed to create and recommend a new code of ethics that will apply to every profession that the organization regulates. This recommendation will then go to the Supreme Court and will of course cover process servers.
The Texas Process Servers Association responded to this by alerting its members by e-mail to the 30 day comment period that ended on March 13th.
The code of conduct covers the following points:
- Respect must be shown by the process server
- Returns must always be accurate
- Process servers must not work in any other capacity for the law firms that they are serving documents for
- Process servers must always remain completely objective
- Process servers must always continue their education in order to improve their service
Interestingly, a less obvious aspect of this code of conduct states that process servers must not serve in a suit. The reason for this is reportedly that the suit could: ’cause a distinct appearance of impropriety’. It also states that the process servers must never over exaggerate their status with the court in a bid to try and intimidate the defendant.
Many of the aspects of this code are the same as they are for many other states. For instance, process servers are forbidden from carrying out their role while wearing police uniforms or while displaying law enforcement badges. The JBCC hasn’t yet stated what penalties will be incurred should process servers ignore any aspect of the code of ethics.
Overall this is a good thing for the process server industry. By encouraging ethical and sensible behavior among process servers, it should ultimately only serve to improve the reputation of servers as a whole as well as to make the process of serving a smoother one.
