I was served a justice court citation by an attorney's office representing a collection agency. I was served by a contractor service and not a constable or any other officer of the law. He did not have me sign anything stating that I did receive the citation. Should I answer the citation to the court or is this a scare tactic used by the attorney.

You should answer it, the private contractor will file an affidaivt stating service was made to you. File your notice of intent to defend.

I agree.

Yes, most civil service is done by private service people or companies, I did it for some time myself. They are not required to make you sign, and depending on the type of service and your state rules, can be served various ways.

So you appear to have been served, the process service fills out paper work and gives to the court that they served you.

So please take this seriously.

I was served a justice court citation by an attorney's office representing a collection agency. I was served by a contractor service and not a constable or any other officer of the law. He did not have me sign anything stating that I did receive the citation. Should I answer the citation to the court or is this a scare tactic used by the attorney.


You do not sign anything when you are served with legal papers BUT in Texas people wishing to be process servers must take state mandated continuing education and training (I believe the course is funded and conducted by the State), must be fingerprinted and have a full background check.

The Attorney can't simply grab someone off the street in order to serve process.

If the server does NOT have this training, service is invalid.

You will have to verify that the person who served you is, in fact, recognized by the State of Texas as a process server.

I would not take a chance that this is not legal service and would, in fact, submit a reply/answer, part of which would be a request for verification of the process server's credentials.

Thank you all so much for the replies. I will answer the court.