I have received a summons to respond to how does this work no dates or do not have to appear is stated:confused:

The summons must be asking you to do something specific, can you provide a bit more detail? There should also be contact information (such as the address or phone number of the court clerk's office) in there somewhere.

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Originally Posted by JimGunther

The summons must be asking you to do something specific, can you provide a bit more detail? There should also be contact information (such as the address or phone number of the court clerk's office) in there somewhere.

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In my area the Summons is not necessarily filed in the Clerk's Office until service has been accomplished, a complaint has been provided and an answer made. The Court Clerk possibly will have no idea what the OP is talking about. In fact, in my area the Court Clerk's address and phone number do not appear on the Summons, only the name/address/phone number of the Attorney.

Obviously different in your area.

Contact the person who had the summons delivered to you - probably an Attorney's Office.

Hello:

A summons IS a "..mandate requiring the appearance of said defendant in the said action, under penalty of having a judgment entered against him for failure to do so."**

Therefore, I PROMISE you there IS A TIME and PLACE where you're required to be. I cannot believe that they failed to mention where that place might be. I cannot believe that you are left to guess.

I'm willing to be wrong. But if I am, we're in worse trouble than I ever could have imagined.

excon

** Barron's Law Dictionary

Sure a summons can be issued by an attorney's office, that's why I said information "such as" the clerk'sffice. In other words there has to be contact information on the thing so that you can find out what it is all about.

And I am unaware of this information ever apeparing on a Summons, even AFTER the case number/index number is assigned. Again, it may very well be different in MD.

"There should also be contact information (such as the address or phone number of the court clerk's office)"

A summons that has no information about who sent it? That seems very odd to me. There must at least be a return address on the envelope. Every summons I ever received stated who it was from and what I was supposed to do. If there is doubt, contact the sender and get the matter clarified.

I never heard of a mailed summons (other than follow up on nail and mail or sub service).

I don't know necessarily that there is an envelope.

For OP - how did this come into your possession?

There very possibly is no date/time to appear on the paper. It should give the time requirements for responding, though. A summons doesn't call you into Court - it can very well require you to respond in order to avoid a Judgment.

OP needs to come back with more info.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by excon

Hello:

A summons IS a "..mandate requiring the appearance of said defendant in the said action, under penalty of having a judgment entered against him for failure to do so."**

Therefore, I PROMISE you there IS A TIME and PLACE where you're required to be. I cannot believe that they failed to mention where that place might be. I cannot believe that you are left to guess.

I'm willing to be wrong. But if I am, we're in worse trouble than I ever could have imagined.

excon

** Barron's Law Dictionary

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There is a thread which I can't find right now in which someone received a "summons" which, in fact, was a (sort of) threat to proceed, serve a Summons and obtain a Judgment if "Plaintiff" did not respond. Was, in fact, a sham, attempt at collecting a debt (which it said in small letters at the bottom).

Can't recall the name of the collection agency or the State - ?

Every summons I received over the years from the Maryland district court (the lower level state court) was by regular mail. The circuit court (higher level than district) always sent the sheriff out to serve their summons. In the various civil matters I got involved in, it seemed to be a mixed bag depending on the nature of the proceedings at that point.

But all of these documents were very specific as to who sent it and what it was about. If I got a summons without contact information (information as to who sent it), I wouldn't obey it. And yes, I have heard of fraudlent summonses and other documents that look official but are not floating around.

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Originally Posted by JimGunther

Every summons I received over the years from the Maryland district court (the lower level state court) was by regular mail. The circuit court (higher level than district) always sent the sheriff out to serve their summons. In the various civil matters I got involved in, it seemed to be a mixed bag depending on the nature of the proceedings at that point.

But all of these documents were very specific as to who sent it and what it was about. If I got a summons without contact information (information as to who sent it), I wouldn't obey it. And yes, I have heard of fraudlent summonses and other documents that look official but are not floating around.

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When you say "from the Maryland District Court" are you referring to a Summons with the Maryland District Court as the Plaintiff or a matter which was filed in the Maryland District Court?

I still don't know how the Court Clerk would be able to answer questions but, yes, you are right and I am wrong. Maryland DOES allow service by US Mail, something NY does not allow except for Small Claims Cases.

I'm referring to a criminal summons where I either arrested someone or was directed to appear at a violation of probation hearing when I was a PO, and was being advised of the court date. The point I was trying to make, though, was in response to the PO's question-there should be some information somewhere that allows the person to contact the sender to see what it is all about.

In NY if you are required to appear it's a Subpoena. We are talking about two different things in my State which is probably the confusion between us.

A summons requires an answer "here," not a personal appearance.