A plaintiff should ordinarily attempt to obtain a waiver of service of process under Fed. R.
Civ. P. 4(d) before attempting service of process. If a request for waiver is unsuccessful
or is deemed inappropriate, the Court prefers parties to use the methods of service provided
in Fed. R. Civ. P. 4 before using certified mail service under Ohio law. This Rule is
confined to the domestic service of the summons and complaint in a civil action in this
Court by certified mail or ordinary mail, pursuant to the law of Ohio, and is not intended
to affect the procedure for other methods of service permitted by the Federal Rules of Civil
Procedure or Ohio law. If a party elects to use Ohio certified mail service, it must be done
as follows:
(a) The attorney of record or the serving party shall address the envelope to the person to
be served and shall place a copy of the summons and complaint or other document to be
served in the envelope. The attorney of record or the serving party shall also affix to the back
of the envelope the domestic return receipt card, PS Form 3811 (the “green card”) showing the
name of sender as “Clerk, United States District Court, Southern District of Ohio” at the
appropriate address, with the certified mail number affixed to the front of the envelope and the
case number shown in a conspicuous location on the return receipt card. The instructions to the
delivering postal employee shall require the employee to show to whom delivered, date of
delivery, and address where delivered. The attorney of record or the serving party shall affix
adequate postage to the envelope and deliver it to the Clerk who shall cause it to be mailed.
(b) The Clerk shall enter the fact of mailing on the docket and make a similar entry when
the return receipt is received. If the envelope is returned with an endorsement showing
failure of delivery, the Clerk shall promptly notify, electronically or by regular mail,
the attorney of record or the serving party. The Clerk shall enter the fact of notification
on the docket and shall file the return receipt or returned envelope in the records of the
action.
(c) If service of process is refused or was unclaimed, the Clerk shall promptly notify the
attorney of record or the serving party. If the attorney of record or the serving party,
after notification, files with the Clerk a request for ordinary mail service accompanied
by an envelope containing the summons and complaint or other document to be served
with adequate postage affixed to the envelope, the Clerk shall send the envelope to the
defendant at the address set forth in the caption of the complaint or at the address set
forth in instructions to the Clerk. The attorney of record or the serving party shall also
prepare for the Clerk’s use a certificate of mailing that shall be signed by the Clerk or
a Deputy Clerk and filed at the time of mailing. The attorney of record or the serving
party shall also endorse the answer day (twenty-one days after the date of mailing
shown on the certificate of mailing) on the summons sent by ordinary mail. If the
ordinary mail is returned undelivered, the Clerk shall promptly notify the attorney of
record or the serving party electronically or by mail.
(d) The attorney of record or the serving party shall be responsible for determining whether
service has been made under the provisions of Ohio R. Civ. P. 4.1 and this Rule.
