Ind. Allen Cnty. Fam. Local Rule LR02-TR4-4

A. Summons, Complaint and Appearance. The party filing the initial pleadings

(summons, complaint, appearance, etc.) shall file by way of the Indiana E-filing

System and pursuant to Trial Rules regarding service and e-filing.

(1) By Certified Mail, Private Process, Sheriff (excluding the Allen County

Sheriff), Publication and other Methods. The initiating party must file a

Certificate of Issuance of Summons. If the certified mail service of process

is utilized, the initiating party must cause the green return receipt card to the

be returned to the initiating party, not returned to the Clerk.

(2) By Allen County Sheriff. Once the signed Summons is returned from the

Clerk and the fee for Service of Process by Sheriff has been paid to the

Clerk, it is the initiating party’s obligation to deliver the document(s) to the

Allen County Sheriff to be served. It is the requesting party’s responsibility to

provide the Allen County Sheriff with three copies of any document(s) to be

served along with a proof of payment for this service. Documents may be

hand-delivered or mailed to the Allen County Sheriff. See T.R. 4.12.

Once the document(s) are served by the Allen County Sheriff, the Allen County Sheriff

shall forward the document(s) to the Clerk for entry into the Chronological Case

Summary.

If the Allen County Sheriff service method is utilized, the initiating party is not required

to file a Return of Service.

B. Certificate of Issuance of Summons. See applicable Trial Rules on E-Filing.

Once service is initiated, a Certificate of Issuance of Summons must be filed. See

Appendix A(1).

C. Return of Service. After proof of service is returned to the initiating party, a

Return of Service must be filed so that it will appear on the Chronological Case

Summary. (See above exception, under A(2)). See Appendix A(2). Note: if e-filing the

Return of Service, the file must specify in the comment field the name of the

document(s), the party’s name who service was attempted on, and an indication

whether service was either served or not served.

D. Serving Non-Registered Persons. A person who has not registered or

otherwise cannot access the Indiana Electronic Filing System but who is entitled to

service of paper or pleading in a matter shall be served in accordance with the

applicable Trial Rule regarding service.

Adopted effective November 1, 2021.