SECTION 85:25-1-5. Service of pleadings

(a)   Service of an initial pleading. Every application in which a party is named a respondent, and every complaint, shall be served by the State Banking Department on each respondent named therein by mail accompanied by a notice of hearing stating the date on which the cause is set for hearing, which shall be no less than ten (10) days after notice is mailed. Service hereunder shall be required in addition to provisions of this Chapter requiring service by publication.

(b)   Service of subsequent pleadings. Every pleading after the initial pleading shall be served by the party filing it by regular mail upon all parties of record. Parties of record shall include the applicant, all named respondents, and all persons having theretofore entered an appearance in the cause, in person or by an attorney.

(c)   Certificate of service. Every pleading required to be served by regular mail shall contain a list of persons served and the certificate of a party or his attorney, that on the date stated a copy of the pleading was mailed, postage prepaid, or delivered, to each person listed. Any pleading required to be served by regular mail may be served by leaving a copy thereof at the principal office of the party, or of the attorney for the party.

(d)   Service not jurisdictional. Service prescribed by this Chapter shall not be jurisdictional except where so prescribed by the Constitution or by Statute. Failure to comply with the provisions of this Chapter as to mailing and service of notice shall not deprive the Board or Commissioner of jurisdiction of the proceeding, but shall be grounds for appropriate relief as the Commissioner may order.

[Source: Transferred from 625:1-1-5 (see Editor’s Note at beginning of this Chapter)]