Service of Process, Subpoenas, and Small Claims Actions

Service of Summonses and Complaints

CSU is the State of California acting in its higher education capacity. CSU is governed by the Board of Trustees of the California State University, which is the only proper entity to be named in a civil suit. Individual campuses are not separate legal entities, and cannot appear as parties in any lawsuit.

The Board of Trustees of the California State University may only be served at CSU's Office of General Counsel or through the Office of the Attorney General of the State of California Department of Justice.

The Office of General Counsel is authorized to accept service of process on behalf of the Board of Trustees, individually named Trustees, the Chancellor, and/or the campus Presidents by either personal service or mail service by notice and acknowledgement of receipt in state court actions (Code Civ. Proc. § 415.3) or waiver of service in federal court actions (FRCP 4(d)). The Office of the Attorney General can accept personal service on behalf of the Board of Trustees, but not any individually named defendants. CSU campuses are not authorized to accept service of process on behalf of these parties.

Other than the parties listed above, all other individuals associated with CSU must be served wherever they are located as provided by the appropriate statute.

Service of Subpoenas

A subpoena for the personal appearance of a CSU witness must be served on that witness as provided by the appropriate statute.

A subpoena for CSU business records must be personally served on the custodian of records wherever the records are located within CSU. The Office of General Counsel does not accept service of subpoenas for records other than its own.

Small Claims Actions

Papers relating to small claims actions may be delivered to the involved campus and do not have to be served at the Office of General Counsel. These papers should be delivered to the head of the department involved in the dispute.