Finding People for Service of Process
What is Service?
Serving papers - also called service of process - means delivering a copy of the papers you filed with the court to start a case to person on the other side. Court rules require that the defendant or respondent be notified about the case, get copies of all the papers you file, and be given time to respond. Utah Rules of Civil Procedure (URCP) 4 governs service of process. See the Service of Process guide for more information about service.
Sometimes you can't find the other side to serve your papers. If you cannot find the party using reasonable diligence, or if you can show the court that the party is avoiding being served, you can ask permission to provide service by publication.
There are a lot of ways to find someone. Be sure to keep a record of everything you try, including dates, so you can tell the court what you did to try to find the person. Remember, you have to show the court you used reasonable diligence. You do not have to try everything in this handout - these are just ideas to help you get started.
Last Known Address
A person has moved may have left a forwarding address. Send an envelope to the last known address and write "ADDRESS CORRECTION REQUESTED / DO NOT FORWARD" on it. If the post office has a forwarding address on file, it will put a correction label on the envelope and return it to you.
Friends, Relatives and Employers
Contact the person's friends or relatives, as well as the current or last known employer and ask if they have a current address.
Online Directories
- AnyWho
- Infobel (includes international directory information)
- InfoSpace
- Lycos People Search
- Switchboard
- Superpages
- US Search
- Yahoo People Search
- ZabaSearch
- 411
Reverse Directories
A reverse directory lets you look up someone by phone number to get an address.
- Polk City Directories: available in many public libraries
- Reverse Phone Book
- InfoSpace
- Phone Disc: available in many public libraries
Internet Search Engines
Use an internet search engine such as Google or Bing to help you search for information.
Utah Division of Motor Vehicles (DMV)
If you certify that you are trying to find the information for a court case, you can request a copy of a person's vehicle record, which will have the name and mailing address of the owner and other information. Use Utah State Tax Commission Form TC-890, Release of Protected Motor Vehicle Information, available at http://tax.utah.gov/forms/current/tc-890.pdf, to request this information.
Utah City and County Tax Departments
Contact the city or county tax department in all cities where you think the person may live. You can find the websites of Utah's cities and counties on the state's website.
Utah County Recorder's Offices
Contact the county recorder's office in all counties where you think the person owns property. You can find the websites of Utah's counties on the state's website.
Utility Companies
Call the utility companies (gas, electric, water) in the cities where you think the person may live.
Military
If you think the person is in the military, contact the military locator service:
- Air Force: 1-210-652-5775
- Army: 1-866-771-6357
- Marines: 1-703-640-3942/43
- Navy: 1-901-874-3388
- Coast Guard: 1-800-842-8740
You can verify someone is in the military by searching the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA) database: https://www.dmdc.osd.mil/appj/scra/scraHome.do.
Incarcerated - Utah State or Municipal Facilities
Search for prisoners in most Utah state and municipal institutions using VINELink (vinelink.com), or call 877-884-8463.
You can also contact the Utah Department of Corrections at 801-576-7000 to request information about an inmate.
Incarcerated - Federal Facilities
Search for prisoners in federal facilities using the Inmate Locator website at http://www.bop.gov/iloc2/LocateInmate.jsp.
Utah Sex Offender Registry
People convicted of certain sex offenses are required to register with the state. A searchable database of registered sex offenders is available online.
Utah Business Entity Search
Search for businesses registered with the Utah Division of Corporations. You may also view principal individuals associated with the business and/or obtain an official Certificate of Existence for the business.
Utah Governmental Immunity Act Database
Address and contact information of State Entities for the purpose of serving legal process.
Utah Registered Principal Search (RPS)
Search for businesses associated with an individual.
Utah Trade or Professional Organizations
Members of a regulated trade or profession, such as a barber, dentist, nurse, doctor, or private investigator, may be certified, licensed, or registered through a state agency.
Utah's Licensee Lookup and Verification System database lets you search many of these licenses at once at https://secure.utah.gov/llv/llv.
A list of license types is available online at http://www.dopl.utah.gov/licensing/index.html.
Utah Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) & Central Filing Search System
UCC records are documents related to secured property. The Central Filing System (CFS) identifies farm products that are subject to a security interest in Utah.
Utah State Court Records
Search court records from earlier cases for current address information.
Social Security Death Index (SSDI)
Provides the month and year of a person's death, along with the person's social security number. The SSDI is available online for free at http://ssdi.rootsweb.com/ or http://www.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=3693.
Death Certificates - Utah
Order a copy of a Utah death certificate using your credit card, or download the form to request the record from the Office of Vital Records and Statistics from their website. Please note that only certain people can order death certificates, and identification is required.
Death Certificates - Other Than Utah
Where to Write for Vital Records provides a list of vital records contacts for each state and U.S. territory.