Justice Lucy Billings

Read Full-Text Decision

Petitioner challenged respondents' denial of his process server license renewal application, arguing that city administrative code provisions regulating process servers, upon which denial was based, violated the New York Constitution and Municipal Home Rule Law. Petitioner's renewal application was denied after finding that he violated regulations by failing to serve compliant process and swearing falsely that he had done so. The court first ruled that the administrative codes were not unconstitutional because they did not prohibit court documents from being served by any non-party who was 18 or older but merely required licensure for any person doing so more than five times a year. The court also noted that state law permitted local legislatures to impose greater consumer protections on process servers. The court also rejected petitioner's contention that he was entitled to a pre-deprivation hearing, holding that he had no property interest beyond the expiration of his prior license. However, the court vacated denial for a new determination, finding that only two of the 25 alleged violations had adjudication of inadequate service–which the court held might have been insufficient to constitute regulatory violations.

Justice Lucy Billings