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In 2013, a bill was introduced in the Texas legislature to allow substituted service through social media websites. We wrote about if for this blog in August 2018. The 2013 bill was never referred to committee, and the subject was not addressed again until last year when the Texas Legislature enacted Senate Bill 891. This bill directed the Texas Supreme Court to adopt rules under Section 17.033, Civil Practice and Remedies Code that would “provide for the substituted service of citation by an electronic communication sent to a defendant through a social media presence.”
According to the high court’s Order, “the court may authorize service…in any other manner, including electronically by social media, email, or other technology, that…will be reasonably effective to give the defendant notice of the suit.” In deciding to authorize substituted service in this manner, the court may consider such factors as: the defendant maintains a social media page on the specified website; the profile on the social media page is indeed the profile of the defendant; the defendant regularly accesses the social media account; and the defendant can reasonably be expected to receive actual notice if the electronic communication is sent to the defendant’s social media account.
The amendments will take effect on December 31, but public comments submitted to the court until December 1, will be considered if any changes to the amendments are deemed necessary.