§ 58-24-170. Service of process.
§58‑24‑170. Service of process.
(a) Every societyauthorized to do business in this State shall appoint in writing theCommissioner and each successor in office to be its true and lawful attorneyupon whom all lawful process in any action or proceeding against it shall beserved, and shall agree in such writing that any lawful process against itwhich is served on said attorney shall be of the same legal force and validityas if served upon the society, and that the authority shall continue in forceso long as any liability remains outstanding in this State. Copies of suchappointment, certified by said Commissioner, shall be deemed sufficientevidence thereof and shall be admitted in evidence with the same force andeffect as the original thereof might be admitted.
(b) Service shall onlybe made upon the Commissioner, or if absent, upon the person in charge of theCommissioner's office. It shall be made in duplicate and shall constitutesufficient service upon the society. When legal process against a society isserved upon the Commissioner, the Commissioner shall forthwith forward one ofthe duplicate copies by certified or registered mail, prepaid, directed to thesecretary or corresponding officer. No such service shall require a society tofile its answer, pleading or defense in less than 30 days from the date ofmailing the copy of the service to a society. Legal process shall not beserved upon a society except in the manner herein provided. At the time ofserving any process upon the Commissioner, the plaintiff or complainant in theaction shall pay to the Commissioner a fee in the amount set in G.S. 58‑16‑30.(1987, c. 483, s. 2; 1989, c. 645, s. 4; 1991, c. 720, s. 4.)