[§485A-610]  Service of process.  (a)  A
consent to service of process complying with this section shall be signed and
filed in the form required by a rule or order under this chapter.  A consent
appointing the commissioner the person's agent for service of process in a
noncriminal action or proceeding against the person, or the person's successor
or personal representative under this chapter or a rule adopted or order issued
under this chapter after the consent is filed, has the same force and validity as
if the service were made personally on the person filing the consent.  A person
that has filed a consent complying with this subsection in connection with a
previous application for registration or notice filing need not file an
additional consent.



(b)  If a person, including a nonresident of
this State, engages in an act, practice, or course of business prohibited or
made actionable by this chapter or a rule adopted or order issued under this
chapter and the person has not filed a consent to service of process under
subsection (a), the act, practice, or course of business constitutes the
appointment of the commissioner as the person's agent for service of process in
a noncriminal action or proceeding against the person or the person's successor
or personal representative.



(c)  Service under subsection (a) or (b) may be
made by providing a copy of the process to the office of the commissioner;
provided that it shall not be effective unless:



(1)  The plaintiff, which may be the commissioner,
promptly sends notice of the service and a copy of the process, return receipt
requested, to the defendant or respondent at the address set forth in the
consent to service of process or, if a consent to service of process has not
been filed, at the last known address, or takes other reasonable steps to give
notice; and



(2)  The plaintiff files an affidavit of compliance
with this subsection in the action or proceeding on or before the return day of
the process, if any, or within the time that the court, or the commissioner in
a proceeding before the commissioner, allows.



(d)  Service pursuant to subsection (c) may be
used in a proceeding before the commissioner or by the commissioner in a civil
action in which the commissioner is the moving party.



(e)  If process is served under subsection (c),
the court, or the commissioner in a proceeding before the commissioner, shall
order continuances as are necessary or appropriate to afford the defendant or
respondent reasonable opportunity to defend.



(f)  If any process or pleadings mentioned in
this chapter are served upon the commissioner, it shall be by duplicate copies,
one of which shall be filed in the office of the commissioner and another
immediately forwarded by the commissioner by registered mail to the principal
office of the issuer against which the process or pleadings are directed. [L
2006, c 229, pt of §1]