[§334-62]  Service of process and papersupon patients.  (a)  Service of process and papers upon a patient in apsychiatric facility or a patient on authorized or unauthorized absence from apsychiatric facility shall be made in the following manner:

(1)  Service of process and papers relating to theinvoluntary hospitalization of the patient shall be made directly andpersonally upon the patient and shall also be made personally or by certifiedmail upon the patient’s guardians and the public defender, the patient’sattorney or court-appointed attorney; otherwise, service upon the patient shallbe incomplete.  A copy of the legal process or paper served on a patient underthis paragraph shall be given to the administrator of the psychiatric facilityor the administrator’s deputy and shall be filed with the records of thepatient.

(2)  Service of process and papers not relating to theinvoluntary hospitalization of the patient shall be made directly andpersonally upon the patient, the patient’s guardians, and the administrator ofthe psychiatric facility or the administrator’s deputy; otherwise, service uponthe patient shall be incomplete and shall not give the issuing court or agencyjurisdiction over the person of the patient.  A legal process or paper servedunder this paragraph shall be filed with the records of the patient, and theadministrator of the psychiatric facility or the administrator’s deputy shallimmediately inform the court or other agency out of which the process or paperissued, in writing, of the date of service and of the mental and physicalcondition of the patient.

(b)  Neither the administrator nor anyoneconnected with a psychiatric facility shall accept service of process or paperson behalf of a patient. [L 1976, c 130, pt of §4; am L 1977, c 76, pt of §3;gen ch 1985]