Personal service may be made anywhere the officer making the service may lawfully go to reach the person to be served.
Art. 1233.Same; Where Made
Book II. Ordinary Proceedings · Title II. Citation and Service of Process · Chapter 2. Service On Persons · Amendment history unavailable · Last verified July 30, 2026
In one sentenceArticle 1233 allows personal service to be made anywhere the officer serving process may lawfully go to reach the person being served, without restricting service to the person's home, workplace, or any other specific location.
Full Text of Art. 1233
Plain-English Summary
Article 1233 removes any geographic limit on where personal service can happen, so long as the location itself is one the officer may lawfully enter. A defendant can be served at home, at work, on the street, at a courthouse, or anywhere else the officer has lawful access — the Code doesn't require the officer to try the defendant's residence first or limit service to any particular setting.
The limit runs the other way: the officer's own right to be present in the location. An officer can't trespass onto private property without permission, or enter a place the law otherwise puts off-limits, just to complete service. Short of that, the breadth of this article makes personal service one of the more flexible tools available for reaching a defendant.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can personal service happen anywhere other than the defendant's home?
Yes. Article 1233 allows personal service anywhere the officer making service may lawfully go, which includes workplaces, public places, or any other location the officer has lawful access to.
Does the officer need permission to enter private property to make service?
The officer must be able to lawfully go to the location. That generally rules out entering property where the officer has no legal right to be, such as trespassing to reach the person.
Is there any location where personal service is off-limits?
Any place the officer isn't lawfully entitled to enter is off-limits, but the article otherwise places no restriction on where within a lawful location service may occur.
Source & verification. Article text is reproduced verbatim from
the Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure (legis.la.gov). Enacted by the Louisiana Legislature.
Last verified July 30, 2026.
· Official source
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