(a) Statutes not abrogated. — The provisions of this Rule do not abrogate any statute permitting or requiring service on a person.
Rule 2-124.Process — Persons to be served
Circuit Court · Last amended April 1, 2023 · Last verified July 13, 2026
In one sentenceTells a plaintiff exactly whom to hand the papers to depending on whether the defendant is an individual, a business entity, a government body, or the United States.
Full Text of Rule 2-124
(b) Individual. — Service is made upon an individual by serving the individual or an agent authorized by appointment or by law to receive service of process for the individual.
(c) Individual under disability. — Service is made upon an individual under disability by serving the individual and, in addition, by serving the parent, guardian, or other person having care or custody of the person or estate of the individual under disability.
(d) Corporation. — Service is made upon a corporation, incorporated association, or joint stock company by serving its resident agent, president, secretary, or treasurer. If the corporation, incorporated association, or joint stock company has no resident agent or if a good faith attempt to serve the resident agent, president, secretary, or treasurer has failed, service may be made by serving the manager, any director, vice president, assistant secretary, assistant treasurer, or other person expressly or impliedly authorized to receive service of process.
(e) General partnership. — Service made upon a general partnership sued in its group name in an action pursuant to Code, Courts Article, § 6-406 by serving any general partner.
(f) Limited partnership. — Service is made upon a limited partnership by serving its resident agent. If the limited partnership has no resident agent or if a good faith attempt to serve the resident agent has failed, service may be made upon any general partner or other person expressly or impliedly authorized to receive service of process.
(g) Limited liability partnership. — Service is made upon a limited liability partnership by serving its resident agent. If the limited liability partnership has no resident agent or if a good faith attempt to serve the resident agent has failed, service may be made upon any other person expressly or impliedly authorized to receive service of process.
(h) Limited liability company. — Service is made upon a limited liability company by serving its resident agent. If the limited liability company has no resident agent or if a good faith attempt to serve the resident agent has failed, service may be made upon any member or other person expressly or impliedly authorized to receive service of process.
(i) Unincorporated association. — Service is made upon an unincorporated association sued in its group name pursuant to Code, Courts Article, § 6-406 by serving any officer or member of its governing board. If there are no officers or if the association has no governing board, service may be made upon any member of the association.
(j) State of Maryland. — Service is made upon the State of Maryland by serving the Attorney General or an individual designated by the Attorney General in a writing filed with the Clerk of the Supreme Court. In any action attacking the validity of an order of an officer or agency of this State not made a party, the officer or agency shall also be served.
(k) Officer or agency of the State of Maryland. — Service is made on an officer or agency of the State of Maryland by serving (1) the resident agent designated by the officer or agency, or (2) the Attorney General or an individual designated by the Attorney General in a writing filed with the Clerk of the Supreme Court. If service is made on the Attorney General or a designee of the Attorney General and the officer or agency is not ordinarily represented by the Attorney General, the Attorney General or designee promptly shall forward the process and papers to the appropriate officer or agency.
(l) Local entity. — Service is made on a county, municipal corporation, bicounty or multicounty agency, public authority, special taxing district, or other political subdivision or unit of a political subdivision of the State by serving the resident agent designated by the local entity. If the local entity has no resident agent or if a good faith effort to serve the resident agent has failed, service may be made by serving the chief executive or presiding officer or, if none, by serving any member of the governing body.
(m) United States. — Service is made upon the United States by serving the United States Attorney for the District of Maryland or an individual designated by the United States Attorney in a writing filed with the Chief Clerk of the court and by serving the Attorney General of the United States at Washington, District of Columbia. In any action attacking the validity of an order of an officer or agency of the United States not made a party, the officer or agency shall also be served.
(n) Officer or agency of the United States. — Service is made upon an officer or agency of the United States, including a government corporation, by serving the United States and by serving the officer or agency.
(o) Substituted service upon State Department of Assessments and Taxation. — Service may be made upon a corporation, limited partnership, limited liability partnership, limited liability company, or other entity required by statute of this State to have a resident agent by serving two copies of the summons, complaint, and all other papers filed with it, together with the requisite fee, upon the State Department of Assessments and Taxation if (i) the entity has no resident agent; (ii) the resident agent is dead or is no longer at the address for service of process maintained with the State Department of Assessments and Taxation; or (iii) two good faith attempts on separate days to serve the resident agent have failed.
Amendment History
Amended Nov. 19, 1987, effective July 1, 1988; June 7, 1994, effective Oct. 1, 1994; Jan. 10, 1995, effective Feb. 1, 1995; Apr. 9, 2002, effective July 1, 2002; Nov. 12, 2003, effective Jan. 1, 2004; November 19, 2019, effective January 1, 2020; April 21, 2023, effective April 1, 2023.
Committee Note & Source
Committee note. Examples of statutes permitting or requiring service on a person include the Maryland Tort Claims Act, Code, State Government Article, § 12-108 (a) (service of a complaint is sufficient only when made upon the Treasurer of the State); Code, Insurance Article, § 4-107 (service on certain insurance companies is effected by serving the Insurance Commissioner); Code, Business Regulation Article, § 4-402 (service on a non-resident “athlete agent” is effected by serving the Secretary of Labor, Licensing, and Regulation); Code, Business Regulation Article, § 6-202 (service on certain nonresident charitable organizations is effected by serving the Secretary of State); and Code, Courts Article, § 3-405 (notice to the Attorney General is required immediately after a declaratory judgment action is filed alleging that a statute, municipal or county ordinance, or franchise is unconstitutional).
Committee note. This section does not purport to create a tort duty by directing the Attorney General to forward process and papers. , 322 Md. 79 (1991). Nor does this section obviate the need for personal service in accordance with section (b) of this Rule on an officer sued in the officer’s individual capacity.
Cross references. See Code, State Government Article, § 6-109, which requires that a State agency not represented by the Attorney General file with the State Department of Assessments and Taxation a designation of its resident agent.
Cross references. See Code, Local Government Article, § 1-1301 concerning a local entity’s designation of a resident agent by filing with the State Department of Assessments and Taxation.
Committee note. If a person served pursuant to this Rule is a plaintiff as well as a person upon whom service on a defendant entity is authorized by the Rule, the validity of service on the plaintiff to give notice to the defendant entity is subject to appropriate due process constraints.
Source. This Rule is derived as follows: Section (a) is new and replaces former Rules 105 c and 106 f. Section (b) is derived from former Rule 104 b 1 (i) and (ii). Section (c) is derived from former Rule 119. Section (d) is derived from former Rule 106 b. Section (e) is new. Section (f) is new. Section (g) is new. Section (h) is new. Section (i) is new. Section (j) is new. Section (k) is new. Section (l) is new. Section (m) is derived from former Rule 108 a. Section (n) derived from former Rule 108 b. Section (o) is new, but is derived in part from former section (c) and former Rule 106 e 1 and 2.
Plain-English Summary
Naming the right defendant is only half the job — the papers also have to reach the right person for service to count. This rule works through the full range of defendants a Maryland civil case might name and specifies who has to be served for each one. It doesn't override any other statute that separately governs how to serve a particular kind of party; a handful of Maryland laws set their own service rules for specific situations, among them claims against the State under the Maryland Tort Claims Act, certain insurance companies, non-resident athlete agents, and out-of-state charitable organizations soliciting in Maryland.
For an individual, service goes to that person or to an agent authorized to accept service for them. If the individual is under a legal disability, the rule adds a layer of protection: both the individual and the parent, guardian, or other person who has care or custody of them must be served.
Business entities each get their own service path. Corporations, incorporated associations, and joint stock companies are served through a resident agent, president, secretary, or treasurer; if none of those can be reached, service can fall to a manager, director, vice president, or other person with real or apparent authority to accept it. Limited partnerships, limited liability partnerships, and limited liability companies are served primarily through their resident agent, with a fallback to a general partner, member, or other authorized person if the resident agent can't be found. General partnerships sued in their own name and unincorporated associations are served through a partner or a governing officer or board member.
Government defendants follow their own logic. The State of Maryland is served through the Attorney General or the Attorney General's designee; a state officer or agency is served the same way, or through its own resident agent if it has one. A county, municipality, or other local entity is served through its resident agent, or, failing that, its chief executive or a member of its governing body. The United States is served through the U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland and the U.S. Attorney General in Washington, while a federal officer or agency has to be served both directly and through the United States itself. Finally, when a business entity that Maryland law requires to keep a resident agent has none, or a good-faith attempt to serve that resident agent fails twice on separate days, the rule lets the plaintiff serve the State Department of Assessments and Taxation instead, which stands in as the entity's contact for service.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I serve a corporation or LLC in Maryland if I can't find its resident agent?
Try the corporation's officers first — the president, secretary, or treasurer for a corporation, or any member for an LLC. If none of those work, or the entity has no resident agent, this rule lets a plaintiff serve the State Department of Assessments and Taxation instead, as long as a good-faith attempt to reach the resident agent failed on two separate days.
How do I serve the State of Maryland?
Through the Attorney General, or an individual the Attorney General has designated in a writing filed with the Clerk of the Supreme Court of Maryland. If the suit challenges an order issued by a state officer or agency that isn't already a party, that officer or agency must be served too.
How do I serve a Maryland county or municipality?
Serve the local entity's resident agent. If it has none, or a good-faith attempt to serve the resident agent fails, service can go to the chief executive or presiding officer, or, absent that, any member of the entity's governing body.
How do I serve the federal government or a federal agency?
Serve the United States by serving the U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland (or that office's designee) and the U.S. Attorney General in Washington, D.C. To sue a federal officer or agency, you have to serve both the United States and that officer or agency directly.
What if the defendant is a minor or has a legal disability?
Serve both the individual under disability and the parent, guardian, or other person who has care or custody of that person or their estate.
Does this rule override other Maryland laws about how to serve someone?
No. The rule expressly leaves other statutes in place. Several Maryland laws set their own service requirements for particular defendants, including claims against the State under the Maryland Tort Claims Act and service on certain insurance companies, athlete agents, and out-of-state charitable organizations.
What is the State Department of Assessments and Taxation's role in service of process?
It acts as a backstop. If a corporation, partnership, LLP, LLC, or other entity that Maryland law requires to maintain a resident agent has none — or the resident agent is dead, has moved, or can't be reached after two good-faith attempts on separate days — the plaintiff can serve the department instead, along with the required fee.
Source & verification. Rule text, Committee Note, Source note, and
amendment history are reproduced verbatim from the Maryland Rules, adopted by the
Supreme Court of Maryland. Last verified July 13, 2026. ·
Official source
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