A civil action is commenced by the service of a summons.
Rule 3.Commencing an Action
Group II: Commencement of Action; Service of Process, Pleadings, Motions, and Orders · Last amended March 1, 2015 · Last verified July 15, 2026
In one sentenceRule 3 fixes the moment a North Dakota civil action begins: not when the complaint is filed, as in federal court, but when the summons is served on the defendant.
Full Text of Rule 3
Explanatory Note
Rule 3 was amended, effective March 1, 2011. The explanatory note was amended, effective March 1, 2015. All that is required to commence a civil action is the service of a summons on a defendant. This is unlike Fed.R.Civ.P. 3 which requires the filing of a complaint with the court to commence an action. Rule 4(c) sets out the contents of the summons and explains service of the complaint. An action is not commenced for the purpose of tolling a statute of limitation except as provided in N.D.C.C. § 28- 01-38. Rule 3's title was amended, effective March 1, 2011.
Plain-English Summary
Rule 3 packs a real difference between North Dakota and federal practice into one short sentence: a civil action is commenced by the service of a summons. Under the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, filing the complaint with the court starts the case. North Dakota instead ties commencement to service — the moment the defendant receives the summons under Rule 4.
That distinction matters because Rule 4 sets out what the summons must contain and how it must be served, and Rule 4(c) explains how the complaint itself is served alongside it. Filing still happens — Rule 5(d) covers when and how a party must file the initiating pleading with the clerk — but filing and commencement are not the same event in North Dakota the way they are under the federal rules.
One limit is worth flagging: serving the summons does not, by itself, stop a statute of limitations from running. The official explanatory note points to N.D.C.C. § 28-01-38 as the source of any tolling effect, so a party relying on the date of service to preserve a time-sensitive claim needs to look at that statute, not just Rule 3, to confirm the claim is timely.
Frequently Asked Questions
When does a civil action officially begin in North Dakota?
Rule 3 states that a civil action is commenced by the service of a summons on the defendant, not by filing the complaint with the court.
Is this different from how a lawsuit begins in federal court?
Yes. Under the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, filing the complaint commences the action. North Dakota's Rule 3 instead ties commencement to service of the summons, a deliberate departure the explanatory note flags directly.
Does serving the summons stop a statute of limitations from running?
Not automatically under Rule 3 alone. The official explanatory note points to N.D.C.C. § 28-01-38 as the provision that governs whether and how commencement of an action affects a statute of limitations, so that statute needs to be checked directly.
Do I still have to file the complaint with the court if service is what starts the case?
Yes. Filing is still required, but it is treated as a separate step from commencement. Rule 5(d) sets out when and how the initiating pleading must be filed with the clerk after service has occurred.
Has Rule 3 changed recently?
Its title was amended in 2011 and its explanatory note was amended in 2015, but the substance — commencement by service of a summons — has not changed.
Source & verification. Rule text and the Explanatory Note are
reproduced verbatim from the North Dakota Rules of Civil Procedure, adopted by the
Supreme Court of North Dakota. Last verified July 15, 2026.
· Official source
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