§ 17.043.Service on Person in Charge of Business

The most direct service route under the long-arm subchapter, and it has three conditions.

In an action arising from a nonresident's business in this state, process may be served on the person in charge, at the time of service, of any business in which the nonresident is engaged in this state — if the nonresident is not required by statute to designate or maintain a resident agent for service of process.

The final condition is a real limit. A foreign entity registered to do business in Texas must maintain a registered agent, and that entity is served through its agent rather than under this section. The provision is for the nonresident operating here without any such obligation.

"At the time of service" settles a question that would otherwise arise. The person in charge is whoever holds that role when the process arrives, not whoever held it when the claim accrued.

The claim must arise from the Texas business. A nonresident with a Texas operation is not open to service here on wholly unrelated matters.

Service under this section triggers a notice obligation: the following section requires that a copy of the process and notice of the service be immediately mailed to the nonresident or its principal place of business.