Rules of Court · Part 4 · New Jersey
R. 4:73-3 New Jersey Rules of Court, R. 4:73-3: Service of Process, rendered as code with every cross-reference linked
Service of Process
(a) By Whom Served. The order to show cause issuing pursuant to R. 4:67 may be served by any person 18 or more years of age.
(b) Non-Resident or Unknown Parties. If a defendant resides outside this State or if the plaintiff does not know defendant's residence address, notice shall be given to defendant by publication once in an online news publication eligible to publish legal notices in accordance with N.J.S.A. 35:3-1 et seq. in the county or counties in which the land or property to be taken is located and by mailing to defendant's last known address a copy of the notice at least 10 days before the return date of the order to show cause. If the name of a defendant is unknown the published notice shall be addressed to "Unknown Owner" or "Unknown Claimant".
(c) Service of Declaration of Taking. Service of a declaration of taking shall be made with or after the service of process.
Note: Source—R.R. 4:92-3(a) (b) (c). Paragraph (c) adopted July 14, 1972 to be effective September 5, 1972; paragraph (b) amended July 13, 1994 to be effective September 1, 1994; paragraph (b) amended June 28, 1996 to be effective September 1, 1996; paragraph (b) amended July 23, 2026 to be effective September 1, 2026.
Verbatim rule text, unmarked. Nothing here is a summary.
rule 4:73-3 "Service of Process" {
(a) By Whom Served. The order to show cause issuing pursuant to R. 4:67 may be served by any person 18 or more years of age.
(b) Non-Resident or Unknown Parties. If a defendant resides outside this State or if the plaintiff does not know defendant's residence address, notice shall be given to defendant by publication once in an online news publication eligible to publish legal notices in accordance with N.J.S.A. 35:3-1 et seq. in the county or counties in which the land or property to be taken is located and by mailing to defendant's last known address a copy of the notice at least 10 days before the return date of the order to show cause. If the name of a defendant is unknown the published notice shall be addressed to "Unknown Owner" or "Unknown Claimant".
(c) Service of Declaration of Taking. Service of a declaration of taking shall be made with or after the service of process.
Note: Source—R.R. 4:92-3(a) (b) (c). Paragraph (c) adopted July 14, 1972 to be effective September 5, 1972; paragraph (b) amended July 13, 1994 to be effective September 1, 1994; paragraph (b) amended June 28, 1996 to be effective September 1, 1996; paragraph (b) amended July 23, 2026 to be effective September 1, 2026.
}
referenced_by: none
amended: 2026-09-02 // changed; first diff after the 2026-08-17 corpus; amendments effective 2026-09-01
source: njcourts.gov // verbatim; changed 2026-08-31; corpus harvested 2026-09-02← R. 4:73-2 · R. 4:73-4 → · chapter 4:73 · all rules
The Rules of Court are a government edict and carry no copyright; the text above is the Judiciary’s own publication, unchanged. Structure, links and highlighting are ours and carry no legal weight. Read the rule on njcourts.gov before you rely on it; amendments take effect each September 1.