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Rule 25: Service by Publication or Posting




(A) If the defendant’s address, or the non-moving party’s address in a post decree matter, is unknown, the plaintiff or moving party may serve the other party by publication. The plaintiff or moving party must strictly comply with Civ.R. 4.4(A)(1), including a sworn affidavit stating the specific actions taken to ascertain the other party’s address.

(B) If the plaintiff or moving party is indigent, and the other party’s address is unknown, the service may be made by posting as provided in Civ.R. 4.4(A)(2), including a sworn affidavit stating the specific actions taken to ascertain the other party’s address.

        (1) Posting shall be made in a conspicuous place in the courthouses in which the    
             general and domestic relations divisions of the Cuyahoga County Court of Common 
             Pleas are located.

        (2) Posting shall also be on the website of the clerk of courts as well as in the following 
             two additional public places: Automobile Title, Golden Gate located at 1585 Golden 
             Gate Plaza Mayfield Heights, Ohio 44124 and the Automobile Title, Parma located 
             at 12100 Snow Road, Suite #15 Parma, Ohio 44130. Protection orders issued 
             pursuant to Civ.R. 65.1 will not be posted on the website of the clerk of courts.

(C) If the defendant or non-moving party lives in a country other than the United States, service must comply with Civ.R. 4.5. If the defendant or non-moving party resides in a country that has signed The Hague Convention on the Service Abroad of Judicial and Extrajudicial Documents in Civil and Commercial Matters (“Hague Service Convention”), that party cannot be served by publication or posting. If the defendant or non-moving party lives in a country that has not signed The Hague Service Convention and that party’s address is unknown, service may be made under Civ.R. 4.4(A)(1) or (2).

(D) If service attempted by certified or express mail or commercial carrier is returned as “refused” or “unclaimed,” service must be made under Civ.R. 4.6(C) or (D), not by publication or posting.

(Effective July 1, 1991.  Amended effective September 30, 1991; March 4, 2019)

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