SCPA 308 · Article 3. Proceedings, Pleadings and Process
Return day of citation
Text — Law content up to date as of September 18, 2026, as published by the New York State Senate (Open Legislation)
§ 308. Return day of citation
1. Based on place of service. Except as otherwise provided in subdivisions 2 and 3, the time of the return of a citation shall be governed by the following paragraphs:
(a) The citation shall be served at least the following number of days before the return day:
(i) 10 days if the person is served within the state by personal delivery;
(ii) 20 days if the person is served within the United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico or the possessions or territories of the United States by other than personal delivery; and
(iii) 30 days in all other cases and where the office of the attorney general is a party.
(b) The time periods set forth under paragraph (a) of this subdivision shall commence to run from the time that service is complete as provided in 309.
2. Service by publication. If served by publication, the return day shall not be earlier than the day service is completed, as provided in 309.
3. Service on consular official. If served upon a consular official pursuant to 307, subdivision 3 (e), it shall be served at least 30 days prior to the return day.
4. For the purpose of fixing the time within which a process must be served, service upon the clerk of the court, pursuant to designation, is personal service upon the fiduciary within the county where the letters of the fiduciary were issued.
Source of truth
- Edition
- Law content up to date as of September 18, 2026, as published by the New York State Senate (Open Legislation)
- Official file
- https://legislation.nysenate.gov/pdf/laws/SCP308
- Text hash
- sha256 2edd4085a20bfec132f6fc52aa9911a8046ce1b636a6a6218c79749a9f52b879
- Composed by
- gen_ny_statutes.py 2026-11-10: the Senate's Open Legislation law tree (GET /api/3/laws/<ID>?full=true) read in document order; the Senate's PDF of the whole law (GET /pdf/laws/<ID>?full=true), read with PDFium, prints the same words in the same order
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