Certificate of Service — Georgia

CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

State of Georgia

COURT CAPTION

Superior Court:

IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF [____________________] COUNTY
STATE OF GEORGIA

________________________________________,
                              Plaintiff,

v.                                              Civil Action File No.: [____________]
                                                Judge: [________________________]
________________________________________,
                              Defendant.

State Court:

IN THE STATE COURT OF [____________________] COUNTY
STATE OF GEORGIA

________________________________________,
                              Plaintiff,

v.                                              Civil Action File No.: [____________]

________________________________________,
                              Defendant.

Magistrate Court:

IN THE MAGISTRATE COURT OF [____________________] COUNTY
STATE OF GEORGIA

________________________________________,
                              Plaintiff,

v.                                              Case No.: [____________________]

________________________________________,
                              Defendant.

(Select and complete the appropriate caption; delete the others)

CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

I, [________________________________], certify pursuant to O.C.G.A. § 9-11-5 that
on [__/__/____], I served a true and correct copy of the following document(s):

Document(s) Served:

1. [________________________________]
2. [________________________________]
3. [________________________________]
   (add rows as needed)

upon all parties or their counsel of record as identified below, by the method(s)
indicated. Where service is by statutory email using the address(es) supplied
under O.C.G.A. § 9-11-5(f), the PDF is sent to every supplied address and the
subject line includes the words "STATUTORY ELECTRONIC SERVICE" in capital
letters, as required by O.C.G.A. § 9-11-5(b).

SECTION I — PARTIES / COUNSEL SERVED

Party / Counsel No. 1

Method of Service (check all that apply):

☐ Court E-Filing-Provider Service — Filed and served through the court's
authorized provider to the registered service contacts shown by its receipt.

• eFileGA Envelope / Transaction No.: [________________________________]
• Date/Time of eFileGA Acceptance: [__/__/____] at [________] ☐ AM ☐ PM

☐ Statutory Electronic Service by Email (O.C.G.A. § 9-11-5(b)) — Served
by email in PDF format to the email address(es) designated under O.C.G.A.
§ 9-11-5(f), with subject line containing "STATUTORY ELECTRONIC SERVICE."

• Email address(es) served: [________________________________]
• Date/Time Transmitted: [__/__/____] at [________] ☐ AM ☐ PM
• ☐ Sent from: [________________________________] (sender's email)
• Note: If the person served with a pleading certifies under oath that the
  pleading was not received, § 9-11-5(f)(5) creates a presumption of
  nonreceipt unless the serving party disputes nonservice; the court then
  decides the service issue.

☐ Personal Delivery (Hand Delivery)

• Person who received delivery: [________________________________]
• Date/Time: [__/__/____] at [________] ☐ AM ☐ PM
• Location: [________________________________]

☐ U.S. First-Class Mail, Postage Prepaid

• Mailed from: [________________________________], Georgia
• Date Mailed: [__/__/____]
• Note: Under O.C.G.A. § 9-11-6(e), 3 additional days are added to any
  response period triggered by mail service.

☐ Certified Mail / Return Receipt Requested

• USPS Tracking No.: [________________________________]
• Date Mailed: [__/__/____]

☐ Statutory Overnight Delivery (only where another governing provision or court order authorizes it; O.C.G.A. § 9-10-12 defines compliance)

• Carrier: [________________________________] (must be a recognized commercial
  carrier providing overnight delivery and a receipt)

• Tracking No.: [________________________________]

• Date Tendered to Carrier: [__/__/____]

☐ Commercial Courier / Process Server

• Name of courier/server: [________________________________]
• Date/Time of Delivery: [__/__/____] at [________] ☐ AM ☐ PM

☐ Other (describe authorized method): [________________________________]

Party / Counsel No. 2

Method of Service (check all that apply):

☐ Odyssey eFileGA Electronic Service

• eFileGA Transaction No.: [________________________________]
• Date/Time: [__/__/____] at [________] ☐ AM ☐ PM

☐ Statutory Email Service (O.C.G.A. § 9-11-5(b))

• Email address(es) served: [________________________________]
• Subject line included "STATUTORY ELECTRONIC SERVICE": ☐ Yes
• Date/Time Transmitted: [__/__/____] at [________] ☐ AM ☐ PM

☐ Personal Delivery

• Date/Time: [__/__/____] at [________]
• Location: [________________________________]

☐ U.S. First-Class Mail

• Mailed from: [________________________________], Georgia
• Date Mailed: [__/__/____]

☐ Certified Mail

• USPS Tracking No.: [________________________________]

☐ Statutory Overnight Delivery

• Carrier: [________________] Tracking No.: [________________]

☐ Other: [________________________________]

(Duplicate Party / Counsel block as needed for additional parties)

SECTION II — MULTIPLE-PARTY SERVICE TABLE

(Use when serving three or more parties; attach continuation sheets if needed)

SECTION III — SELF-REPRESENTED (PRO SE) PARTY SERVICE

If a self-represented party has not consented to electronic service by a method
listed in O.C.G.A. § 9-11-5(f)(1), use a non-email method authorized by
§ 9-11-5(b).

☐ The following self-represented party was served by non-electronic means:

• Pro Se Party Name: [________________________________]
• Last Known Address: [________________________________]
• City, State, Zip: [________________________________]

• Method of Service:
  ☐ U.S. First-Class Mail — Date Mailed: [__/__/____]
  ☐ Hand Delivery — Date/Time: [__/__/____] at [________]
  ☐ Certified Mail — Tracking No.: [________________________________]
  ☐ Statutory email (only after § 9-11-5(f) consent; use the PDF, all-address, and subject-line requirements in Section V) — Date: [__/__/____]

• Notes: [________________________________]

SECTION IV — EFILEGA PORTAL NOTES

Court-Specific E-Filing: O.C.G.A. § 9-11-5 governs statutory service but
does not itself establish whether a particular court requires or permits an
e-filing provider. Confirm the court's current order and provider before use.

Provider Service: Use the provider receipt to confirm which registered
contacts were actually served. Separately serve any required recipient not
shown on that receipt by a method authorized for that recipient.

Fulton County / DeKalb County / Other Major Counties: Confirm any standing
orders specific to the particular court division (e.g., Fulton County Complex
Litigation Division) that may impose additional certificate language or format
requirements.

SECTION V — EMAIL SERVICE — SPECIAL GEORGIA RULES

Under O.C.G.A. § 9-11-5(b), when serving by email (Statutory Electronic
Service), the following requirements apply:

1. The document must be served in PDF format.
2. All email addresses designated by the party under § 9-11-5(f) must be served.

3. The subject line must contain the words "STATUTORY ELECTRONIC SERVICE"
   in capital letters.

4. If the person served with a pleading certifies under oath that it was not
   received, § 9-11-5(f)(5) creates a presumption of nonreceipt unless the
   serving party disputes nonservice; the court then decides the issue.

SECTION VI — TIME COMPUTATION / MAIL RULE

Under O.C.G.A. § 9-11-6(e), when a period is measured after service of a notice
or other paper (not process) and service is by mail or email, three (3) days
are added to the prescribed period. Confirm that the triggering rule measures
from service and that no more specific rule controls.

Example: A 30-day response period triggered by mail service becomes
33 days from the date of mailing.

DECLARATION

I certify that the foregoing Certificate of Service is true and correct to the
best of my knowledge, information, and belief. O.C.G.A. § 9-11-5(b) permits
proof by an attorney's or employee's certificate, written admission, affidavit,
or other proof satisfactory to the court; this form is not an affidavit.

Date: [__/__/____]

_____________________________________________
[________________________________]
Georgia Bar No.: [____________________]
[________________________________] (Firm Name)
[________________________________] (Street Address)
[________________________________] (City, State, Zip)
Telephone: ([____]) [____]-[________]
Facsimile:  ([____]) [____]-[________]
Email:      [________________________________]
Attorney for [________________________________]

PRACTITIONER NOTES

1. "STATUTORY ELECTRONIC SERVICE" in Subject Line. This is a mandatory
requirement under O.C.G.A. § 9-11-5(b) for statutory email service. Omitting this
language may invalidate service by email.

2. Electronic-Service Consent. A nonattorney may consent by filing a notice
with the service address(es), or by including the address(es) in or below the
complaint or answer signature block, and may later rescind. An attorney who
files through an electronic filing service provider is deemed to consent at the
provider's primary address and cannot rescind in a case initiated through that
provider. A directory address alone is not statutory consent.

3. eFileGA Envelope Numbers. Retain eFileGA envelope/transaction numbers for
reference. Some local courts (particularly Fulton and Gwinnett) expect the
transaction number to appear in the certificate of service.

4. Statutory Overnight Delivery. O.C.G.A. § 9-10-12 defines sufficient
compliance only when another law, rule, or order authorizes statutory overnight
delivery. It does not add that method to § 9-11-5 or make it equivalent to
personal service. Identify the separate authority before selecting this method.

5. Local Standing Orders. Fulton County Superior Court has multiple standing
orders governing e-filing, service of process, and discovery in complex cases.
DeKalb, Gwinnett, and Cobb counties may have supplemental orders. Always confirm
current local requirements with the clerk's office.

6. Discovery Documents. When serving discovery (interrogatories, requests for
production, requests for admission, depositions), retain service documentation
but note that discovery itself is not filed with the court unless ordered or used
in a motion.

7. Non-Sworn Certificate. Under O.C.G.A. § 9-11-5, a certificate of service
by an attorney is sufficient as proof of service without a notarized affidavit.
A sworn Affidavit of Service (separate document) is distinct and may be required
for certain process service situations under O.C.G.A. § 9-11-4.

Sources and References

• O.C.G.A. § 9-11-5 baseline (Official Code of Georgia Annotated, release 86): https://unicourt.github.io/cic-code-ga/transforms/ga/ocga/r86/gov.ga.ocga.title.09.html#t09c11a02s9-11-5
• Georgia signed-legislation index (post-release amendment screening): https://gov.georgia.gov/executive-action/legislation/signed-legislation
• Odyssey eFileGA: http://www.odysseyefilega.com/
• eFileGA Active Courts: http://www.odysseyefilega.com/active-courts.htm
• Fulton County Civil E-Filing: https://www.fultonclerk.org/294/Civil-E-Filing