Conn. Gen. Stat. » Title 52 — CIVIL ACTIONS · Chapter 896 — Civil Process, Service and Time for Return
Connecticut General Statutes

Conn. Gen. Stat. § 52-62 (2025)

Service upon nonresident in action for negligent operation of motor vehicle

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(a) Any nonresident of this state who causes a motor vehicle to be used or operated upon any public highway or elsewhere in this state shall be deemed to have appointed the Commissioner of Motor Vehicles as his attorney and to have agreed that any process in any civil action brought against him on account of any claim for damages resulting from the alleged negligence of the nonresident or his agent or servant in the use or operation of any motor vehicle upon any public highway or elsewhere in this state may be served upon the commissioner and shall have the same validity as if served upon the nonresident personally.

(b) The death of such a nonresident, whether before or after the commencement of a civil action, shall not operate to revoke the appointment by the nonresident of the Commissioner of Motor Vehicles as his attorney for service of process. If the process is served upon the Commissioner of Motor Vehicles and a true and attested copy thereof is sent to the administrator, executor or other legal representative of the deceased nonresident in accordance with the provisions of this section, the service shall have the same validity as if made upon the administrator, executor or legal representative personally.

(c) Process in such a civil action against a nonresident shall be served by the officer to whom the process is directed upon the Commissioner of Motor Vehicles by leaving with or at the office of the commissioner, at least twelve days before the return day of the process, a true and attested copy thereof, and by sending to the defendant or his administrator, executor or other legal representative, by registered or certified mail, postage prepaid, a like true and attested copy, with an endorsement thereon of the service upon the commissioner, addressed to the defendant or representative at his last-known address. The officer serving the process upon the Commissioner of Motor Vehicles shall leave with the commissioner, at the time of service, a fee of twenty dollars, which fee shall be taxed in favor of the plaintiff in his costs if he prevails in the action. The Commissioner of Motor Vehicles shall keep a record of each such process and the day and hour of service.

(d) For the purposes of this section, the term “nonresident” includes a person who is a resident of this state at the time a cause of action arises and who subsequently moves to another jurisdiction.

(1949 Rev., S. 7779; 1961, P.A. 192; 581, S. 21; 1967, P.A. 733; P.A. 75-153; P.A. 82-160, S. 19; P.A. 04-182, S. 13.)

History: 1961 acts added provisions re proceedings on death of nonresident and increased fee from $2 to $5; 1967 act extended section to cases where motor vehicle was used or operated elsewhere than on a public highway; P.A. 75-153 defined “nonresident” for purposes of section; P.A. 82-160 rephrased the section and inserted Subsec. indicators; P.A. 04-182 amended Subsec. (c) to increase fee for service of process on commissioner from $5 to $20, effective July 1, 2004.

Statute constitutional, to be read in connection with Sec. 52-87; copy of writ should be mailed forthwith to defendant; “last-known address” means that known by those who under ordinary circumstances of life would know it. 113 C. 74; Id., 756; 116 C. 48. Actions begun under section must be brought within 1 year of injury; Sec. 52-584 applies, Sec. 52-590 does not. Id., 643. Permits service on nonresident defendant in action by nonresident plaintiff. 117 C. 683. Does not confer jurisdiction against administrator of estate of deceased nonresident. 126 C. 92. Cited. 190 C. 774; 195 C. 191; 206 C. 374.

Cited. 10 CA 393. Service on commissioner has same validity as service on nonresident defendant personally and action commenced when service timely made on commissioner. 179 CA 546.

Service of nonresidents under section a necessity. 2 CS 105. Service on commissioner not on defendant is no service at all; motion to erase proper. Id., 134. Service through commissioner is equivalent of personal service whether instituted by resident or nonresident. 3 CS 65. Late return of service on commissioner of no effect. Id., 160. Statute broad enough to constitute commissioner attorney for service; constitutionality. 7 CS 42. Cited. 14 CS 349. Plaintiff hurt by defendant's parked car may serve commissioner. Id., 496. Statute is in derogation of the common law and is to be strictly construed; prior to 1967 amendment, where injury by motor vehicle occurred on private property, service on nonresident invalid because vehicle not being operated on the public highways when the accident occurred. 18 CS 290. Where both parties are nonresidents and service is made upon commissioner at his office, venue is established in Hartford county; the personal residence of commissioner is immaterial. Id., 442. Cited. 19 CS 287. Section applies to an operator who, at the time of an accident, is a nonresident of this state. 20 CS 406. Under statute prior to 1961 amendment, the death of a nonresident who caused a motor vehicle to be operated in this state revoked the statutory appointment of commissioner as his agent for service of process. 21 CS 490. No jurisdiction in personam may be acquired under section of a defendant who resided in this state at the time of the accident. 26 CS 508. Cited. 27 CS 395. Statute does not apply to now nonresident operator who held Connecticut license at time of accident. 29 CS 228. Where copy of process was mailed to “last known” address of defendant and was received by father at defendant's new address in same town and forwarded to insurer, held purpose of statute was fulfilled. 31 CS 370. Cited. 33 CS 574.

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Notes of Decisions
Cited in 18 cases (1 in the last 5 years), 1959–2022 · leading case: Trichilo v. Trichilo, 462 A.2d 1048 (Conn. 1983).
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Trichilo v. Trichilo, 462 A.2d 1048 (Conn. 1983). · cites it 13× “This action for *775 damages sustained in that accident was commenced on August 24,1978, in accordance with General Statutes § 52-62, 1 by service of the complaint upon the motor vehicle commissioner as statutory agent for those nonresident defendants.”
Rocco v. Garrison, 848 A.2d 352 (Conn. 2004). · cites it 4× “See General Statutes § 52-62. 8 The defendant moved for summary judgment on the ground that the plaintiffs’ federal action had not been commenced within the meaning of the savings statute due to a lack of proper service and that that statute, therefore, was inapplicable and…”
Megos v. Ranta, 180 A.3d 645 (Conn. App. Ct. 2018). · cites it 15× “In this appeal, we are called upon to answer one very important question, namely, whether an action brought pursuant to General Statutes § 52-62 1 is ''commenced'' upon service of process on the Commissioner of Motor Vehicles (commissioner).”
Simko v. Zoning Bd. of Appeals, 538 A.2d 202 (Conn. 1988). · cites it 2× “become a necessary party to a zoning appeal by virtue of the change from the disjunctive to the conjunctive, does either the chairman or the clerk of the board, because of the amendment, similarly become a necessary party, who must be so named in the citation because service is…”
Am. Oil Co. v. Valenti, 426 A.2d 305 (Conn. 1979). “See Simpson, Handbook on the Law of Suretyship §§ 52-62; 10 Williston, Contracts § 1214 (1967).”
Larrivee v. McGann, 227 A.2d 809 (Conn. Super. Ct. 1967). · cites it 5× “In the instant plea in abatement, the defendant claims that this court does not have jurisdiction in personam of him because of the failure of the service in this cause to be made in accordance with General Statutes § 52-62 or § 52-63. Section *509 52-62 sets out the conditions…”
Smith v. Smith, 183 A.2d 848 (Conn. 1962). “, see § 52-62, as to nonresident operators of motor vehicles, and §§ 52-60 and 52-61, as to nonresident fiduciaries.”
Resolution Trust Corp. v. Roberti (In Re Roberti), 183 B.R. 991 (Bankr. D. Conn. 1995). “, April 15, 1994) (“[A] party who, though within the jurisdiction of the court through compliance with § 52-62 C.G.S., has not appeared is not precluded from asserting her own claim arising from the same collision after suffering a default judgment.”
Lerch v. Belau, 280 A.2d 813 (Conn. Super. Ct. 1971). · cites it 4× “It should be noted that § 52-63 rather than § 52-62 applies to the present case, because § 52-62 applies only to operators who are nonresidents and do not hold Connecticut licenses to operate at the time of their alleged negligent operation of a motor vehicle in Connecticut.”
Laiuppa v. Moritz, 285 A.3d 391 (Conn. App. Ct. 2022). · cites it 8× “9 General Statutes § 52-584 provides in relevant part that ‘‘[n]o action to recover damages for injury to the person, or to real or personal property, caused by negligence, or by reckless or wanton misconduct . . . shall be brought but within two years from the date when the…”
Kilburn v. Keenan, 240 A.2d 213 (Conn. Super. Ct. 1967). “Even conceding that the defendant was a nonresident, one must conclude that the statute permitting service on the commissioner of motor vehicles, § 52-62, would be effective to permit an *396 action in which a binding in personam judgment could be obtained.”
Medeiros v. Kaye, 331 A.2d 351 (Conn. Super. Ct. 1974). “The defendant in this personal injury-action has filed a plea in abatement, claiming that the court lacks jurisdiction because a copy of the process, after service upon the commissioner of motor vehicles, was not mailed to the defendant at “his last-known address,” as required…”
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