Minn. R. Civ. P. 5.02 (2026)
Service; How Made
(a) Methods of Service. Whenever under these rules service is required or permitted to be made upon a party represented by an attorney, the service shall be made upon the attorney unless service upon the party is ordered by the court. Written admission of service by the party or the party's attorney shall be sufficient proof of service. If Rule 14 of the General Rules of Practice for the District Courts or an order of the Minnesota Supreme Court authorizes or requires that service be made by electronic means, service shall be made by compliance with subdivision (b) of this rule. Otherwise, service upon the attorney or upon a party shall be made by delivering a copy to the attorney or party; by mailing a copy to the attorney or party at the attorney's or party's last known address; or, if no address is known, by leaving it with the court administrator. Delivery of a copy within this rule means: handing it to the attorney or to the party; or leaving it at the attorney's or party's office with a clerk or other person in charge thereof; or, if there is no one in charge, leaving it in a conspicuous place therein; or, if the office is closed or the person to be served has no office, leaving it at the attorney's or party's dwelling house or usual place of abode with some person of suitable age and discretion then residing therein.
(b) E-Service. Service of all documents after the original complaint may, and where required by these rules shall, be made by electronic means as authorized by Rule 14 of the General Rules of Practice for the District Courts.
(c) Effective Date of Service. Service by mail is complete upon mailing. Service by facsimile is complete upon completion of the facsimile transmission. Service by authorized electronic means using the court's E-Filing System as defined by Rule 14 of the General Rules of Practice for the District Courts is complete upon completion of the electronic transmission of the document(s) to the E-Filing System.
(d) Technical Errors; Relief. Upon satisfactory proof that electronic filing or electronic service of a document was not completed, any party may obtain relief in accordance with Rule 14.01(c) of the General Rules of Practice for the District Courts.
(Amended effective January 1, 1997; amended effective October 22, 2010; amended effective September 1, 2012; amended effective July 1, 2015.)
Advisory Committee Comments - 2015 Amendments
Rule 5.02 is amended in several ways to implement the use of e-filing and e-service in civil actions. Rule 5.02(a) adopts the more detailed provisions of Rule 14 of the Minnesota General Rules of Practice, which establishes procedures for e-filing and e-service in all trial courts. See Minn. Gen. R. Prac. 1.01. The deleted reference to filing by facsimile from Rule 5.02(a) is not intended to affect the availability of facsimile service or filing. Facsimile transmission is defined as a means of electronic transmission allowed under Minn. Gen. R. Prac. 14.02(a)(7).
The use of the alternative "may or shall" language in Rule 5.02(a) reflects the expectation that the implementation of electronic filing and service is likely to involve some period of time where e-filing and e-service will be required for some actions (based on district, county, or type of action), permitted for others, or not permitted at all. The applicability of e-filing and e-service to particular actions should be established in separate implementation orders.
Advisory Committee Comment - 2010 Amendment
Rule 5.02 is amended to provide for service by electronic means, other than by facsimile as allowed by the existing rule, if authorized by an order of the Minnesota Supreme Court. This amendment is intended to facilitate a pilot project on electronic service and filing in one or two districts, but is designed to be a model for the implementation of electronic filing and service if the pilot project is made permanent and statewide. The rule makes service by electronic means effective when transmission is complete, just as the existing rules provide for filing and service by mail and facsimile transmission.
Service by electronic means is allowed for documents served after the original summons. Service under Rule 4 is required for summonses, and electronic service is not one of the means of service under that rule.
This amendment is modeled on Rules 5(b)(2)(D) and (3) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, as amended to implement electronic filing and service in the federal courts.