Process servers in New York are celebrating as the New York Bill S2991A, introduced in February 2015 was signed into law by Governor Andrew Cuomo on August 19, 2016. It will go into effect this upcoming November. New York becomes only the fourth American State to have legislation in place to protect process servers, following Illinois, California, and Florida. It will make physical assault on a process server a Class D Felony, and also makes provisions for individuals intentionally releasing animals or failing to control their animals to prevent, obstruct, or retaliate against service, and language which protects process servers from obstruction of service.
Unfortunately, no such laws exist in England or Wales to protect our process servers from the daily struggles they face meeting with aggressive, and physically violent individuals, something we think needs to change.