2020 Connecticut General Statutes
Title 52 - Civil Actions
Chapter 896 - Civil Process, Service and Time for Return
Section 52-59b - Jurisdiction of courts over nonresident individuals, foreign partnerships and foreign voluntary associations. Service of process.
(a) As to a cause of action arising from any of the acts enumerated in this section, a court may exercise personal jurisdiction over any nonresident individual, foreign partnership or foreign voluntary association, or over the executor or administrator of such nonresident individual, foreign partnership or foreign voluntary association, who in person or through an agent: (1) Transacts any business within the state; (2) commits a tortious act within the state, except as to a cause of action for defamation of character arising from the act; (3) commits a tortious act outside the state causing injury to person or property within the state, except as to a cause of action for defamation of character arising from the act, if such person or agent (A) regularly does or solicits business, or engages in any other persistent course of conduct, or derives substantial revenue from goods used or consumed or services rendered, in the state, or (B) expects or should reasonably expect the act to have consequences in the state and derives substantial revenue from interstate or international commerce; (4) owns, uses or possesses any real property situated within the state; or (5) uses a computer, as defined in subdivision (1) of subsection (a) of section 53-451, or a computer network, as defined in subdivision (3) of subsection (a) of said section, located within the state.
(b) Where personal jurisdiction is based solely upon this section, an appearance does not confer personal jurisdiction with respect to causes of action not arising from an act enumerated in this section.
(c) Any nonresident individual, foreign partnership or foreign voluntary association, or the executor or administrator of such nonresident individual, foreign partnership or foreign voluntary association, over whom a court may exercise personal jurisdiction, as provided in subsection (a) of this section, shall be deemed to have appointed the Secretary of the State as its attorney and to have agreed that any process in any civil action brought against the nonresident individual, foreign partnership or foreign voluntary association, or the executor or administrator of such nonresident individual, foreign partnership or foreign voluntary association, may be served upon the Secretary of the State and shall have the same validity as if served upon the nonresident individual, foreign partnership or foreign voluntary association personally. The process shall be served by the officer to whom the same is directed upon the Secretary of the State by leaving with or at the office of the Secretary of the State, at least twelve days before the return day of such process, a true and attested copy thereof, and by sending to the defendant at the defendant's last-known address, by registered or certified mail, postage prepaid, return receipt requested, a like true and attested copy with an endorsement thereon of the service upon the Secretary of the State. The officer serving such process upon the Secretary of the State shall leave with the Secretary of the State, at the time of service, a fee of fifty dollars, which fee shall be taxed in favor of the plaintiff in the plaintiff's costs if the plaintiff prevails in any such action. The Secretary of the State shall keep a record of each such process and the day and hour of service.
(1969, P.A. 744, S. 1, 2; 1971, P.A. 213, S. 1; P.A. 82-160, S. 16; P.A. 85-303, S. 2, 5; May Sp. Sess. P.A. 92-6, S. 107, 117; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 98-1, S. 35, 121; P.A. 99-160, S. 4; P.A. 00-191, S. 5, 16; P.A. 04-240, S. 25; P.A. 19-40, S. 15.)
History: 1971 act designated existing provisions as Subsecs. (a) and (b) and added Subsec. (c) re service of process on secretary of the state; P.A. 82-160 rephrased section; P.A. 85-303 raised fee for service of process on secretary of the state from $5 to $10; May Sp. Sess. P.A. 92-6 amended Subsec. (c) to raise fee from $10 to $25; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 98-1 made a technical change in Subsec. (c), effective June 24, 1998; P.A. 99-160 made technical and gender neutral changes and amended Subsec. (a) to add new Subdiv. (5) allowing Connecticut courts to exercise personal jurisdiction over nonresidents who use computers or computer networks located in this state; P.A. 00-191 amended Subsec. (c) by adding requirement that registered or certified mail be “return receipt requested”, effective September 1, 2000; P.A. 04-240 added provisions re foreign voluntary associations in Subsecs. (a) and (c) and made a technical change in Subsec. (c), effective June 8, 2004; P.A. 19-40 amended Subsec. (c) by replacing fee of $25 with fee of $50, effective July 1, 2019.
