What to do when someone is avoiding service in Texas

Updated October 9, 2026 · General information, not legal advice. Rules quoted from the official Texas Rules of Civil Procedure; confirm current text and local requirements with the court.

If the person you're suing keeps avoiding the process server, Texas rules give you a path forward. It starts with documented attempts and ends with a court order allowing another way to deliver the papers.

Step 1: Make real attempts the standard way

Unless the citation or a court order says otherwise, Rule 106(a) requires service by (1) "delivering to the defendant, in person, a copy of the citation, showing the delivery date, and of the petition," or (2) "mailing to the defendant by registered or certified mail, return receipt requested, a copy of the citation and of the petition." A certified process server or constable should record the date, time and result of each attempt. Those details become your evidence.

Step 2: File a Rule 106(b) motion with a sworn statement

Under Rule 106(b), the court may authorize substituted service "upon motion supported by a statement — sworn to before a notary or made under penalty of perjury — listing any location where the defendant can probably be found and stating specifically the facts showing that service has been attempted under (a)(1) or (a)(2) at the location named in the statement but has not been successful."

The process server's affidavit or declaration of attempts is usually the core of this statement, so ask your server for detailed notes: dates, times, who answered, vehicles seen, and anything showing the defendant lives or works there.

Step 3: Methods the court can allow

• Leaving the papers with someone at the location: "leaving a copy of the citation and of the petition with anyone older than sixteen at the location specified in the statement" (Rule 106(b)(1)).
• Any other reasonably effective method: "in any other manner, including electronically by social media, email, or other technology, that the statement or other evidence shows will be reasonably effective to give the defendant notice of the suit" (Rule 106(b)(2)). The rule's 2020 comment says courts should consider whether the account actually belongs to the defendant and whether the defendant regularly or recently uses it.

The person serving must then follow the order exactly and complete the return of service under Rule 107, stating how service was made.

If you can't find the defendant at all

Rule 106(b) needs a location where the defendant can probably be found. If the defendant's residence is unknown after due diligence, or the defendant is a transient person or nonresident who couldn't be served, Rule 109 allows citation by publication on a sworn statement. The court must "inquire into the sufficiency of the diligence" before granting judgment. Rule 109a lets the court instead order a different substituted method "as likely as publication to give defendant actual notice."

Practical tips

• Hire a server who documents every attempt in writing; vague notes make weak motions.
• Vary attempt times (early morning, evening, weekend), but note that Rule 6 bars serving process on Sunday except in specific cases such as injunctions, attachment, garnishment and sequestration.
• Check whether the defendant would simply sign a waiver: under Rule 119, a defendant may accept service by a signed, sworn written memorandum filed with the papers.

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Sources

1. Texas Rules of Civil Procedure (Texas Judicial Branch, current edition; downloaded Oct. 9, 2026)