No certificate to operate or operation permit shall be issued under the provisions of this chapter to any owner not a resident of this state until such owner has appointed, in writing, the secretary of state and his or her successors in office to be his or her attorney, upon whom all process in any action or proceeding against him or her may be served; and in such writing such owner shall agree that any process against him or her which is served on said secretary shall be of the same legal force and validity as if served on the owner, and that such appointment shall continue in force as long as any liability remains outstanding against the owner in this state. Such written appointment shall be acknowledged before some other officer authorized to take acknowledgements of deeds and shall be filed in the office of said secretary, and copies certified by him or her shall be sufficient evidence of such appointment and agreement. Service upon said attorney shall be sufficient service upon the principal, and shall be made by leaving an attested copy of the process with the secretary of the state at his or her office or with any clerk having charge of the corporation department of said office. When legal process against any owner mentioned in this section is served upon the secretary of the state, he or she shall immediately notify such owner thereof by mail and shall, within two (2) days after such service, forward in the same manner a copy of the process served on him or her to such owner or to any person designated in writing by such owner. The plaintiff in the process so served shall pay to the secretary, at the time of the service, a fee of one and one-half dollars ($1.50) for each page, and in no case less than five dollars ($5.00), which shall be recovered by him or her as part of his taxable costs if he or she prevails in such suit. The secretary shall keep a record of all process served upon him or her which shall show the day and hour when such service was made.
History of Section.
P.L. 1997, ch. 79, § 2.