Serving the District in a Civil Lawsuit
Individuals wishing to serve the District of Columbia, the Mayor, and the Attorney General for the District of Columbia in a civil lawsuit should follow the instructions below.
Preferred Method
The preferred method for serving the District or the Attorney General is to email all required papers to oagserviceofprocess@dc.gov. The required documents must be attached as one or more PDFs to the email. Photographs of documents and links to documents will not be accepted. Litigants serving by email will receive an email acknowledgment.
Additional Methods
Litigants may continue to serve process by certified or registered mail, pursuant to applicable court rules. Litigants may also serve process by hand delivery. A list of the individuals designated to receive in-person service is available at the 10th floor reception desk at the Office of the Attorney General, 400 6th Street, NW, Washington, DC 20001. In-person service of process is disfavored because service will not be possible if the designated employees are not available when service is attempted.
OAG does not accept service of individual District of Columbia employees except the Mayor and Attorney General. Additionally, OAG does not accept service of subpoenas intended to be served on District of Columbia government agencies.