Process Service at C T Corporation System, Honolulu

Process service at C T Corporation System, 900 Fort Street Mall, Suite 1680, Honolulu, HI 96813 (Honolulu County): summonses and complaints for the companies that appoint CT as their agent.
Order Process Service at C T Corporation System, Honolulu ($115–$215) →

C T Corporation System keeps its Hawaii service-of-process location at 900 Fort Street Mall, Suite 1680, Honolulu, HI 96813, in downtown Honolulu on Oahu, within Honolulu County and the First Circuit. CT is a commercial agent that companies appoint to receive legal papers on their behalf, so most of what arrives at this suite is a summons and complaint in a lawsuit against one of those client companies. When you sue a business that has named CT, this Fort Street Mall address is usually where the papers end up.

Pricing and Turnaround

A delivery to CT in Honolulu is priced on the same three tiers as every other Oahu job, and you pick the speed when you place the order:

  • Standard Island Service, $115: first attempt within 5 business days
  • Rush Priority Service, $165: first attempt within 48 hours
  • 24-Hour Emergency, $215: first attempt within 24 hours

Choose Standard when the case has room, and move up to Rush or 24-Hour only when a hearing or a filing date is pressing. Once the papers are delivered, a signed proof of service is sent to you by email so it can go into the court file.

What Can Be Served Here

CT accepts papers only for the specific entities that have appointed it as their agent. It does not take documents for a parent company, a sister company, an officer personally or a business with a similar name, so the summons and complaint should name the defendant exactly as that entity is legally registered.

Hawaii's rule for companies is HRCP Rule 4(d)(3). A corporation, a partnership or an unincorporated association may be served by delivering the summons and complaint to an officer, to a managing or general agent, or to any other agent authorized by appointment or by law to receive service. An agent such as CT falls under that last category when the company has appointed it. Under HRCP Rule 4(c), the delivery itself may be made by the sheriff or a deputy, by a person the court specially appoints, or by any person who is not a party and is at least 18 years old. Federal cases follow FRCP 4(c)(2), which likewise lets any non-party adult serve.

Before You Send Papers

  • Confirm that the company you are suing still lists CT as its agent for service before you choose this address. Agents change, and papers left for an entity CT does not represent will not count as service on it.
  • Copy the defendant's full legal name, including "Inc.", "LLC" or "Ltd.", onto the summons. A trade name alone is not enough to tie the papers to the right client.
  • Send one complete set for each entity you name, even when two defendants use the same agent.
  • After delivery, the server's proof of service goes to the court under HRCP Rule 4(g). In most cases the company then has 20 days to answer under HRCP Rule 12(a)(1).

Our summons and complaint service page and the HRCP Rule 4 guide explain these steps at more length.

Nearby Courts and Other Locations

Civil cases against Oahu companies are heard in the First Circuit. The circuit court sits at Kaʻahumanu Hale (First Circuit Court), 777 Punchbowl St, Honolulu, HI 96813. The district court is at Kauikeaouli Hale (Honolulu District Court), 1111 Alakea St, Honolulu, HI 96813. That district court hears civil actions up to $40,000 along with summary possession cases. Its small claims docket takes disputes worth up to $5,000. The Honolulu County page covers the rest of Oahu.

Another commercial agent with a downtown Honolulu suite is Corporation Service Company on Bishop Street, which handles papers for its own separate list of client entities.