Art. 4919.Citation; Service of Citation; Justice of the Peace Courts; District Courts With Concurrent Jurisdiction

Citation is the formal notice that a suit exists and the defendant has to respond. Article 4919 requires it to be signed by the justice of the peace or the clerk of court issuing it, identified by official capacity and sealed, and, when a petition was filed, accompanied by a certified copy of it (exhibits aside). The citation itself must show the date issued, the case title, the name of the person it is addressed to, and the court's title and location.

Because Article 4917 lets a plaintiff skip a written petition altogether, Article 4919 builds a fallback into the citation itself. When no petition was filed, the citation has to carry information a petition would otherwise supply: the amount and nature of the claim, the year or years the debt arose, a description sufficient to identify any promissory note or other written evidence of the debt, and, in a suit over movable property, a description of that property and its value. The citation also has to warn the defendant that failing to respond within the delay set by Article 4920, or to appear at a hearing set under Article 4921.1(C), risks a default or an adverse judgment.

Service gets a modern option alongside traditional methods: a court may serve citation by certified mail, return receipt requested, once the requesting party posts the cost. If the defendant personally signs the return receipt, service counts as personal service; if someone else signs for the defendant, it counts as domiciliary service, mirroring the personal-versus-domiciliary distinction used throughout Louisiana service practice.