summons

A summons is a form prepared by the plaintiff and issued by a court that informs the defendant that they are being sued or are required to appear in court. It may be served by a sheriff or other authorized person, such as the process server .

In the context of civil cases , Osborn v. Osborn , 550 NW 2d 58 (1996) , explains that “a summons is an instrument used to provide notice to a party of civil proceedings and of the opportunity to appear and be heard.” A summons informs the defendant that they have a certain number of days to respond to the lawsuit or appear in the court.

In the context of criminal cases , a summons can be served on a defendant facing minor criminal charges and used as an alternative to an arrest warrant . The case, State ex rel. DeGraffenreid v. Keet, 619 SW 2d 873 (1981) , explains that “a ‘summons’ is more or less a notice or an invitation to a defendant to come to court at a certain time and answer to a certain charge so that he may not be subjected to inconvenience and embarrassment of an arrest .”

[Last reviewed in April of 2025 by the Wex Definitions Team ]

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