Opinion ID: 3133564
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Obtaining Personal Jurisdiction

Text: A court obtains personal jurisdiction over a party defendant by service of process. Ramsay v. Custer, 387 S.W.3d 566, 568 (Tenn. Ct. App. 2012); see also Johnson v. McKinney, 222 S.W.2d 879, 883 (Tenn. Ct. App. 1948) (―The general rule is that notice by service of process or in some other manner provided by law is essential to give the court jurisdiction of the parties; and judgment rendered without such jurisdiction is void and subject to attack from any angle.‖ (emphasis added)). ―The record must establish 14 Mother appeared through counsel in the divorce proceeding and was represented by counsel when Father filed his initial motion to terminate her parental rights, but Father‘s initial motion was never adjudicated. By the time Father filed his second petition to terminate Mother‘s parental rights, her attorney had been permitted to withdraw, so Mother was not before the trial court by representation when the default judgment terminating her parental rights was entered. Additionally, Mother did not confer personal jurisdiction upon the trial court by voluntarily participating in the termination proceeding. It is undisputed that constructive service by publication is the sole means by which the trial court allegedly acquired personal jurisdiction over Mother. -14- that the plaintiff complied with the requisite procedural rules, and the fact that the defendant had actual knowledge of attempted service does not render the service effectual if the plaintiff did not serve process in accordance with the rules.‖ Ramsay, 387 S.W.3d at 568; see also Overby v. Overby, 457 S.W.2d 851, 852 (Tenn. 1970) (―That a judgment [i]n personam against a defendant who is not before the court either by service of process or by entry of appearance is void there can be no question. It is well settled that a judgment rendered against a defendant in any kind of a case, when process has never been served on him . . . in the way provided by law. . .; and where there has been no voluntary appearance of the defendant, is clearly void.‖ (emphasis added) (citation and internal quotation marks omitted)). A court ―without personal jurisdiction of the defendant‖ is wholly ―without power to proceed to an adjudication‖ binding on that defendant, regardless of the specific reason such jurisdiction is lacking. Employers Reinsurance Corp. v. Bryant, 299 U.S. 374, 381 (1937). Father argues that the judgment terminating Mother‘s parental rights is not void because the record contains prima facie evidence that the trial court acquired personal jurisdiction over Mother through constructive service by publication. Mother responds, however, that the record shows that Father failed to comply with the statutory requirements for constructive service by publication, and as a result, the judgment terminating her parental rights is void for lack of personal jurisdiction. The record unquestionably supports Mother‘s argument.