North Dakota Code 32-30-01 – Joint and several debtors – Procedure when summons not served on all
When the action is against two or more defendants, the plaintiff may proceed as follows:
Terms Used In North Dakota Code 32-30-01
- Arrest: Taking physical custody of a person by lawful authority.
- Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
- Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
- Plaintiff: The person who files the complaint in a civil lawsuit.
- Property: includes property, real and personal. See North Dakota Code 1-01-49
- Summons: Another word for subpoena used by the criminal justice system.
1. If the action is against defendants jointly indebted upon contract and the summons is served on one or more, the plaintiff may proceed against the defendant served, unless the court otherwise directs, and if the plaintiff recovers judgment it may be entered against all the defendants thus jointly indebted to the extent only that it may be enforced against the joint property of all and the separate property of the defendants served, and, if they are subject to arrest, against the persons of the defendants served.
2. If the action is against defendants severally liable and one or more shall be served, the plaintiff may proceed against the defendants served in the same manner as if they were the only defendants.
3. If all the defendants have been served, judgment may be taken against any of them severally, when the plaintiff would be entitled to judgment against any one or more of such defendants if the action had been against such defendants or any of them alone.
4. If the name of one or more partners for any cause shall have been omitted in any action in which judgment shall have been entered against the defendants named in the summons, and such omission shall not have been pleaded in such action, the plaintiff, in case the judgment therein shall remain unsatisfied, may recover by action of such partner separately upon proving such partner’s joint liability, notwithstanding that partner may not have been named in the original action, but the plaintiff shall have satisfaction of only one judgment rendered for the same claim for relief.