TPSA LEGISLATIVE PLANS... TOO LITTLE, TOO LATE Leaders Propose Changes That Should Have Been Made Long Ago.
TPSA leaders have sent out a mass mailing to Texas certified process servers in what some are calling a desperate attempt to save their dying association. They are finally proposing changes they have failed to pursue since certification was enacted and during years of their relentless pursuit of full-blown industry regulation.
Carl Weeks, the association president, has had more than eighteen months to propose beneficial changes for the industry. Instead, as the Process Service Review Board Chairman, he has done just the opposite. He supports recommendations that seek to restrict private process servers and do little to assist the industry. In fact, none of the TPSA's Legislative Goals can be found in the PSRB Recommendations.
In the message, TPSA leaders are proposing changes like increasing the penalty for assault on a process server, allowing access to gated communities, and providing for the electronic transmittal of court documents. However, missing from this list is Weeks' goal of yearly training and other changes he recommends as a member of the PSRB.
All one has to do is compare the TPSA Legislative Goals to the PSRB Recommendations; it's like night and day. This demonstrates the problem of having the same person in charge of both the TPSA and the PSRB. Weeks expresses different objectives depending on which hat he's wearing.
With certification set to be enacted in February of 2005, TPSA leaders, including Carl Weeks, endorsed the filing a Senate Bill 165 causing the Supreme Court to postpone certification. After SB 165 was killed, TPSA leaders proclaimed their good fortune stating "the Legislature did us a favor by killing a (licensing) bill..." Then, during the public comment period before certification was implemented, TPSA leaders urged their membership to submit comments recommending that the program be enacted "as worded." Once the program took effect, Weeks' first order of business was the creation and support of the PSRB recommendations that would do anything but keep the program unchanged. Make no mistake about it. These recommendations are still on the table and will most likely be enacted if Weeks and his pro-regulation group have their way. Even more outrageous is the fact that Weeks recently proclaimed that he supports keeping the certification program as it is. So, which is it? Does he want to keep the program unchanged or does he support industry regulation? He is flip-flopping on the issues.
Further proof is the fact that at least three of the TPSA Goals could have been achieved by petitioning the Supreme Court but that effort was never made. These are: removing the requirement for Notary on returns, allowing sub-service on the first attempt at a private mail box, and allowing sub-service on the first attempt at a residence. These are all changes the Supreme Court has the power to make. But, for eighteen months, TPSA leaders have been silent. Their effort to "work with the constables" has created a very threatening situation for the industry. Weeks, a former Williamson County Deputy Constable and fully commissioned peace officer, supports constable type regulation that would level the playing field and help them regain some of the market share they have lost over the years through the natural mechanisms of free enterprise.
Another change TPSA leaders could have recommended by now is on-line training made available over the internet. The CCPSAT is ready to go with an endorsed on-line training course but TPSA leaders and the PSRB have refused to recommend its approval. This is another obvious example of the conflict of interest that currently exists on the PSRB. The revenue of those on the Board who also sell training courses for attendance in person would be seriously threatened should they approve on-line training. In the very first PSRB meeting, Tod Pendergrass, a fully certified process server and a Director of the CCPSAT, addressed the Board and told them that approving on-line training "is the right thing to do" and would make training more accessible for process servers across the State. After multiple attempts, the Board has consistently rejected the only submitted internet course; and TPSA leaders have failed to recommend any on-line training while continuing to promote their own expensive course for attendance in person. The conflict of interest is painfully obvious.
It's time for real leadership in the private process service industry in Texas. Don't forget that the customer, the attorneys of Texas, are not asking for industry regulation. The industry is not asking for regulation. The majority of judges around the state are not asking for regulation. Process servers don't take business away from the constables; attorneys choose private process service because we are a better and more efficient alternative. That means the private industry as a whole is more professional than them. And that makes the idea of "professionalizing the industry" a smokescreen. Who is asking for regulation? The constables and special interest groups who sell training courses. Appalling is the fact that TPSA leaders are using the money of the very hard working process servers they purport to represent to turn around and over-regulate them. Even more appalling, the constables have infiltrated our industry.
Join the fight to protect your company by joining the Certified Civil Process Servers of Texas. The CCPSAT will work to protect the free enterprise of the industry and keep the constables out of our business.
MOST IMPORTANTLY, NEITHER THE INDUSTRY NOR THE ATTORNEYS OF TEXAS ARE ASKING FOR YEARLY TRAINING FOR PROCESS SERVERS. THIS IS SOMETHING THAT TPSA LEADERS, THE PSRB AND A FEW SPECIAL INTEREST INDIVIDUALS WHO SELL TRAINING COURSES ARE PURSUING. THE CCPSAT WILL WORK TO KEEP TRAINING SET AT 7 HOURS EVERY THREE YEARS AS IS THE CURRENT REQUIREMENT.
MORE IMPORTANTLY: FEES, WHAT FEES? NUMBER 7 ON THE TPSA LEGISLATIVE AGENDA EXPLAINS THAT PROCESS SERVERS WILL BE REQUIRED TO PAY FOR THE CERTIFICATION PROGRAM THAT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE A SIMPLE STATEWIDE BLANKET ORDER. ONE TPSA LEADER ASSURED THE MEMBERSHIP IN 2006 THAT NO FEES WOULD BE NECESSARY. COUPLED WITH YEARLY TRAINING, THE FEES WILL SURPASS CARL WEEKS' ESTIMATION OF $50.00 - $75.00 PER YEAR. IF TPSA LEADERS WOULD SIMPLY LEAVE THE PROGRAM ALONE AND QUIT TRYING TO CHANGE IT INTO REGULATION, THERE WOULD BE NO NEED FOR FEES! THE REST OF THE INDUSTRY IS RELYING ON TPSA MEMBERS TO TAKE BACK CONTROL OF THEIR ASSOCIATION BEFORE THE LEADERSHIP DESTROYS THE CERTIFICATION PROGRAM.