Richmond Sheriff Antionette V. Irving has declined to explain why deputies serving legal papers in a lawsuit naming the City of Richmond as a defendant could not locate the City Attorney’s Office at City Hall.

Her only comment Monday in response to a Free Press query: “Process is served in accordance to the code.”

Among her duties, Sheriff Irving is charged with serving legal documents in civil suits, and has a staff of deputies to carry out the important operation, including ensuring a defendant is served and that witnesses receive summonses. The City Attorney’s Office accepts service on behalf of the City of Richmond.

However, deputies returned the paperwork to the court with a claim they could not find the office of City Attorney Allen L. Jackson, located in Suite 400 in City Hall, just a stone’s throw from the John Marshall Courts Building where deputies pick up the legal paperwork to be delivered.

The complaint was sent out twice on April 15 from the Richmond Circuit Court Clerk’s Office at the courts building and twice returned with the notation “not found.”

It was sent out a third time, but as of Wednesday, there was no notation on the court record for the case that the papers had been served.

Despite that, the court’s docket shows that the case has been set to be heard 11 a.m. Tuesday, April 30, before Richmond Circuit Judge Bradley B. Cavedo.

The case involves a Freedom of Information lawsuit filed against the city by Paul Goldman, a political consultant and former chairman of the Virginia Democratic Party.

The suit seeks documents the city declined to release regarding Navy Hill District Corp. with whom the city is negotiating to develop a new coliseum in Downtown.

Judge Cavedo was assigned the case after two other judges recused themselves. — JEREMY M. LAZARUS