SEARS, Chief Justice.
Marilyn Summerlin filed a wrongful death action against the Georgia Pines Community Service Board in the Thomas County Superior Court under the Georgia Tort Claims Act.1 According to Ms. Summerlin, her eighteen-year-old son died unexpectedly at Georgia Pines, a residential facility for the care and treatment of individuals with mental illness, mental retardation, and addiction operated by the Board.2 The Board moved for summary judgment on the ground that service of process was defective because the summons and complaint were not handed directly to Robert Henry Jones, Jr., the Director of Georgia Pines. Instead, sheriffs deputies handed the summons and complaint to Connie Brogdon, the personnel manager at Georgia Pines, to give to Jones.
The Superior Court held that service was improper under the service provision of the Georgia Tort Claims Act, OCGA § 50-21-35. The Court of Appeals reversed,3 holding that service was proper under the service provision of the Civil Practice Act4 applicable to service of process on a “public body,” OCGA § 9-11-4 (e) (5).5 We granted certiorari to determine whether OCGA§ 9-ll-4(e) (5) applies to proceedings brought under the Georgia Tort Claims Act or whether OCGA § 50-21-35 instead provides the exclusive method for service of process on a State entity.6 We have concluded that OCGA § 9-11-4 (e) (5) applies to claims brought under the Georgia Tort Claims Act and, additionally, that the Court of Appeals correctly held that the Board waived any defense based on defective service of process. We therefore affirm the Court of Appeals’ judgment.
1. The Board contends that OCGA § 50-21-35 required Ms. Summerlin to have the summons and complaint handed to Jones [340]*340personally in order to perfect service of process on the Board. The Board rests its argument on the following portion of OCGA § 50-21-35:
In all civil actions brought against the state under [the Georgia Tort Claims Act], to perfect service of process the plaintiff must both: (1) cause process to be served upon the chief executive officer of the state government entity involved at his or her usual office address; and (2) cause process to be served upon the director of the Risk Management Division of the Department of Administrative Services at his or her usual office address.
According to the Board, the statutory text specifies not only who must be served (i.e., the CEO of the agency sued and the director of the Risk Management Division) and where (at their usual office address), but also how (by personally handing the summons and complaint to the two designated individuals). This reading would add an element to the statute the General Assembly elected not to include.
In statutes regarding “service of process,” the word “service” is a term of art referring to the “formal delivery of a writ, summons, or other legal process.”7 This “formal delivery’ may be accomplished by handing the “process” — here, the summons and complaint — to a specific individual. However, service of process may also be accomplished by certified mail, hand delivery to a party’s agent, or even publication depending on the circumstances.8 Thus, to say, as OCGA § 50-21-35 does, that a plaintiff must “cause process to be served upon” the chief executive officer of a State agency and the director of the Risk Management Division to perfect service of process tells us only who must be served in cases arising under the Georgia Tort Claims Act, not how the named individuals must be served. To answer that question, we must look elsewhere.
The Board contends that there is nowhere else to look. According to the Board, the Georgia Tort Claims Act is “a self-contained limitation on the waiver of state sovereign immunity,” and courts are thus prohibited from “looking] beyond the four corners” of the Georgia Tort Claims Act to find answers to procedural questions. This argument is difficult to sustain in light of our recent unanimous decision in Camp v. Coweta County, 280 Ga. 199 (625 SE2d 759) (2006), in which we specifically relied on OCGA § 9-11-15 (a) in holding that [341]*341amendments to the complaint are generally allowed prior to the entry of a pretrial order even in Georgia Tort Claims Act cases.9 Moreover, it contradicts the plain language of several provisions of the Civil Practice Act,10 including the one governing service of process.11
Under the Board’s reading of OCGA § 50-21-35, every time a plaintiff sues a State agency under the Georgia Tort Claims Act, the sheriffs department (or some other designated process server) must track down and secure an audience with the agency’s CEO so that the summons and complaint can be personally handed to him or her; hand delivery to an administrative assistant or any other agency employee is legally insufficient. The statutory text does not demand such a counterintuitive interpretation.
The Georgia Tort Claims Act is not a civil procedure statute. It touches on procedural matters only incidentally. It makes no provision for the form of pleadings and motions, pretrial discovery, trial practice, or the entry of judgments and summary judgments. Thus, if Georgia Tort Claims Act cases are ever to be litigated, the courts will have to look elsewhere for answers to procedural questions. The place to find these answers is the Civil Practice Act. Accordingly, we hold that the Court of Appeals properly looked to the “public body” service provision of the Civil Practice Act to determine whether Ms. Summerlin was required to have the summons and complaint handed to Jones personally in order to perfect service of process on the Board.
2. In addition, the Board waived any service of process defense it may have had by its own actions during discovery. Although the Board raised the defective service defense in its answer to Ms. Summerlin’s complaint, just a few weeks later it submitted woefully inadequate responses to Ms. Summerlin’s discovery requests. As the Court of Appeals explained:
[342]*342Summerlin’s interrogatories specifically asked Georgia Pines to state the basis upon which it contended there was any deficiency in the service of process claim and to identify who Georgia Pines contended should have been served.
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SEARS, Chief Justice.
Marilyn Summerlin filed a wrongful death action against the Georgia Pines Community Service Board in the Thomas County Superior Court under the Georgia Tort Claims Act.1 According to Ms. Summerlin, her eighteen-year-old son died unexpectedly at Georgia Pines, a residential facility for the care and treatment of individuals with mental illness, mental retardation, and addiction operated by the Board.2 The Board moved for summary judgment on the ground that service of process was defective because the summons and complaint were not handed directly to Robert Henry Jones, Jr., the Director of Georgia Pines. Instead, sheriffs deputies handed the summons and complaint to Connie Brogdon, the personnel manager at Georgia Pines, to give to Jones.
The Superior Court held that service was improper under the service provision of the Georgia Tort Claims Act, OCGA § 50-21-35. The Court of Appeals reversed,3 holding that service was proper under the service provision of the Civil Practice Act4 applicable to service of process on a “public body,” OCGA § 9-11-4 (e) (5).5 We granted certiorari to determine whether OCGA§ 9-ll-4(e) (5) applies to proceedings brought under the Georgia Tort Claims Act or whether OCGA § 50-21-35 instead provides the exclusive method for service of process on a State entity.6 We have concluded that OCGA § 9-11-4 (e) (5) applies to claims brought under the Georgia Tort Claims Act and, additionally, that the Court of Appeals correctly held that the Board waived any defense based on defective service of process. We therefore affirm the Court of Appeals’ judgment.
1. The Board contends that OCGA § 50-21-35 required Ms. Summerlin to have the summons and complaint handed to Jones [340]*340personally in order to perfect service of process on the Board. The Board rests its argument on the following portion of OCGA § 50-21-35:
In all civil actions brought against the state under [the Georgia Tort Claims Act], to perfect service of process the plaintiff must both: (1) cause process to be served upon the chief executive officer of the state government entity involved at his or her usual office address; and (2) cause process to be served upon the director of the Risk Management Division of the Department of Administrative Services at his or her usual office address.
According to the Board, the statutory text specifies not only who must be served (i.e., the CEO of the agency sued and the director of the Risk Management Division) and where (at their usual office address), but also how (by personally handing the summons and complaint to the two designated individuals). This reading would add an element to the statute the General Assembly elected not to include.
In statutes regarding “service of process,” the word “service” is a term of art referring to the “formal delivery of a writ, summons, or other legal process.”7 This “formal delivery’ may be accomplished by handing the “process” — here, the summons and complaint — to a specific individual. However, service of process may also be accomplished by certified mail, hand delivery to a party’s agent, or even publication depending on the circumstances.8 Thus, to say, as OCGA § 50-21-35 does, that a plaintiff must “cause process to be served upon” the chief executive officer of a State agency and the director of the Risk Management Division to perfect service of process tells us only who must be served in cases arising under the Georgia Tort Claims Act, not how the named individuals must be served. To answer that question, we must look elsewhere.
The Board contends that there is nowhere else to look. According to the Board, the Georgia Tort Claims Act is “a self-contained limitation on the waiver of state sovereign immunity,” and courts are thus prohibited from “looking] beyond the four corners” of the Georgia Tort Claims Act to find answers to procedural questions. This argument is difficult to sustain in light of our recent unanimous decision in Camp v. Coweta County, 280 Ga. 199 (625 SE2d 759) (2006), in which we specifically relied on OCGA § 9-11-15 (a) in holding that [341]*341amendments to the complaint are generally allowed prior to the entry of a pretrial order even in Georgia Tort Claims Act cases.9 Moreover, it contradicts the plain language of several provisions of the Civil Practice Act,10 including the one governing service of process.11
Under the Board’s reading of OCGA § 50-21-35, every time a plaintiff sues a State agency under the Georgia Tort Claims Act, the sheriffs department (or some other designated process server) must track down and secure an audience with the agency’s CEO so that the summons and complaint can be personally handed to him or her; hand delivery to an administrative assistant or any other agency employee is legally insufficient. The statutory text does not demand such a counterintuitive interpretation.
The Georgia Tort Claims Act is not a civil procedure statute. It touches on procedural matters only incidentally. It makes no provision for the form of pleadings and motions, pretrial discovery, trial practice, or the entry of judgments and summary judgments. Thus, if Georgia Tort Claims Act cases are ever to be litigated, the courts will have to look elsewhere for answers to procedural questions. The place to find these answers is the Civil Practice Act. Accordingly, we hold that the Court of Appeals properly looked to the “public body” service provision of the Civil Practice Act to determine whether Ms. Summerlin was required to have the summons and complaint handed to Jones personally in order to perfect service of process on the Board.
2. In addition, the Board waived any service of process defense it may have had by its own actions during discovery. Although the Board raised the defective service defense in its answer to Ms. Summerlin’s complaint, just a few weeks later it submitted woefully inadequate responses to Ms. Summerlin’s discovery requests. As the Court of Appeals explained:
[342]*342Summerlin’s interrogatories specifically asked Georgia Pines to state the basis upon which it contended there was any deficiency in the service of process claim and to identify who Georgia Pines contended should have been served. Interrogatory Number 1 read as follows:
Do you contend that any of the named Defendants have been improperly named as parties to this action and/or that improper or incorrect agents for service were utilized to effectuate service upon the Defendants? If your answer to either of these inquiries is “yes,” please provide a detailed explanation as to why you contend the named Defendants have been improperly named or the agents used for service were improper and provide the complete and correct name of the entities you contend should have been named and/or served.
(Emphasis supplied.) In its responses to Summerlin’s interrogatories, served approximately one month after its answer, Georgia Pines responded as follows:
Yes. Lakeview ITR is not an independent legal entity and, therefore, is improperly named as a defendant in this suit.
With regard to service of process, plaintiff failed to execute service as statutorily prescribed by the Georgia Tort Claims Act.
Georgia Pines did not state anywhere within its interrogatory response that Brogdon was an incorrect or improper agent for service of process, nor did Georgia Pines state that Jones had not been served with the complaint.
In Interrogatory Number 2, Summerlin asked,
Do you contend that venue is improper in this Court as to any of the named Defendants, jurisdiction is lacking over any of the named Defendants in this Court, or that service of process has been deficient on any of the named Defendants in this matter? If so, please describe and state with specificity all factual and legal bases supporting any such contention(s).
[343]*343(Emphasis supplied.) Georgia Pines responded, “No.”12
The Board’s failure to provide any factual basis for its legal conclusion deprived Ms. Summerlin of an opportunity to correct the alleged defect in a timely manner. We agree with the Court of Appeals that “[a]ny approval by this court of [Georgia Pines’] procedural ‘sandbagging’ in this case would reintroduce the sporting aspect of pleading the Civil Practice Act was designed to eliminate.”13
The Board argues that in cases arising under the Georgia Tort Claims Act, any defect in service of process deprives the trial court of subject matter jurisdiction and therefore cannot be waived. This argument is meritless. The service of process provision of the Georgia Tort Claims Act is procedural in nature, not jurisdictional.14 As the United States Supreme Court has explained:
Service of process, we have come to understand, is properly regarded as a matter discrete from a court’s jurisdiction to adjudicate a controversy of a particular kind [i.e., subject matter jurisdiction], or against a particular individual or entity [i.e., personal jurisdiction]. Its essential purpose is auxiliary, a purpose distinct from . . . substantive matters [such as] who may sue, on what claims, for what relief, [and] within what limitations period. Instead, the core function of service is to supply notice of the pendency of a legal action, in a manner and at a time that affords the defendant a fair opportunity to answer the complaint and present defenses and objections.
Henderson v. United States, 517 U. S. 654, 671-672 (116 SC 1638, 134 LE2d 880) (1996) (footnotes omitted). There is no dispute that the Board was well aware of Ms. Summerlin’s claims even before she filed her complaint and would have had a full and fair opportunity to answer the complaint and present its defenses and objections had the trial court not terminated the proceedings prematurely by granting summary judgment in favor of the Board. Accordingly, we affirm the [344]*344Court of Appeals’ holding that the Board waived its defective service of process defense.15
Judgment affirmed.
All the Justices concur, except Hines and Melton, JJ., who concur specially.