Find Legal Information

11-445. Fees chargeable in civil actions by sheriffs, constables and private process servers; authority of private process servers; background investigation; constables' logs; fine surcharge

A. The sheriff shall receive the following fees in civil actions:

1. For serving each true copy of the original summons in a civil suit, sixteen dollars, except that the sheriff shall not charge a fee for service of any document pursuant to section 13-3602 or any injunction against harassment pursuant to section 12-1809 if the court indicates the injunction arises out of a dating relationship.

2. For summoning each witness, sixteen dollars.

3. For levying and returning each writ of attachment or claim and delivery, forty-eight dollars.

4. For taking and approving each bond and returning it to the proper court when necessary, twelve dollars.

5. For endorsing the forfeiture of any bond required to be endorsed by him, twelve dollars.

6. For levying each execution, twenty-four dollars.

7. For returning each execution, sixteen dollars.

8. For executing and returning each writ of possession or restitution, forty-eight dollars plus a rate of forty dollars per hour per deputy or constable for the actual time spent in excess of three hours.

9. For posting the advertisement for sale under execution, or any order of sale, twelve dollars.

10. For posting or serving any notice, process, writ, order, pleading or paper required or permitted by law, not otherwise provided for, sixteen dollars except that posting for a writ of restitution shall not exceed ten dollars.

11. For executing a deed to each purchaser of real property under execution or order of sale, twenty-four dollars.

12. For executing a bill of sale to each purchaser of real and personal property under an execution or order of sale, when demanded by the purchaser, sixteen dollars.

13. For services in designating a homestead or other exempt property, twelve dollars.

14. For receiving and paying money on redemption and issuing a certificate of redemption, twenty-four dollars.

15. For serving and returning each writ of garnishment and related papers, forty dollars.

16. For the preparation, including notarization, of each affidavit of service or other document pertaining to service, eight dollars.

17. For every writ served on behalf of a justice of the peace, a fee established by the board of supervisors not to exceed five dollars per writ. Monies collected from the writ fees shall be deposited in the constable ethics standards and training fund established by section 22-138.

B. The sheriff shall also collect the appropriate recording fees if applicable and other appropriate disbursements.

C. The sheriff may charge:

1. Fifty-six dollars plus disbursements for any skip tracing services performed.

2. A reasonable fee for executing a civil arrest warrant ordered pursuant to court rule by a judge or justice of the peace. The fee shall only be charged to the party requesting the issuance of the civil arrest warrant.

3. A reasonable fee for storing personal property levied on pursuant to title 12, chapter 9.

D. For traveling to serve or on each attempt to serve civil process, writs, orders, pleadings or papers, the sheriff shall receive two dollars forty cents for each mile actually and necessarily traveled but, in any event, not to exceed two hundred miles, nor to be less than sixteen dollars. Mileage shall be charged one way only. For service made or attempted at the same time and place, regardless of the number of parties or the number of papers so served or attempted, only one charge for travel fees shall be made for such service or attempted service.

E. For collecting money on an execution when it is made by sale, the sheriff and the constable shall receive eight dollars for each one hundred dollars or major portion thereof not to exceed a total of two thousand dollars, but when money is collected by the sheriff without a sale, only one-half of such fee shall be allowed. When satisfaction or partial satisfaction of a judgment is received by the judgment creditor after the sheriff or constable has received an execution on the judgment, the commission is due the sheriff or constable and is established by an affidavit of the judgment creditor filed with the officer. If the affidavit is not lodged with the officer within thirty days of the request, the commission shall be based on the total amount of judgment due as billed by the officer and may be collected as any other debt by that officer.

F. The sheriff shall be allowed for all process issued from the supreme court and served by the sheriff the same fees as are allowed the sheriff for similar services on process issued from the superior court.

G. The constable shall receive the same fees as the sheriff for performing the same services in civil actions, except that mileage shall be computed from the office of the justice of the peace originating the civil action to the place of service.

H. Notwithstanding subsection G of this section, in a county with a population of more than three million persons, if an office of a justice of the peace is located outside of the precinct boundaries, the mileage for a constable shall be calculated pursuant to subsection D of this section, except that the distance between the precinct boundaries and the office of the justice of the peace, as determined by the county and certified by the board of supervisors of that county, shall be subtracted from the mileage calculation. This certified mileage calculation shall be transmitted to the justice courts and the clerks of those courts shall calculate the mileage between the office of the justice of the peace and the location where the civil process, writ, order, pleading or paper was served and reduce the mileage used to calculate the mileage fee according to the certified mileage calculation for that respective jurisdiction.

I. Private process servers duly appointed or registered pursuant to rules established by the supreme court may serve all process, writs, orders, pleadings or papers required or permitted by law to be served before, during or independently of a court action, including all such as are required or permitted to be served by a sheriff or constable, except writs or orders requiring the service officer to sell, deliver or take into the officer's custody persons or property, or as may otherwise be limited by rule established by the supreme court. A private process server is an officer of the court. As a condition of registration, the supreme court shall require each private process server applicant to furnish a full set of fingerprints to enable a criminal background investigation to be conducted to determine the suitability of the applicant. The completed applicant fingerprint card shall be submitted with the fee prescribed in section 41-1750 to the department of public safety. The applicant shall bear the cost of obtaining the applicant's criminal history record information. The cost shall not exceed the actual cost of obtaining the applicant's criminal history record information. Applicant criminal history records checks shall be conducted pursuant to section 41-1750 and Public Law 92-544. The department of public safety is authorized to exchange the submitted applicant fingerprint card information with the federal bureau of investigation for a federal criminal records check. A private process server may charge such fees for services as may be agreed on between the process server and the party engaging the process server.

J. Constables shall maintain a log of work related activities including a listing of all processes served and the number of processes attempted to be served by case number, the names of the plaintiffs and defendants, the names and addresses of the persons to be served except as otherwise precluded by law, the date of process and the daily mileage.

K. The log maintained in subsection J of this section is a public record and shall be made available by the constable at the constable's office during regular office hours. Copies of the log shall be filed monthly with the clerk of the justice court and with the clerk of the board of supervisors.

L. If the sheriff or constable serves a warrant issued by a justice or superior court judge for failure to pay a fine, the court shall collect a ten per cent surcharge on the amount of the fine owed by the defendant and shall transmit the monies collected to the county treasurer for deposit in the county general fund.