The Civil Division provides a variety of Civil process which includes summons and complaints, small claims documents
for a civil lawsuit, restraining orders, bench warrants and any other notice or order from the courts. We also levy
on wages, bank accounts, vehicles or any asset of the judgment debtor including real property. Service documents are
received at our office listed above in person or by mail. The normal hours for serving documents are Monday through
Friday from 8:00am to 4:00pm, excluding Holidays. Night service is performed approximately once every two weeks. If
you need your documents served in the evening or on weekends, we recommend that you contact a private process
server.
Service documents are received at our office listed above in person or by mail. Please write down the Sheriff’s levy
file number, which is assigned to your service request, upon opening a file with our office. Having the Sheriff’s
levy file will facilitate future inquiries with Civil Division staff about the status of your service request.
Information Guides and Sheriff's Instructions forms are provided below for most types of process service and
enforcement actions to better inform the public of our policies and procedures. However, please be aware that only
an attorney is allowed to give legal advice, not the Sheriff.
Sheriff is required by law to charge fees for most civil process actions. You must pay the fee deposit, in
advance, which ranges from thirty-five dollars for a typical service to thousands of dollars to levy on a
business. The fee and fee deposit are listed in the Information Guides for each type of process service and
enforcement action. In addition to the Sheriff's levy fee, other costs may be required. These fees include charges
for moving and storage, towing, recording, publishing in a newspaper, and keepers. Any unused portion of the fee
deposit is refunded. Sheriff fees are added to the judgment and increases the amount the debtor must pay to fully
satisfy the case. In most cases the Sheriff is entitled to their fee whether the service/levy is successful or
unsuccessful pursuant to
Govt.
Code 26736 and
Govt.
Code 26738.
Signed instructions directing the Sheriff to serve process or perform an enforcement action are required. The
instructions must be signed by your attorney or by you, if you don't have an attorney. A Sheriff's Instructions
form accompanies the Information Guide for each type of process or enforcement action. If you do not find the type
of process or enforcement action listed, you may click
Non writ Service of Process Instruction Form. The Sheriff's
Instructions form requires Adobe Acrobat Reader.
Click here to download the
free Acrobat Reader from Adobe.
In order to serve civil process, we must have original signed instructions. We accept faxed and emailed instructions, please refer to the Civil Division page for contact information. For a complete list of all Civil Instruction forms click
Civil Forms. All documents must be received in
our office a minimum of 10 days prior to the last day for service, absent extenuating circumstances.
It is necessary to have a properly identified person on the writ for the Sheriff to perform any type of levy. If
the debtor is not a natural person (corporation, partnership, etc.), the writ must include the debtor’s legal
entity, e.g., A-1 Auto, a corporation or Acme Sales, a partnership. The Sheriff cannot enforce a writ that does
not list the debtor’s legal entity. A "dba" (doing business as) is not a legal entity. For example, A-1 Auto dba
A-1 Auto Parts does not list the legal entity. But, A-1 Auto, a corporation, dba A-1 Auto Parts is acceptable.