The Stanislaus County Sheriff's Department Civil Division maintains the goal to serve all received process in a reasonable and timely manner while maintaining an impartial stance between all parties involved or having an interest in a case.

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.

This website provides information related to the most common services by the Civil Division, including letters of instructions to the Civil Division and other documents, costs and fees, and actions.

The Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Department Civil Division is comprised of both clerical and sworn staff. Clerical personnel process incoming requests for service, enter them into the civil computer system and distribute process service and enforcement actions to the field deputies for completion. Clerical personnel collect money pursuant to wage garnishments, bank levies and other enforcement actions and distribute it to the judgment creditor(s) or a designee towards satisfying the judgment. Clerical personnel also process claims, stays, exemptions and bankruptcies on civil enforcement actions and communicate with the courts to determine dispositions. Clerical personnel maintain accounting on each Sheriff’s levy file, return writs to the court and distribute proofs of service or service attempt reports to the requester of a service or enforcement action. Clerical personnel also receive inquiries from the public on the status of services and enforcement actions, but are strictly prohibited from giving legal advice or referrals to private service providers, such as attorneys or registered process servers.

The Civil Unit sworn staff is dedicated to civil enforcement and process service. Civil Unit sworn personnel perform evictions throughout the county on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. They also serve restraining orders and immediate move-out orders, serve civil bench warrants and enforce civil judgments. Enforcement of civil judgments can include the following: levy on and sell personal property to satisfy money judgments, install Sheriff’s Keepers in going businesses to collect proceeds of sales transactions to satisfy money judgments and seizing property and turning it over to the plaintiff in a civil action. If so directed by the court, civil deputies can enter a home or private place to levy on personal property with an entry order issued by the court.

HOURS OF OPERATIONS: Monday-Friday, Excluding Holidays -  8:00AM - 4:00PM

209-491-8762 voice
209-491-8766 fax

Physical Address:
801 11th Street, Suite 2200
Modesto, CA 95354

Mailing Address:
PO BOX 3288
Modesto, CA 95353

The normal hours for serving documents are Monday through Friday from 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM, excluding Holidays. If you need your documents served in the evening or on weekends, we recommend that you contact a private process server.  We occasionally have evening services.

Contact Person(s): Questions about fees, services and/or required documents not addressed by this website can be directed to the Civil Division public information number listed above. Please know your Sheriff’s levy file number and/or court case number and have pen and paper handy when you call.

Intake Process: 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.

Fees for Service: The Civil Division will serve within Stanislaus County all court documents and orders required by law.

Languages Spoken by Staff: English

All documents must be accompanied by a letter of instructions, signed and dated by the attorney of record or the plaintiff if there is no attorney. The instructions must include the name of the person to be served and the address where service is to be made. You may give more than 1 address as long as all addresses are within Stanislaus County.  Also please include your email address as we can now notify you when attempts are made, money received, etc...   A wage levy requires an application for earnings withholding order instead of a letter of instructions. The applications are available on our website as well as at our office.

For services we require 2 copies of the document, front and back, for each person to be served. For levies and evictions, we require the original writ of execution, front and back. All documents must be accompanied by the appropriate fee or an order waiving fees signed by a judge.

All fees are per service. Two defendants equal two services even if they are at the same address, therefore, you would be charged for each service.

Additional Charges
Pursuant to Government Code Section 26748 we will collect for additional costs if the service of your process requires, in our judgment, to use a number of personnel beyond the norms listed below. In some circumstances we may determine that vehicle mileage or other components of the service are extraordinary and will therefore advise you of these costs. All costs are payable 24 hours prior to acting on your process. Any monies collected that are not used will be returned, as usual, after thirty days of receipt of those monies.

NOTICE:

Section 26746 of the Government Code (AB1109, Chapter 1330) provides for a $12.00 assessment to be collected from the judgment debtor on each disbursement of money (paid to a judgment creditor) collected under a Writ of Attachment, Execution, Possession, or Sale; excluding all child support obligation action by the District Attorney’s Office.

The Sheriff is entitled to his fee for service whether or not the service is successful (Government Code 26736 & 26738).

SALES

There is no mailing list for auctions. The sale notices are posted on the bulletin board at the " I" Street basement of the Courthouse in Modesto, the County Administration Building and the Courthouse in Turlock. Real property sales are also published in the Modesto Bee.

Personal property may be viewed approximately 20 minutes prior to the sale unless otherwise noted. Real property cannot be shown.

To bid on personal property at a Sheriff's Sale, including vehicle levies, you will need $2500 or 10% of the bid, whichever is greater. For real property you will need $5000 or 10% of the bid, whichever is greater. If you are bidding less than $2500 on personal property or $5000 on real property we will need the full amount. Payment must be made immediately upon the acceptance of the bid and must be paid with either cash or cashier’s check made payable to the Sheriff.  We cannot accept personal or business checks. If you pay the 10% deposit, you have 10 days to pay the balance, also in cash or with a cashier’s check.

DISBURSEMENT OF FUNDS

Monies received by the Sheriff, from a levy, are held for at least 15 days before being released to the judgment creditor or refunded to the judgment debtor. This is a policy of the Stanislaus County Sheriff's Department and no exceptions can be made unless you can provide us proof that the check has cleared the bank.

EVICTIONS

Evictions are usually completed on the 7th day after a writ of execution has been received by our office. To accomplish an eviction you must first serve the tenant with a 3-day, 30-day or 60-day notice. Contact an attorney if you do not know which notice is appropriate. After the noticed time has expired, the tenant must be served with a summons and complaint unlawful detainer. The fee for serving a notice, a summons & complaint, or unlawful detainer is $35.00 per person. After judgment has been rendered by the court, the court will issue you a writ of execution. We require the original writ and a letter of instructions. The letter of instructions must be signed by the attorney of record, or plaintiff, if there is no attorney. No one else may sign the instructions. A fee of $125.00 is also required. We normally post a 5-day notice to vacate the day after we receive the writ. Prior to the eviction we will contact you or your agent, to advise you of the time you will need to meet us at the property for the eviction. Be prepared at the time of contact to tell us it the tenants have or have not vacated.

At the time of the eviction, be prepared to provide the officer entry to the premises. Generally, a locksmith, passkey, or other means of accomplishing entry is used. The officer will remove the defendants if they are present and post a restoration notice to the front of the property. After the officer has enforced the eviction and returned possession of the property to you, please contact your local law enforcement agency non-emergency phone number to report any violation by the former tenant.

If you or your agent do not appear at the scheduled time or if you cannot provide us with access to the property, the eviction will not take place.

WAGE LEVIES

All wage levies are served by certified mail.  When a wage levy is served the employer has 15 days to send us an answer stating whether they are or are not going to honor the levy. Please allow at least 30 days for receipt of your copy. If the creditor does not receive an answer from the employer, the creditor should contact the employer, not the Sheriff. The employer is not to withhold any monies prior to ten days after the levy. After the 10 days have expired, they are to withhold funds from the next pay check and forward them to the Sheriff It is not unusual for it to take at least 60 days for the creditor to receive the first payment from the Sheriff The employer is to withhold funds and forward them to the Sheriff until the levy has been satisfied or released. To release a levy, we will need a letter from the attorney or plaintiff, if there is no attorney or an order from the court. The Sheriff's fee is automatically added to the levy.

BANK LEVIES

Bank levies are valid only for the monies that are in the bank account at the moment the bank receives the levy. The bank will send us an answer, in approximately 10 days, stating the amount of funds, if any, that were withheld. We will send the creditor a copy of that answer. If you do not receive a copy of the answer within approximately 30 days, please contact the bank, not the Sheriff. The Sheriff's fee is automatically added to the levy.