To get the sheriff to serve court papers, bring your filed summons and a copy of the complaint to the civil division of your county sheriff’s office, fill out a service request form with the defendant’s name and address, and pay the service fee. A deputy will then attempt to hand-deliver the papers to the person you’re suing. Submitting takes one visit; how quickly delivery happens depends on the deputy’s caseload and whether the defendant can be located at the address you provide.
What to Bring
The sheriff’s office needs two things from you: the court papers and enough information to find the defendant.
For the papers, bring the summons and a copy of the complaint (called a petition in some courts). Prepare at least three complete sets. The sheriff keeps one to deliver, the court keeps the filed originals, and you keep a copy. If you’re suing more than one person, prepare a separate set for each defendant, because the deputy has to deliver papers individually to every person named.
For the defendant, accuracy matters more than volume. At minimum, give the full legal name and a current physical address where the person actually spends time. A home address is standard; adding a workplace address gives the deputy a second option if nobody answers the door. A physical description helps in apartment buildings or shared housing, where the deputy needs to confirm the papers reach the right person.
You’ll also complete a service request form. Most sheriff’s offices post it on their civil division website, and some courts supply their own version. It asks for the case number, the parties, and the service address. Fill it out before you go if you can.
Where to Submit and What Happens at the Counter
Look for the Civil Process Unit or Civil Division of the sheriff’s department. This office is often in a different building from the main sheriff’s office or the jail, so check the address on the department’s website first. A quick call also confirms hours, since civil divisions sometimes keep shorter schedules than other county offices.
At the counter, the clerk reviews your documents and the service request form, checks that everything is complete, and confirms you’ve brought enough copies. If something is missing or wrong, you’ll have to fix it before they accept the submission. Bring a spare blank service request form so a small error doesn’t send you home.
Fees and Fee Waivers
Sheriff’s offices charge roughly $20 to $100 per service attempt, depending on the county. Some add mileage if the defendant’s address sits far from the courthouse. Most accept cash and money orders; some take credit or debit. Ask for a receipt. If you win and are entitled to costs, you can typically recover the service fee as part of your court costs.
If you can’t afford the fee, ask about a waiver before assuming you have to pay. Many states let plaintiffs who have been certified as indigent receive sheriff services without prepayment. The process usually involves filing a financial affidavit with the court showing your income and assets fall below a threshold. If the court grants your request, the sheriff serves your papers at no upfront cost. The court clerk can tell you whether you qualify and which form to file.
What the Deputy Does After You Submit
The assigned deputy goes to the address you gave and tries to hand the papers directly to the defendant. Personal hand-delivery is the most straightforward form of service and is accepted everywhere. If the defendant isn’t home, most states also let the deputy leave the papers with another adult who lives at the same address, provided that person appears old enough and competent to pass them along.
Timing varies. Some offices make the first attempt within a few days; others take a couple of weeks. If nobody answers on the first visit, the deputy will usually try again at a different time of day. Most offices make two or three attempts before giving up, though the exact number depends on the county. You generally won’t hear anything during this window unless service fails.
Proof of Service
Once the deputy successfully delivers the papers, the sheriff’s office prepares a proof of service, sometimes called a return of service. It’s a sworn document recording when, where, and how the papers were delivered, and who received them. That document is the official evidence that the defendant was properly notified of the lawsuit.
In some jurisdictions, the sheriff files the proof of service directly with the court. In others, they mail it to you and expect you to file it yourself. Confirm which one applies when you submit your papers. If it arrives in your mailbox, file it promptly. Your case cannot move forward until the proof of service is in the court file, and judges notice when it’s missing.
When the Sheriff Cannot Complete Service
If the deputy can’t find the defendant after multiple attempts, you’ll get a return of non-service explaining what happened. Common reasons: the defendant has moved, the address is wrong, or someone is deliberately avoiding the door. Your case isn’t over, but you need to act.
Start by finding a better address. Check public records, social media, or mutual contacts. With a new address, you can resubmit to the sheriff and pay again, or hire a private process server. Process servers often keep more flexible hours than deputies and can watch an address at odd times, which helps when someone is ducking service.
If you’ve genuinely exhausted reasonable ways to find the defendant, ask the court for permission to use an alternative method. Courts have authorized service by publication (a notice in a local newspaper), service by posting (a notice attached to the defendant’s last known door), and in some federal cases, service by email. You can’t choose these on your own. File a motion describing what you’ve already tried, and a judge decides whether the alternative method is likely enough to reach the defendant to satisfy due process. Expect the court to want proof you actually tried conventional service first.
Deadlines That Can Kill Your Case
Every court sets a deadline for completing service, and missing it can get your case dismissed. In federal court, you have 90 days from filing the complaint. State deadlines range widely, with some as short as 60 days and others 120 days or more. Look up your local rule the day you file, not after the sheriff returns your papers unserved.
If the deadline is approaching and service still isn’t complete, don’t wait it out. Call the civil division for a status update. If service won’t happen in time, file a motion for an extension before the deadline expires. Courts generally grant extensions on a showing of good cause, such as a wrong address that took time to correct. Asking for more time after the deadline has already passed is harder and requires showing the delay was excusable.
Federal Cases Are Different
If your lawsuit is in federal court, the county sheriff is not the default. Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 4 places the responsibility for arranging service on the plaintiff, so you can hire a private process server, use the sheriff, or ask any adult who isn’t a party to serve the papers. If the court has granted you permission to proceed without paying fees (in forma pauperis status), it must order the U.S. Marshals Service to serve process for you at no charge, using form USMS-285 instead of a sheriff’s service request. A federal judge can also order the Marshals to serve process in other circumstances when warranted.