11-445

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.