Job Description for a Civil Process Server

by Steve McDonnell Google

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) estimates there are 15,000 to 20,000 process servers in the United States who work full-time or part-time hand delivering legal documents. Most civil process servers work as contractors for process service and legal service companies, though some are employed by sheriff's offices. Self-employed servers are paid a fixed fee for each set of papers they deliver. Requirements for process servers vary by state and there are no formal education requirements. Servers must be 18 or older, cannot have a felony conviction and must pass a background check.

Receiving Assignments

Civil process servers meet with their employers to receive assignments, review instructions and verify due dates. Some servers conduct their assignments according to their own schedules as long as they complete them before the due dates. Servers commonly receive payment in advance for each assignment. Other servers have a specific schedule during which they attempt to serve every assignment an employer provides. In addition to serving papers, process servers often file court documents or retrieve court filings for employers.

Serving Papers

A civil process server delivers legal documents, such as a summons, complaint, subpoena, restraining order or eviction notice to the person named on the document. The server travels to the home or office of the person being served, recording the date, time and place the papers were served. The process server's job is complete even if the person being served doesn't accept the documents. Process servers can simply describe the document contents, drop the papers off and leave them with the person being served.

Providing Reports

Servers provide a report for each assignment with the notes they take prior to serving the papers and a summary of the results, such as whether or not the person accepted the documents. Some employers may allow a server to use a different solution, such as registered mail, if she makes several unsuccessful attempts to locate the person. Other employers require her to return the documents with a detailed report describing the difficulties she encountered.

Serving Evasive People

People who know they're going to be served sometimes purposefully try to elude the server. Process servers may have to use surveillance and wait in hiding for a person to appear so they can serve papers. To prevent phone calls to the police, a process server usually notifies neighbors about his purpose and may also alert the local police about his assignment. If a self-employed process server determines that an assignment places him in too much danger, he can return the assignment with the prepayment to his employer.

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