Hiring someone to serve legal papers usually means paying a private process server between $20 and $100 to personally deliver your summons and complaint to the other party. You can also use the local sheriff’s office, and in most situations any adult who is not involved in the case can legally do the job. The one person who cannot serve the papers is you.
Who Can Legally Serve the Papers
Under federal rules, anyone who is at least 18 and is not a party to the lawsuit can serve a summons and complaint. A friend or relative qualifies. In practice, almost everyone hires one of two options.
The local sheriff’s office handles service as one of many duties. Fees tend to be modest, but wait times of several weeks are common, and deputies usually attempt delivery only during weekday business hours. Sheriffs do have one real advantage: they can enter gated communities and no-trespassing properties that a private server generally cannot.
A private process server does nothing but deliver documents. That focus shows up in evening, early-morning, and weekend attempts, and in same-day or next-day service for urgent matters. For most civil cases, this is the faster and more flexible choice.
What It Costs
Standard service runs roughly $20 to $100, with the exact figure shaped by state-set rates and local market conditions.1National Association of Professional Process Servers. Costs of Hiring a Process Server Expect add-ons for rush delivery, long-distance mileage, repeated attempts at a hard-to-reach address, and skip tracing when you don’t have a current location for the person.
Ask for the full fee schedule in writing before you commit. A server who won’t put pricing on paper is a server you don’t want.
Where to Find a Process Server
If you have an attorney, ask them. Lawyers hire process servers constantly and know who is reliable in your area.
If you’re representing yourself, the National Association of Professional Process Servers runs a searchable directory of more than 2,000 members across all 50 states.2National Association of Professional Process Servers. Hire a Process Server Your court clerk’s office is another good source, since clerks see which servers consistently work in that courthouse’s jurisdiction and get their paperwork right.
What to Check Before You Hire
There is no single national standard for process server credentials. Some states require statewide licensing, others leave it to counties, and a few have no formal requirements at all. Alaska licenses servers through its Commissioner of Public Safety and requires a $15,000 surety bond plus a written exam. California requires county-level registration and a $2,000 bond for anyone handling more than ten jobs a year. Washington asks only for county registration with no bond.
Before hiring, ask:
- Are you registered or licensed in this jurisdiction?
- Do you carry a surety bond or liability insurance?
- How do you document attempts, and what does your proof of service look like?
Membership in a professional group like NAPPS is a reasonable signal of legitimacy, but it does not replace whatever your state actually requires.
What to Give Your Server
A successful first attempt depends on how much detail you hand over. At the minimum, the server needs the full legal name of the person being served, including any known aliases, along with the court documents themselves.
Beyond that, more is better. Provide every address you have: home, workplace, a partner’s residence, a regular hangout. A recent photo and physical description help the server confirm identity at the door. Vehicle make, model, color, and plate number let the server verify someone is on-site before knocking.
Share schedule details if you know them. If the person leaves for work at seven, tends bar on Thursday nights, or picks up kids at a particular school at a particular time, say so. That kind of detail turns three failed trips into one successful one. And if the court has given you a deadline, tell the server up front so they can prioritize the job.
Serving a Business
Suing a company changes who accepts the papers. Federal rules let you serve a corporation or partnership through an officer, a managing or general agent, or any registered agent authorized to accept service.3Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 4 – Summons Every state requires businesses to designate a registered agent, and the name and address are typically listed in the Secretary of State’s business records. If a company has dissolved or vanished, many states allow service on the Secretary of State as a substitute, who then forwards the papers to the company’s last known address.
How the Server Delivers the Papers
Federal rules allow three methods for serving an individual in the United States, and state rules may add more.3Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 4 – Summons Personal service, where the server hands the papers directly to the named person, is the cleanest and never gets questioned. If that fails, the server can leave the papers at the person’s home with someone of suitable age and discretion who lives there, or deliver them to an agent authorized by law or appointment to accept service.
When the person is actively avoiding service, most states allow substituted service after several genuine attempts on different days and at different times. The usual threshold is at least three attempts at hours when the person would reasonably be home or at work. The server then leaves the papers with a responsible adult at the home or workplace and mails a copy to the same address, documenting every failed attempt in a declaration of diligence. Service is typically considered complete ten days after the mailing.
If you don’t know where the person is, a process server can perform skip tracing: searching public records, vehicle registrations, phone databases, social media, and subscription databases to find a current address. It adds to the cost but is usually far cheaper than a case that stalls out. When every reasonable method has failed, you can ask the court to authorize service by publication in a newspaper, though judges grant this only after you prove you’ve exhausted the alternatives.
The Deadline You Can’t Miss
In federal court, you have 90 days from the filing date to complete service. Miss it, and the court can dismiss your case without prejudice, forcing you to refile from scratch.3Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 4 – Summons The court must grant an extension if you can show good cause, but inattention won’t qualify. State courts set their own deadlines, and some run shorter. Check your local rules the day you file.
If the defendant is burning through your clock on purpose, keep the paper trail. A server who logs each attempt with date, time, and result gives you exactly what you need to request additional time or to move for substituted service.
Proof of Service
After delivery, the process server signs a sworn document called a proof of service or affidavit of service. For anyone other than a U.S. Marshal, federal proof takes the form of the server’s affidavit, listing the person served, the date and location, and a description of the documents handed over.3Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 4 – Summons
File the original with the court where your case is pending. Without it on the record, the court has no evidence the other side was notified and a judge won’t move your case forward. Some jurisdictions charge a small filing fee; many don’t. Your clerk can confirm.
One useful detail: failing to file the proof does not invalidate the service itself. If the papers were properly delivered, service is still legally effective.3Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 4 – Summons But the court can only act on what’s in the file, so get the affidavit submitted promptly and keep a copy for yourself.