The Civil Unit is part of the Support Services Division and is charged with the processing of civil process as prescribed by law. It is the goal of the Civil Unit 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 process includes summons and complaints, small claims documents for a civil lawsuit, restraining orders, and any other notice or order from the courts. The civil unit is also charged with placing a levy on bank accounts, wages, vehicles, or any asset of the judgment debtor. All single serve documents submitted must include an SER-001 Request for Sheriff to Serve Court Papers and a fee for the service (Per CCP 262).  All writ and levy requests submitted must include form SER-001 Request for Sheriff to Serve Court Papers and form SER-001A Special Instructions for Writs and Levies—Attachment (Per CCP 262).

Hours of Operation

The normal hours of operation are Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The office is closed between 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m. for the lunch hour. If you need your documents served in the evening or on weekends, we recommend that you contact a private process server. However, if restraining orders are brought in during normal business hours, we will attempt service during non-business hours.

General Service Information

All documents must be accompanied by SER-001 Request for Sheriff to Serve Court Papers, signed and dated by the attorney of record or if there is no attorney of record, signed and dated by the plaintiff. The SER-001 Request for Sheriff to Serve Court Papers must include the name of the person to serve and the address where the service is to be made. You may give more than one address if all addresses are within Sutter County. A wage levy/garnishment requires an Application for Earnings Withholding Order (form) instead of a letter of instruction. The applications are online at the Judicial Council’s website (www.courts.ca.gov/forms.htm) and in our office.

We require a complete copy of the documents, front and back, for each person to be served plus an additional copy for our file. For levies and evictions, we require the original writ of execution plus 2 copies, front and back or 3 copies of an electronic writ.  Please include more copies if you have more than 1 levy request. All documents must be accompanied by the appropriate fee or an order waiving the 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 a separate fee for each person served. If you have documents from different case numbers to be served on the same person, each set of documents from each case number will require a separate form SER-001 Request for Sheriff to Serve Court Papers and you would be charged a separate fee for each set of documents for each case number.

Types of Services and Levies

Service

• Summons and Complaint
• Summons and Petition
• Claim of Plaintiff
• Application and Order for Examination
• Order to Show Cause
• Temporary Restraining Order
• 3 Day or 30 Day Notice to Quit
• Subpoena
• Other orders from the Court

Write Enforcement/Levies

• Earnings Withholding Orders
• Bank Levy
• Third-Party
• Vehicles Levy
• Till Tap
• Keeper (8, 12, 24 hours)
• Real Property or Personal Property

Sales

• Personal Property
• Real Property

Forms

• Request for Sheriff to Serve Court Papers SER-001
• Special Instructions for Writs and Levies—Attachment SER-001A

View the current fee schedule for services.

For information and assistance with the legal process got to CA Courts Self-Help Center. For assistance filling out forms SER-001 and SER-001A, go to https://selfhelp.courts.ca.gov/sheriff-serves.

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