Indiana may soon see fees rise for service of process when using a sheriff or deputy. Senate Bill 217 was introduced in the Senate by Senators Philip Booth and Lonnie Randolph.
The bill looks to raise the service of process fee from $13 to $25, almost double the current charge. Under the bill sheriffs would also be allowed to collect an additional fee for any post-judgment service. Currently the sheriff or deputy is only allowed to collect the fee one time throughout the duration of the case.
This could be good news for process servers in Indiana.
While a large reason for individuals choosing to utilize the sheriff’s department over a private process server is cost, this change would reduce some of the incentive for that decision. The speed of service, availability to make attempts outside of the 9-5 hours when many defendants are at work and the greater level of customer service of private process servers could very well be enough to sway the switch from the Sheriff if the cost difference becomes just a few dollars.
We’ll keep you posted as the bill progresses.
