Proposed Indiana Legislation Favored Process Servers

• April 10, 2017
• by ServeNow Staff
• Articles

Editor's Note: A previously published article referenced HB1452 as active. It is currently inactive in Indiana's 2017 General Assembly session.

Deciding between hiring a private process server or a sheriff to serve your legal documents can be a challenging dilemma. The state of Indiana previously proposed legislation that highlights why process servers are the best choice for serving legal documents.

House Bill 1452 was introduced on January 18, 2017, by Rep. Peggy Mayfield which would have potentially raised the service of process fees for Sheriffs within the state of Indiana. Originally, a $25 fee was charged for process service within Indiana and $60 for services out of state. The proposed bill would have raised those prices to $38 and $73, respectively.

HB 1452 followed on the heels of another bill, Senate Bill 532, authored by Sen. Phillip Boots. The bill originally called for returning the fee to $13 and allowing sheriffs to charge for every service provided within the case, not just initiation of service and post-judgment. The last time fees were this low was in 2015, when Senate Bill 217, also authored by Sen. Phillip Boots, raised them to $25.

However, the SB 532 was amended in March, proposing instead to raise the service of process fee for sheriffs from $13 to $28 and prohibit collection of fees more than one time in a single case.

Though both HB 1452 and SB 532 are inactive and will not become law, they suggest that lawmakers are seriously considering a hike in fees for sheriff process service.

The decision to raise the fees is generally accepted since this money not only covers the cost of service processing but also office pension plans for sheriffs across the state. Liabilities that a lower fee doesn’t cover are picked up by taxpayer dollars. According to Indiana Sheriff’s Association Executive Director Steve Luce, “Increasing the fee would ensure the programs that vary by county are stabilized.”

How does this affect your decision?

According to the information that ServeNow gathered from 100 paralegals, legal assistants, and legal administrators, the only advantage to hiring a sheriff over a private process server is the cheaper price tag. Besides price, there are significant advantages to hiring a private process server, including:

• Faster speed of service. Private process servers serve faster 90% of the time. This may, in part, be due to the fact that sheriffs have other responsibilities to manage and serving your documents may not be a priority.
• Better customer service. Since the market for private process service is more competitive, professional process servers are motivated to provide good service.
• Higher success rate. Private process servers are 92% more likely to successfully deliver your legal documents and return to you with proof of delivery.
• Better knowledge of laws. In comparison, 58% of private process servers were more knowledgeable about local process service laws than sheriffs.
• More preferred. Among legal professionals, 78% prefer using private process servers.

The only advantage to using sheriffs for process service is the lower price, but the difference, especially when looking at the other advantages, isn’t significant. Although inactive, the bills introduced the possibility of eliminating the only advantage to choosing a sheriff over a private process server. That little bit of extra money gets you more dedicated, efficient service and is, in the end, definitely worth it.