When you choose for the Sheriff’s Office to effectuate service on a Defendant or other party, the Clerk has the option to charge a fee to cover the cost of printing the documents the Sheriff’s Office will serve. The cost depends on the number of defendants or other parties you are serving via the Sheriff’s Office.
Here’s a general guide to understanding how the service packet printing cost is calculated:
For each Defendant or other party you choose for the Sheriff’s Office to serve…
Count the number of pages included in all the documents you upload (e.g., Complaint, Petition, Child Support Worksheet, etc.)…
Count one (1) additional page for the Summons…
Count two (2) additional pages for the Sheriff’s Entry of Service (one for the Defendant to keep and one to be returned to the Clerk’s Office)…
Count each page included in any Standing Orders or Disclosure Statements that you upload or that we insert for you…
Don’t count the Case Information Form (that one’s free!)…
Multiply the total number of pages by the cost per page, which is usually $0.50 per page.
For example:
5-page Complaint and a 4-page Brief (9 pages total) you upload
+
1-page Summons we generate for you
+
2 copies of a 1-page Sheriff’s Entry of Service we generate for you
+
2-page Domestic Relations Standing Order
=
14 pages
14 pages X $0.50 per page = $7.00
Because each Clerk’s Office can choose to print some number of pages at no cost to you (charging only when the total number of pages exceeds the “free” amount), you might end up with a lower printing cost than what this formula prescribes.