Bill Text: AZ SB1064 | 2015 | Fifty-second Legislature 1st Regular | Chaptered
Bill Title: Service of process; regulation
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Passed) 2015-04-01 - Chapter 138 [SB1064 Detail]
Download: Arizona-2015-SB1064-Chaptered.html
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Senate Engrossed |
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State of Arizona Senate Fifty-second Legislature First Regular Session 2015
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CHAPTER 138
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SENATE BILL 1064 |
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AN ACT
amending section 11‑445, Arizona Revised Statutes; amending title 12, Arizona Revised Statutes, by adding chapter 25; amending sections 28‑1593 and 28‑1602, Arizona Revised Statutes; relating to private process servers.
(TEXT OF BILL BEGINS ON NEXT PAGE)
Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Arizona:
Section 1. Section 11-445, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read:
11-445. Fees chargeable in civil actions by sheriffs and constables; constables' logs
A. The sheriff shall receive the following fees in civil actions:
1. For serving each true copy of the original summons in a civil suit, sixteen dollars, except that the sheriff shall not charge a fee for service of any document pursuant to section 13‑3602 or any injunction against harassment pursuant to section 12‑1809 if the court indicates the injunction arises out of a dating relationship.
2. For summoning each witness, sixteen dollars.
3. For levying and returning each writ of attachment or claim and delivery, forty‑eight dollars.
4. For taking and approving each bond and returning it to the proper court when necessary, twelve dollars.
5. For endorsing the forfeiture of any bond required to be endorsed by him the sheriff, twelve dollars.
6. For levying each execution, twenty‑four dollars.
7. For returning each execution, sixteen dollars.
8. For executing and returning each writ of possession or restitution, forty‑eight dollars plus a rate of forty dollars per hour per deputy or constable for the actual time spent in excess of three hours.
9. For posting the advertisement for sale under execution, or any order of sale, twelve dollars.
10. For posting or serving any notice, process, writ, order, pleading or paper required or permitted by law, not otherwise provided for, sixteen dollars except that posting for a writ of restitution shall not exceed ten dollars.
11. For executing a deed to each purchaser of real property under execution or order of sale, twenty‑four dollars.
12. For executing a bill of sale to each purchaser of real and personal property under an execution or order of sale, when demanded by the purchaser, sixteen dollars.
13. For services in designating a homestead or other exempt property, twelve dollars.
14. For receiving and paying money on redemption and issuing a certificate of redemption, twenty‑four dollars.
15. For serving and returning each writ of garnishment and related papers, forty dollars.
16. For the preparation, including notarization, of each affidavit of service or other document pertaining to service, eight dollars.
17. For every writ served on behalf of a justice of the peace, a fee established by the board of supervisors not to exceed five dollars per writ. Monies collected from the writ fees shall be deposited in the constable ethics standards and training fund established by section 22‑138.
B. The sheriff shall also collect the appropriate recording fees if applicable and other appropriate disbursements.
C. The sheriff may charge:
1. Fifty‑six dollars plus disbursements for any skip tracing services performed.
2. A reasonable fee for executing a civil arrest warrant ordered pursuant to court rule by a judge or justice of the peace. The fee shall only be charged to the party requesting the issuance of the civil arrest warrant.
3. A reasonable fee for storing personal property levied on pursuant to title 12, chapter 9.
D. For traveling to serve or on each attempt to serve civil process, writs, orders, pleadings or papers, the sheriff shall receive two dollars forty cents for each mile actually and necessarily traveled but, in any event, not to exceed two hundred miles, nor to be less than sixteen dollars. Mileage shall be charged one way only. For service made or attempted at the same time and place, regardless of the number of parties or the number of papers so served or attempted, only one charge for travel fees shall be made for such service or attempted service.
E. For collecting money on an execution when it is made by sale, the sheriff and the constable shall receive eight dollars for each one hundred dollars or major portion thereof not to exceed a total of two thousand dollars, but when money is collected by the sheriff without a sale, only one‑half of such fee shall be allowed. When satisfaction or partial satisfaction of a judgment is received by the judgment creditor after the sheriff or constable has received an execution on the judgment, the commission is due the sheriff or constable and is established by an affidavit of the judgment creditor filed with the officer. If the affidavit is not lodged with the officer within thirty days of the request, the commission shall be based on the total amount of judgment due as billed by the officer and may be collected as any other debt by that officer.
F. The sheriff shall be allowed for all process issued from the supreme court and served by the sheriff the same fees as are allowed the sheriff for similar services on process issued from the superior court.
G. The constable shall receive the same fees as the sheriff for performing the same services in civil actions, except that mileage shall be computed from the office of the justice of the peace originating the civil action to the place of service.
H. Notwithstanding subsection G of this section, in a county with a population of more than three million persons, if an office of a justice of the peace is located outside of the precinct boundaries, the mileage for a constable shall be calculated pursuant to subsection D of this section, except that the distance between the precinct boundaries and the office of the justice of the peace, as determined by the county and certified by the board of supervisors of that county, shall be subtracted from the mileage calculation. This certified mileage calculation shall be transmitted to the justice courts and the clerks of those courts shall calculate the mileage between the office of the justice of the peace and the location where the civil process, writ, order, pleading or paper was served and reduce the mileage used to calculate the mileage fee according to the certified mileage calculation for that respective jurisdiction.
I. Private process servers duly appointed or registered pursuant to rules established by the supreme court may serve all process, writs, orders, pleadings or papers required or permitted by law to be served before, during or independently of a court action, including all such as are required or permitted to be served by a sheriff or constable, except writs or orders requiring the service officer to sell, deliver or take into the officer's custody persons or property, or as may otherwise be limited by rule established by the supreme court. A private process server is an officer of the court. As a condition of registration, the supreme court shall require each private process server applicant to furnish a full set of fingerprints to enable a criminal background investigation to be conducted to determine the suitability of the applicant. The completed applicant fingerprint card shall be submitted with the fee prescribed in section 41‑1750 to the department of public safety. The applicant shall bear the cost of obtaining the applicant's criminal history record information. The cost shall not exceed the actual cost of obtaining the applicant's criminal history record information. Applicant criminal history records checks shall be conducted pursuant to section 41‑1750 and Public Law 92‑544. The department of public safety is authorized to exchange the submitted applicant fingerprint card information with the federal bureau of investigation for a federal criminal records check. A private process server may charge such fees for services as may be agreed on between the process server and the party engaging the process server.
J. I. Constables shall maintain a log of work related activities, including a listing of all processes served and the number of processes attempted to be served by case number, the names of the plaintiffs and defendants, the names and addresses of the persons to be served except as otherwise precluded by law, the date of process and the daily mileage.
K. J. The log maintained in subsection J I of this section is a public record and shall be made available by the constable at the constable's office during regular office hours. Copies of the log shall be filed monthly with the clerk of the justice court and with the clerk of the board of supervisors.
Sec. 2. Title 12, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended by adding chapter 25, to read:
CHAPTER 25
PRIVATE PROCESS SERVERS
ARTICLE 1. GENERAL PROVISIONS
12-3251. Private process servers; background investigation; fees
A. Private process servers who are duly appointed or certified pursuant to rules established by the supreme court may serve all process, writs, orders, pleadings or papers that are required or permitted by law to be served before, during or independently of a court action, including all such as are required or permitted to be served by a sheriff or constable pursuant to section 11-445, except writs or orders requiring the service officer to sell, deliver or take into the officer's custody persons or property, or as may otherwise be limited by supreme court rule. A private process server is an officer of the court.
B. As a condition of certification, the supreme court shall require each private process server applicant to furnish a full set of fingerprints to enable a criminal background investigation to be conducted to determine the suitability of the applicant. The completed applicant fingerprint card shall be submitted with the fee prescribed in section 41‑1750 to the department of public safety. The applicant shall bear the cost of obtaining the applicant's criminal history record information. The cost may not exceed the actual cost of obtaining the applicant's criminal history record information. Applicant criminal history records checks shall be conducted pursuant to section 41‑1750 and Public Law 92‑544. The department of public safety may exchange the submitted applicant fingerprint card information with the federal bureau of investigation for a federal criminal records check.
C. A private process server may charge such fees for services as may be agreed on between the process server and the party engaging the process server.
Sec. 3. Section 28-1593, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read:
28-1593. Service of uniform traffic ticket and complaint
A. A traffic complaint may be served by delivering a copy of the uniform traffic ticket and complaint to the person charged with the violation or by any means authorized by the Arizona rules of civil procedure. At the discretion of the issuing authority, a complaint for a violation issued after an investigation in conjunction with a traffic accident may be sent by certified mail, return receipt requested and delivered to addressee only, to the address provided by the person charged with the violation. Service of the complaint is complete on filing the receipt in the court having jurisdiction of the violation.
B. The original complaint shall be filed in a court having jurisdiction of the violation within ten court days of the time the complaint was issued. A peace officer, or duly authorized agent or someone paid to act on behalf of a traffic enforcement agency, may issue the traffic complaint.
C. If a law enforcement agency issues a citation as a result of a photo enforcement system and serves the citation in a manner other than what is prescribed by subsection A of this section, the agency shall inform the person that there is no obligation to identify the driver or respond to the citation. Failure to respond to the citation will result in the probability that the person will be formally served pursuant to state law and the Arizona rules of civil procedure which will likely result in the person being required to pay the cost of the service.
Sec. 4. Section 28-1602, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read:
28-1602. Photo enforcement violation; service of process; no duty to identify photo or respond; definitions
A. Notwithstanding any other law, if a person receives a notice of violation in the mail for a violation of chapter 3, article 3 or 6 of this title or of a city or town ordinance for excessive speed or failure to obey a traffic control device that is obtained using a photo enforcement system, the person does not have to do either of the following:
1. Identify who is in the photo.
2. Respond to the notice of violation.
B. The notice of violation that is described in subsection A of this section must state the following:
1. The notice is not a court issued document and the recipient is under no obligation to identify the person or respond to the notice.
2. Failure to respond to the notice may result in official service that may result in an additional fee being levied.
C. In addition to any other means authorized by the Arizona rules of civil procedure, alternative or substitute service of process must be sent by certified mail with an additional copy by regular mail and a notice must be posted on the front door of the business or residence and, if present and accessible, a residence's garage door. Service of the complaint is complete on filing the mailing receipt and proof of posting in the court having jurisdiction of the violation.
D. If a law enforcement agency issues a citation as a result of a photo enforcement system and serves the citation in a manner other than what is prescribed by section 28‑1593, subsection A, the agency shall inform the person that there is no obligation to identify the driver or respond to the citation. Failure to respond to the citation will result in the probability that the person will be formally served pursuant to state law and the Arizona rules of civil procedure which will likely result in the person being required to pay the cost of the service.
C. E. For the purposes of this section:
1. "Notice of violation" means a notice issued by a photo enforcement company or municipality that is not a uniform traffic ticket or complaint.
2. "Photo enforcement system" has the same meaning prescribed in section 28‑601.
APPROVED BY THE GOVERNOR APRIL 1, 2015.
FILED IN THE OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY OF STATE APRIL 2, 2015.
