California Process Server Bond ($2,000)

Business & Professions Code § 22350 tells you where to file: "the county clerk of the county in which he or she resides or has his or her principal place of business." The section we read does not say where else you may or may not serve papers, and Evidence Code § 647 gives the return of "a process server registered pursuant to Chapter 16" a presumption, affecting the burden of producing evidence, of the facts stated in the return. If you have a question about serving outside your filing county, ask your county clerk or an attorney.

Section 22353 allows both. The certificate of registration must be accompanied by a $2,000 bond "executed by an admitted surety insurer," and as an alternative you may deposit $2,000 in cash or a money order with the county clerk. A bond costs a small fraction of the $2,000 face amount. Estimate only. Your price depends on the surety. Get a quote. A cash deposit means the full $2,000 is held by the clerk.

No. Section 22354 says a certificate of registration is effective "for a period of two years or until the date the bond expires, whichever occurs first." A bond written for one year ends your registration after one year. Confirm the bond term before you file.

Section 22350 covers a natural person who makes more than 10 services of process in California during one calendar year, for specific compensation or in expectation of it, where that compensation is directly attributable to the service of process. A corporation or partnership that derives or expects to derive compensation from service of process in California must also register, with the county clerk of the county of its principal place of business. The chapter does not apply to sheriffs, marshals and government employees acting within their employment, attorneys and their employees serving process in cases where the attorney provides legal services, persons specially appointed by a court to serve its process, licensed private investigators and their employees, and certain registered professional photocopiers.

Section 22359 provides that a person who violates any provision of Chapter 16 is guilty of a misdemeanor. Separately, § 22358 allows a certificate of registration to be revoked or suspended when a registrant has made a service of process that does not comply with the law governing service, and if a certificate is revoked the bond or cash deposit is forfeited to the county treasury, subject to the right of a person to recover against it under § 22357. Evidence Code § 647 gives its presumption to the return of a registered process server.

Timing depends on the surety and on your application. Under § 22355 the county clerk issues a temporary identification card, valid for 120 days, to applicants who must submit Request for Live Scan forms for background checks to the FBI and the Department of Justice. If clearance arrives within 120 days, the clerk issues the permanent card. Ask for bond timing when you request your quote.