The Fresno County Sheriff’s Civil Unit is a full-service county. Our office serves civil process in the manner prescribed by law, covering 6,000 square miles daily. Our office is a neutral third party; therefore, we remain impartial between each party requesting and receiving service.

The Civil Unit is not connected to any department of the court. We do not handle civil disputes, civil crimes or give any legal advice. All civil disputes or civil crimes should be directed to the local jurisdictional agency the address is assigned to-NOT THE CIVIL UNIT. For assistance with a lawsuit, an eviction, a restraining order, or any legal advice, please contact California Superior court or an attorney.

Civil Unit Contact Information

Please have your court case number and Sheriff file number when corresponding with the Civil Unit.

Civil Unit email: Civil.sheriff@fresnosheriff.org

Civil Unit phone: 559-600-8230 MWF 9:00am to 3:00pm

Pursuant to CCP §262, all requests for service or levy must include a signed letter of instruction to the Sheriff. The Fresno County Sheriff’s Office Civil Unit can only serve documents in accordance with (AB2791 2022/2023) Gov §26666.2 & 26666.10.  Service attempts are completed between the hours of 6:00am - 4:00pm, Monday through Friday, excluding holidays.  

The Sheriff’s Civil Unit does not guarantee service. The Sheriff’s Civil Unit does not guarantee any requested timeline.

Effective 1/1/2024 the public must use the judicial council letter of instruction SER-001 “Request for Sheriff to Serve Court Papers” to request service. This form is mandated by law. Again, the Sheriff’s Office is not allowed to give any legal advice or help with completion of the form. If you need assistance with completing the form, please contact an attorney or the courts self-help.

The Sheriff is entitled to his/her fee for service whether or not the service is successful pursuant to Gov § 26720, 26736, 26738, & 26746. See “Fees & Service Type” for the fee schedule.

The Civil Unit does not guarantee service of your request. By law, we are required to perform due diligence attempts to accomplish a successful service. For timely service, please submit your requests early.

Please follow the steps below:

1. Step one:
   Complete an instruction form for each person and/or entity to be served. The instruction form must be completed and signed by the plaintiff/petitioner or if an attorney is on retainer, the attorney must complete and sign. It is very important that the type of document to be served is listed on the instruction form. Any document title listed on the instruction form will be reflected on the proof of service. The more information you provide to us on the instruction form will only help us serve you better.
   
   We must have an address in Fresno County to serve. We will attempt two addresses (i.e. home address and work address). Additional addresses will be an additional fee. See “Fees & Service Type” for the fee schedule.
2. Step two:
   Provide copies of your documents for each party to be served. For more information, see “Fees & Service Type” and "Services (Non-Enforcement)" for the type of service you want served.
3. Step three:
   Include the appropriate fee for service. See “Fees & Service Type” for fee amounts and forms of payment.
   
   The completed instruction form(s), documents for service, and fee(s) can be brought to our regular window hours or can be mailed to our post office box address. When mailing a request for service, DO NOT MAIL CASH. See Fees & Service Type for forms of payment.

You must follow California Civil Procedure Code 262-see “CIVIL PROCESS” for more information.

Unless you provide information in writing regarding how service is to be made, we will follow California rules of court.

Any mail sent to an address other than the civil unit post office box address is subject to delays if received at all.

Once our office has received and reviewed your request, a receipt will be mailed to the address provided on the instruction form for all paid requests.

Most services will take up to two weeks for due diligence attempts. Once the service is complete, a proof of service or a proof of due diligence will be mailed to the address that was provided on the instruction form. We will not email a proof of service. The proof of service will reflect the titles of the documents exactly as you have listed on the instruction form.

A proof of service will be sent to the court if there is a court hearing acknowledged on the instruction form. (***California courts only***)

You may contact our office by phone or email to check the status of your service. Status requests are monitored and answered in the order they are received. Please allow 72 hours for a response.

Civil Unit Contact Information

Civil Unit email: Civil.sheriff@fresnosheriff.org
Civil Unit phone: 559-600-8230 MWF 9:00am to 3:00pm

Cancelling any service must be done in writing. You may mail, email, or bring in a written document signed by the person who requested the service. If the request to cancel is done by email, the request must be from the individual who requested the service. The attorney’s utilizing professional staff must be CC’d in the email. Request to cancel must contain the following:

• Case name
• Case number
• Levy number (if available)
• Reason for cancellation
• Requestor name and signature
• Address
• Phone Number

The Civil Unit will serve an inmate located in the local county jail. However, we will not attempt to take documents and wait for them to be signed. If you require notarization of any document, you must contact the jail directly.

https://www.fresnosheriff.org/jail/notary-public.html

If the respondent is in custody with Fresno County Jail, see inmate search for jail identification (JID) and booking number. Jail identification and booking number can be listed on the instruction form.

https://www.fresnosheriff.org/units/records/inmate-search.html

If the respondent is in a prison located in Fresno County, you must provide the address to the facility and any identifiers (i.e. registration number) for the inmate.

If you need to update your address with our office, please complete the change of address form located under forms. You can mail the form to our post office box address or email it to civil.sheriff@fresnosheriff.org. 

The Civil Unit makes every effort to attempt to do our due diligence. It is important to note that we need the public's help in order to serve the public.

If you are aware of any officer safety concerns, please make note of the specific concerns on the instruction form. The health and safety of the public and our staff is part of our mission.