Process Servers · Updated October 2026

Registered Process Servers: What California Law Requires

Any adult who isn’t a party can serve papers in California. Registration decides who can do it as a business, and it changes what a proof of service is worth in court.

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Process Servers

First published 2013 · Updated October 2026

California doesn’t license process servers the way it licenses private investigators. There’s no exam and no required course. What it has is a registration system run by the county clerks, in Business and Professions Code sections 22350 to 22360. It decides who may serve papers for pay, makes registered servers answer for their work through a bond, and gives their proofs of service extra weight. This article first ran in 2013; here’s how the system works as of October 2026, and what AB 747 changes on January 1, 2027.

Start here

Who Can Serve, and Who Has to Register

Anyone who is at least 18 and not a party to the case can serve a summons (CCP § 414.10). A paralegal, a friend, or a coworker can do it. Registration comes in when serving becomes a business: a person who makes more than 10 services of process within California in one calendar year, for compensation, has to register with the county clerk of the county where they live or have their principal place of business (Bus. & Prof. Code § 22350(a)). A corporation or partnership registers in the county of its principal place of business.

The statute exempts:

sheriffs, marshals, and other government employees acting in the course of their jobs
attorneys and their employees, serving papers in cases the attorney is handling
people specially appointed by a court to serve
licensed private investigators and their employees
registered professional photocopiers serving records subpoenas

Serving for pay without registering when the law requires it is a misdemeanor (§ 22359).

Requirements

What Registration Takes

A certificate of registration with the applicant’s name, age, address, email, and phone number, a statement under penalty of perjury about any felony convictions (or proof of rehabilitation, expungement, or a pardon), a statement of at least one year of California residency, and a promise to follow the laws on service of process (§ 22351).
Fingerprints by Live Scan for a Department of Justice and FBI background check. The clerk issues a temporary card good for 120 days while the check is pending (§ 22355).
A $2,000 bond from an admitted surety, or $2,000 in cash or a money order instead (§ 22353).
Fees: the statute sets a $100 registration fee plus the actual cost of the fingerprinting and the ID card (§ 22352). Counties add their own charges. Los Angeles County lists $187 to register, which includes recording a one-page bond.

Registration lasts two years or until the bond expires, whichever comes first (§ 22354), and a renewal can be filed up to 60 days early. The registered process server ID card is at least 3¼ by 2 inches and shows the words “Registered Process Server,” the registrant’s name, address, registration number, expiration date, and county of registration, with a photo for an individual.

Accountability

The Bond, and Who Answers for the Work

The registration statute puts real responsibility on the registrant. A registered process server is responsible at all times for the conduct of their employees and independent contractors (§ 22356). Someone injured by a violation can recover against the bond, and the bond has to be restored within 30 days or the registration is revoked (§ 22357). The county can revoke or suspend a registration, and the bond is forfeited, when a registrant’s service doesn’t follow California’s laws on service of process (§ 22358).

Separately, a proof of service is signed under penalty of perjury. A server who signs one describing service that didn’t happen the way it says faces far more than a bond claim.

In court

What Registration Means on the Proof of Service

When a registered process server signs a proof of service, it has to show the county where they’re registered and their registration number (Bus. & Prof. Code § 22360; CCP § 417.40). The old version of this article cited CCP § 417.30 for that; § 417.30 is the section that requires the proof to be filed.

Registration also changes how the court reads the proof. A registered process server’s return establishes a presumption of the facts stated in it (Evidence Code § 647). It’s a presumption affecting the burden of producing evidence, which means the court accepts the facts in the proof unless the other side offers evidence against them. It doesn’t shift the burden of proof.

One correction worth making plainly: service isn’t incomplete until the proof is filed. Service is complete when the statute for the method says so, on delivery for personal service and on the 10th day after mailing for substituted service. The proof is the evidence that it happened, and you’ll need it on file before you can take a default.

Access

Gated Communities and Guarded Buildings

Registration opens doors, literally. Under CCP § 415.21, a guard or security staff controlling access to a gated community or a covered multifamily building (an apartment building with three or more units, or a condominium with four or more) must let a server in for a reasonable time, for the sole purpose of serving process or a subpoena. The server has to show a current driver’s license or other identification, plus a sheriff or marshal badge or other listed government investigator ID, evidence of current registration as a process server, or a private investigator license.

That right belongs to registered servers and the others the statute lists. A friend serving as a favor doesn’t have it. When the guard still refuses, see our article on defendants avoiding service.

Judgment enforcement

Levies by a Registered Process Server

A registered process server can also make some levies under a writ of execution without waiting for the sheriff to serve them (CCP § 699.080). That covers deposit accounts, safe-deposit boxes, real property, accounts receivable and general intangibles, final money judgments, and several other kinds of property. The server deposits a copy of the writ and the fee with the levying officer first, then has five court days after the levy to file the writ, the proofs, and the instructions with the levying officer, or the levy is ineffective. The server’s fee is a recoverable cost. Registered process servers can also serve earnings withholding orders on employers (CCP § 706.108). See Bank Levies in California: What to Assemble Before the Levy.

New law

What Changes on January 1, 2027

A public register. Each county clerk will keep a publicly available register of process servers (new Bus. & Prof. Code § 22355, from AB 747).
The registration number on the proof. The new CCP § 417.40 requires the number the county clerk assigned; it no longer mentions the county. Business and Professions Code § 22360 still does, so keep both on the proof.
Photos and three attempts. Proofs of service of summons will need time-stamped photos (CCP § 417.10), and substituted service on an individual will require at least three attempts on three different days at three different times (CCP § 415.20).
A heavier burden on challenge. When a defendant moves to set aside a default for improper service, the motion rebuts the presumption, and the party that took the default has to prove lawful service by a preponderance of the evidence (new CCP § 473.2).

The details are in What Changes for Service of Process in California on January 1, 2027.

Practical

What to Look For in a Process Server

Registration in the county where the server lives or works, with the number and county on every proof of service.
A current bond, and a company that takes responsibility for the people it sends out.
Detailed declarations of diligence: the date, time, address, and result of every attempt.
For service in 2027 and later, photos that meet CCP § 417.10, attached to the proof.

Direct Legal’s process servers are registered and bonded, and we’ve served papers in California since 1961. Every proof of service we return shows the server’s registration number and county.

Please note

About This Article

This article is general information about California law and court procedure as of October 2026. It is not legal advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Direct Legal Support is a registered process serving and litigation support company, not a law firm. Statutes, court rules, and forms change, so check the current versions and your court’s local rules, and talk with an attorney about your specific matter.