Sheriff's Office Civil Division

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The Woodbury County Sheriff's Office (WCSO) operates a Civil Division composed of one sworn Lieutenant, four process servers, one garnishment clerk, and one sworn deputy. This division is responsible for the service (personal delivery) of all legal processes presented by the state and district courts, attorneys, and the general public. Examples of the legal processes include: original notices, court orders, juvenile orders, and subpoenas. In addition, the division carries out all court execution, writs, and court orders such as evictions, levies, replevins, etc.

The Civil Division conducts all Sheriff's Sales that involve personal property and real property. Sales arise from mortgage foreclosures, Iowa Department of Revenue Distress Warrants, and court judgments. The division conducts condemnation hearings that arise from the County, Sioux City, the State of Iowa, and from private citizens. In the condemnation process, the Civil Division summons the commissioners, provides transportation to the site, completes required written documentation, and the notification of all interested parties. All money is held by the WCSO until the appropriate appeal time passes, and/or court orders are issued.

In 1999, WCSO Civil Division served 19,097 legal documents. Broken down into the various document categories, they included 9,629 notices, 6,013 Executions, 978 Orders, 1,612 Subpoenas, and 865 Juvenile Papers. There were 35 Sheriff's Sales and four condemnation hearings.

The costs for legal service are established by the Iowa Legislature. The Iowa Code presently charges the following:

A $10.00 fee for delivery and serving, Orders, Original Notice, and Writs, plus $0.50 per copy, and mileage charged at $0.31 per mile or a $1.55 minimum.

Subpoena fees are $15.00 plus the aforementioned copy fees and mileage.

Garnishments cost $10.00 for service, $10.00 for garnishment, plus fees and mileage.

When a Notice to a defendant is served upon the employer concurrently with garnishment, an additional $10.00 service fee is charged, plus copying costs.

WCSO charges $30.00 in advance for the actual procedure to serve legal process documents. Upon completion of service, the Civil Division reconciles the actual fee costs by providing a refund, or billing the initiating party for the balance of costs due. For garnishment, an advance fee of $40.00 is charges, with reconciliation handled as above.

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©2006 Woodbury County Information and Communications Commission