Process Server

How to obtain this service…

The Recorder-County Clerk’s office processes these registrations by certified mail only. Please see the instructions below.

Click Here for Process Server Registration
Request for Live Scan Service (Download and Print)

The County Clerk is responsible for determining the acceptability, not the legal sufficiency of documents presented for filing. Questions regarding the legal sufficiency of any document should be referred to an attorney.

The following is a short summary of Business and Professions Code. For the complete code, click here.

Any person, corporation, or partnership whose principal place of business is in San Bernardino County and who makes more than 10 services of process within this state during one calendar year for compensation must file and maintain a verified certificate of registration as a Process Server with the San Bernardino Recorder-County Clerk.

Process Server Requirements

Registrant must be a California resident for at least one year immediately preceding the filing and may not have any felony convictions.

  • Fingerprints are required in order to become a registered process server, at time of initial registration or if there has been a lapse in previous registration. Registrant(s) will need to complete a Request For Live Scan form. For a list of agencies you may go to http://ag.ca.gov/fingerprints/publications/contact.php
  • Fingerprints will need to be completed before filing the registration form with our office but not more than 60 days prior to filing. Registrant(s) will need to provide a copy of their completed “Request For Live Scan” form that has been signed by the transmitting agency when registering with the County Clerk.
  • A $2,000 bond in favor of the County of San Bernardino or cash deposit (cash deposit to be retained for three years following expiration of registration) is required in order to register as a process server. The bond must be valid for the two-year term of the registration and show a starting and ending date.
  • A Certificate of Registration as a Process Server form must be completed and signed under penalty of perjury by individual registrant, all corporate officers or general partners.
  • Valid, government issued, photo identification is required.
  • Photographs (1 ¼” x 1 ¼”)
    • One photo if re-filing without a lapse in registration
    • Two photos if initial registration or there is a lapse in previous registration
    • No photos required for corporation or partnership registrations
  • Select place of Filing
    • Individual – Any natural person who makes more than 10 services of process within this state during one calendar year, for specific compensation or in expectation of specific compensation, where that compensation is directly attributable to the service of process, shall file and maintain a verified certificate of registration as a process server with the county clerk of the county in which he or she resides or has his or her principal place of business.
    • Corporation or partnership – Any corporation or partnership that derives or expects to derive compensation from service of process within this state shall also file and maintain a verified certificate of registration as a process server with the county clerk of the county in which the corporation or partnership has its principal place of business.
    • Employee(s) of a corporation or partnership, who makes more than ten (10) services of process within this state during one calendar year, will need to file as an “Individual” Process Server.
Disqualifications

If the County Clerk is advised that the registrant has been convicted of a felony, the presiding judge of the superior court of the county in which the certificate of registration is maintained is authorized to review the criminal record and, unless the registrant is able to produce a copy of a certificate of rehabilitation, expungement, or pardon, as specified in paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) of BPC22351, notify the registrant that the registration is revoked.

Duration of Certificate of Registration

A certificate of registration shall be effective for a period of two years or until the date the bond expires, whichever occurs first.

The renewal shall be effective for a period of two years from the effective date or until the expiration date of the bond, whichever occurs first.

Filing via Certified Mail Instructions:

  1. Print and sign the application and attach the supporting documentation as indicated on the application. (Complete application using the blue boxes above)
  2. Attach the following documentation with your submission:
    • The “Certificate of Registration as a Process Server” form which must be completed and signed
    • Original bond in the amount of $2,000 which must be signed by the principal. The bond must be valid for the two (2) year term of the registration and show a start and end date.
    • Document Coversheet to be added to the bond for recording completed with the name, return mailing address, and document title “Process Server Bond”. The cover sheet is available on our website at www.sbcountyarc.org.      
    • “Request for Live Scan” form that has been signed by the transmitting agency (not required if renewing and there has been no lapse of time from the previous filing)
    • Copy of a valid, government-issued, photo identification.
    • 1 passport size photograph for the I.D. card
  3. Applicable Fees, you can calculate the fees by using the fee calculator found on our website at www.sbcountyarc.org or you can simply write a “Not to exceed” check. The not-to-exceed amount must be written on the memo line as the clerk must write in the actual amount. Please make your preprinted check or money order made payable to “County Recorder”
  4. Please include a daytime phone number including the area code and a self-addressed stamped envelope for us to return the originally recorded bond.
  5. Address: San Bernardino County Clerk 222 W. Hospitality Lane San Bernardino, CA 92415.

Process Server Fees

Process Server Filing: $175

Bond for Process Server: $35

Recording: $14 (Plus $3 for each additional page)

I.D. Card (Each Card): $10

Complete Fee Schedule, click here.

In-person Vital Records requests, Marriage Services and Records Research are available at the San Bernardino Hall of Records location, by appointment. All other services remain available by mail, email and phone.

To book an appointment, call (909) 387-8306