Civil Process

By some accounts, the original purpose of Sheriff's Offices was to act as agents of the Courts. This is certainly one of the oldest duties of sheriffs and their deputies and is still one of our primary functions today. Our Civil Process office receives papers for service on individuals and companies and distributes them out to deputies for service. Service of a paper is the delivery of the document to either the person named on it or to a family member at least 13 years of age. Avoiding service is a Class B Misdemeanor in Illinois, and depending on the circumstances can also be Intimidation, a Class 3 Felony. We handle hundreds of these papers every year, and there is a fee for this service.

Illinois law requires all Sheriffs to serve, execute, and return all warrants, processes, orders, and judgments of every description that may be delivered to them. The rules and procedures for the execution and service of these various documents are contained in the Code of Civil Procedure as well as in several Illinois Supreme Court Rules. This duty is essential to the smooth functioning and administration of the judicial system since the documents are necessary to require courtroom attendance of persons being named in both civil and criminal cases.

The person initiating the court action is called the "Plaintiff" and the person on whom the action is being taken is called the "Defendant". This may be the most familiar in criminal court, where the Plaintiff is the people represented by the States Attorney. In civil cases, both parties hire their own legal counsel.

The Civil Process Division at the Henry County Sheriff's Office acts in coordination with the Patrol Division to deliver court documents all across the county. Patrol Deputies attempt to locate the persons named in the papers and present them with the documents. When a paper is served, proof of service is returned to the plaintiff.

Fees For Civil Process Services

The following fees for the successful serving of papers have been approved by the Henry County Board and became effective on April 1, 2003.

For all civil process services, a court file-stamped document and a copy to serve are required. Payment is required before service will take place. We accept cash, check, and/or money order, made payable to the Henry County Sheriff.

Eviction proceedings start at the Circuit Clerk's Office. Once an eviction order has been issued by the judge, then you must contact the Sheriff's Office to set up the date for the eviction to take place. Evictions are done at 9:00 AM on the selected, agreed-upon date. The fees for eviction are the same fees as for any civil process listed below.

Service Fees are listed below

A Service of Process Return Fee of $5 is charged on all papers, whether or not they are served.

Mileage Fees

In addition, a Mileage Fee is added when a paper is served and depends on the distance traveled to serve the paper, as shown below:

For example:

  To have a Civil paper served on a resident of Alpha would cost $35 plus $18 plus $5, for a total of $58.  If the paper was unable to be served, then the charge is only $5.

 For residents in rural areas outside the above Towns/Villages, the Mileage Fee is adjusted based on the actual mileage traveled to serve the paper.

Contact our Civil Process Division during normal business hours at 309-937-3970 for questions or to arrange for this service.

Contact Us

For more information contact our Civil Process office at 309-937-3970 on weekdays from 8 am to 4:30 pm.