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Sheriff serves your request to renew

After you get a court date, you must have someone give a copy of your court papers to the other side. This is called serving papers. 

  • A sheriff or marshal can do it for free, or
  • You can also choose someone else to serve for you. 

Serving the papers lets the other side know that you are asking to renew the domestic violence restraining order. 

Before you start

To ask the sheriff to serve your papers, you must have an address or location for the other side (restrained person).

  • If the other side is in jail, the sheriff can serve them.
  • If the other side is in prison in California, prison staff, not the sheriff, will serve your papers. Follow the instructions by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (opens in a new tab) for serving someone in prison.
You can also hire a professional process server or ask someone you know to be your server.
If you want someone you know to serve your papers, they must be:  
  • 18 or over (not you), and
  • not part of your case
📌 Think about safety when choosing your server. 
Get step-by-step instructions for how to have someone else, not the sheriff, serve your court papers.

Service is very important. Without it, the judge doesn't have the power to renew your restraining order.

  • Service can be a hard step to complete and make take multiple tries.
  • At your court date, the judge can give you more time, if you need it.

How to have the sheriff serve your papers

🔗 All court form links open in a new tab so you don’t lose your place.

  • Fill out form SER-001

    Fill out Request for Sheriff to Serve Court Papers (form SER-001) to ask the sheriff to serve the other side with your court papers. 

    📌 Tips for filling out the form:

    • Location of person (item 4): The sheriff will try to serve the person at the address you give.  If you have more than one address (like a home address and a work address) you can write the main address first, and alternate address below. Write the hours that the person will be at each address. 
    • Type of court papers you are serving (item 5a): In this section, write "Domestic violence restraining order." 
    • Court hearing (item 5c): Give the court date listed on form DV-710, #3.
    • 📅 Deadline for service (item 5d): To figure out your deadline, first look at form DV-710, #5 to see how many days the judge listed. Subtract the number of days from the court hearing date on DV-710, #3. 
      • For example, if your court date is June 10 and the court ordered you to serve the other side at least 5 days before your court date, then your deadline is June 5.
    Contact the sheriff or marshal as soon as you can. It may take them a couple of weeks to attempt service. 
     

  • Gather all your court papers

    You will need to give the sheriff your completed form SER-001, and a copy of all the court papers you are required to serve on the other side: 

  • Give your papers to the sheriff

    • You can give your papers to the sheriff in person or electronically.
    • Contact the sheriff's office in the country where the person getting served is. They will give you more details on how to turn in your papers. 
    • In Trinity county (opens in a new tab), contact the marshal for service. 
    Yes, you can have someone else turn in your papers for you. Make sure you complete and sign form SER-001 (and SER-001A if it applies to your situation). Even if someone turns in the form for you, list your name in item 2, and you or your lawyer must sign the form.

  • Get paperwork back from the sheriff

    The sheriff should give you paperwork after they serve (or try to serve) your forms

    • If the sheriff served your papers
      They'll complete a Proof of Service form. This form shows the court that the other side was served and will allow the court to move forward with your case.
    • If the sheriff did not serve your papers
      They will complete a form that says they were unsuccessful and will give dates and times they tried to serve the other side. Sometimes this form is called a Declaration of Due Diligence. 

    Check in with the sheriff,

     if you have not received paperwork from them. It is important that you check with the sheriff to see if they were able to serve the other side by your deadline. If the sheriff did not serve the restrained person, you will need to reschedule your court date. Look at  page 2, Item 4 of form DV-700-INFO to learn about how to reschedule your court date.
     

    1. Copy and file the Proof of Service

      Once you get your paperwork back from the sheriff:

      1. File the original and a copy of the Proof of Service or Declaration of due diligence with the court.
        • 📌 If there is a stamp on the upper right-hand corner of the form, this means it was already filed and you do not need to file it with the court
      2. Take a copy of the form to your court date.

    Domestic violence restraining orders

    What's next?

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