Get licensed to serve, without the delay.
Cities and counties that license process servers almost always require a bond first. BF Bond writes them on the form your licensing authority uses, with quotes usually the same business day.
- Serving the legal community since 1949
- City and county forms
- A-rated carrier partners
What is a process server bond?
A process server bond is a license and permit surety bond required before you can be licensed to serve legal papers. Process servers deliver summonses, subpoenas, writs, and other court-directed documents, and because proper service is what gives a court jurisdiction over a party, jurisdictions that license the work attach a bond to it.
The bond guarantees that you will serve papers lawfully and honestly: making genuine attempts at service, serving the correct party, filing truthful affidavits of service, and keeping the logs your jurisdiction requires. The protected parties are the litigants and the public. False affidavits, sometimes called sewer service, are exactly the harm the bond exists to address, because a defendant who was never really served can lose a case by default without ever knowing it was filed.
Licensing is generally local rather than statewide. New York City licenses process servers through the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection, and other cities and counties run their own schemes, each with its own bond form, amount, and recordkeeping rules. Agencies employing servers frequently require a separate bond from the individuals working under them.
- Required before a process server license is issued or renewed
- Usually licensed at the city or county level rather than statewide
- Protects litigants against improper or falsely sworn service
- You pay an annual premium, not the full bond amount
Process server bonds at a glance
City or county licensing agencies, such as a department of consumer affairs, county clerk, or sheriff
Set by the licensing authority, and often different for individual servers and for agencies
A small percentage of the bond amount, with a modest annual minimum on individual licenses
Usually one or two years, renewed on your license cycle
Process server license bond, process serving agency bond
Who we bond
Individual servers and the agencies that employ them are usually bonded separately.
Individual Process Servers
Licensed servers working independently or under an agency, bonded in their own name as a condition of the license.
Process Serving Agencies
Agencies dispatching servers, generally bonded at a higher amount than the individuals working under them.
Legal Support Firms
Court filing, document retrieval, and legal support businesses whose service work falls inside the licensing rules.
License Renewals
Existing licensees renewing, where a lapsed bond is one of the most common reasons a renewal stalls.
Bonded in four steps
Apply online
Complete our guided application in about five minutes. No documents required to start.
We confirm the form
Tell us the licensing city or county and whether you are applying as an individual or an agency.
Approve your quote
A firm annual premium with no obligation, usually the same business day. Pay online when ready.
File and renew
Your executed bond goes out ready to file with your license application, and we track the renewal date.
Process server bond FAQs
More License & Permit bonds
Get your license filed.
Five minutes to apply, and a BF Bond agent confirms the right form for your jurisdiction.
