Certification and Renewal

Process Server Review Board

1. Complete a civil process service educational course approved by the Supreme Court of Texas within (and no more than) one year of filing your Private Process Server Application. You may check the Process Server Review Board ("PSRB") website for a list of approved courses. Upon completion of the course, the course director should supply you with a certificate of completion.
2. Request your personal criminal history. The Texas Department of Public Safety has contracted with Fingerprint Applicant Services of Texas (FAST) to provide fingerprinting services. For a list of FAST locations and hours of operation, please visit L-1 Identity Solutions, Enrollment Services Division. All fingerprinting fees are paid to FAST at the time your fingerprints are taken. Request that your record be returned directly to you at your address. You will be provided a cover letter that certifies your record along with two copies of your record. *Please note that if you have ever been adjudged guilty of or entered a plea of guilty or no contest in return for a grant of deferred adjudication to any felony or misdemeanor other than a juvenile offense or misdemeanor traffic offense in Texas or any other jurisdiction, then YOU HAVE BEEN OR MAY HAVE BEEN CONVICTED of a felony or misdemeanor and if a disposition is unavailable on your record you must provide a certified copy of the charging instrument, judgment, and disposition, including dates, charges, court, court location, and any other pertinent information even if your plea resulted in probation or deferred adjudication that was successfully completed and subsequently dismissed. Driving While Intoxicated is NOT considered a minor traffic violation and should be reported.
3. Complete the most current Private Process Server Application, available on the PSRB website. The application must include a declaration under penalty of perjury. If you cannot access the form online, you must submit a written request to the PSRB office to have it sent to you. Requests may be submitted to (Fax) 512-463-1648, (Email) processservers@txcourts.gov, or to the PSRB general correspondence address of PO Box 12066, Austin, TX 78711-2066. Form requests are not accepted by phone.
4. Pay the certification fee. A non-refundable fee of $225.00 must accompany any application to be certified to serve civil process for a three-year period and any timely application for renewal to be certified to serve civil process for a three-year period. Payment of each fee shall be in the form of a money order, cashier's check, or bank-certified check, made payable to either the Process Server Review Board or the State of Texas. The PSRB will not accept cash or credit/debit cards. All fees are non-refundable.
5. IMPORTANT: Your application will not be considered if it does not include: (1) the correct fee payment (2) an original criminal history record certified by the Texas Department of Public Safety in Austin, Texas, within the preceding 90 days of your application and any related criminal history documents referenced in instruction #2, and (3) a certificate from the director of an approved civil process service course that certifies that you have completed the approved course within the prior year of your application, and (4) if applicable, the correct additional declaration referenced in either instruction #12 or instruction #13.
   
   Mail the complete original application, the appropriate payment in the prescribed form, the original criminal history record certified by the Texas Department of Public Safety and any related criminal history documents, along with the original certificate of completion from an approved civil process server education course to:
   
   

   If by First Class Mail:	If by Courier or Certified Mail:
   Process Server Review Board ATTN: APPLICATIONS PO Box 12066 Austin, TX 78711-2066	Process Server Review Board ATTN: APPLICATIONS 205 West 14th Street, Suite 600 Austin, Texas 78701

   
   
6. Your application will be reviewed and approved or rejected for good cause by the Texas Process Server Review Board. The PSRB will notify you in writing if you have been rejected.
7. If your application is approved, you will be assigned a unique identification number. Your name and ID number will be posted on a list maintained on the PSRB website. You must write this ID number and your certification expiration date on each return of service filed with any Texas court.
8. Tracking the status of new or renewal certification. Please refer to the Complete List of Certified Process Servers located on the Certified Process Server List page of the PSRB website to track your status. Your name will be added to the list or your certification expiration date will be updated if you have been approved. You will only be contacted if there is a problem. The PSRB does not issue approval notices or identification cards.
9. Your approval to serve process will expire three (3) years after the last day of the month of approval and, upon expiration, your name and identification will be removed immediately from the Court's list of certified process servers on its website.
10. It is your sole responsibility to renew your certification. Submitting paperwork does not constitute approval. You are not approved until your paperwork has been processed and your name has been updated with your new certification expiration date and posted on the Complete List of Certified Process Servers. If your name is not on the list or your certification date has not been updated it means your certification has not been approved. Any civil process that you serve pursuant to your Texas Supreme Court certification after expiration of certification and before reinstatement may be void and you may be subject to civil and criminal sanctions.
11. To renew your application, you must essentially repeat the application process in steps 1-5. Please refer to the Rules of Judicial Administration, Rule 14.4(c). You may renew no sooner than 90 days and no less than 45 days of your expiration date. Allow yourself plenty of time to make corrections, if any, and possibly avoid the penalty fees outlined below.
12. Late renewals. Renewal applications received within 45 days of your expiration date may be renewed but the certificate holder is required to pay 1^1/2 times the initial certification fee ($337.50). All late-filed renewals are required to complete the appropriate additional declaration required to accompany late-filed renewals.
13. Reinstatements. Applications for reinstatement of certification received after expiration may be reinstated but the certificate holder is required to pay 1^1/2 times the initial certification fee ($337.50). ). All reinstatements are required to complete the appropriate additional declaration required to accompany reinstatements.
14. Your certification may be revoked at any time for good cause: Good cause includes but is not limited to a conviction of a felony or a misdemeanor involving moral turpitude. If you are convicted of a felony or a misdemeanor involving moral turpitude at any time after you are certified as an approved process server, you must notify the Process Server Review Board in writing within ten (10) days and immediately cease to serve process.

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Updated: 08-Mar-2013