Civil Process

To help the community in understanding the process of Civil Service, we would like to explain our process.

Need Legal Aid

Employees of the Pitkin County Sheriff's Office are prohibited from giving legal advice. This includes the eviction process of how to fill out court documents. This type of information can be obtained through an attorney's office or from the Colorado Courts website. Should you need legal assistance, you may obtain a list of phone numbers regarding free legal aid from our front office.

Serving Civil Papers

The Pitkin County Sheriff's Office can only serve civil papers within Pitkin County. If you have papers that need to be served outside of Pitkin County, you will need to contact the Sheriff's Office or a private process server in that county. Pitkin County covers a wide area with roads and borders crossing through other counties. Please confirm the service address is indeed located within Pitkin County.


Civil Process Procedures

Civil papers can be emailed to civil@pitkinsheriff.com or mailed to -
Pitkin County Sheriff's Office
Attn: Civil
530 E. Main St, Ste 103
Aspen CO 81611. 

Payment must be received prior to serving, unless upon request you qualify for a billing account.

Billing Accounts

Pursuant to 30-1-106(2) and (3), C.R.S., as amended, the Pitkin County Sheriff's Office has the authority to establish billing accounts for licensed attorneys and licensed collection agencies that have a principle office located in the State of Colorado. The Sheriff's Office Civil Section has the authority to develop standardized procedures for billing the accounts authorized herein, including the ability to suspend the billing privileges of any entity for nonpayment of a fee upon demand or other good cause shown.

Accepted Forms of Payment

  • Check (made payable to Pitkin County Sheriff's Office)
  • Visa
  • Mastercard
  • American Express
  • Cash (exact payments only)

Information to Provide

Provide a cover letter or fill out our attached cover letter, including your return information, the name of whom is to be served (person, business, registered agent, etc), the physical home and/or work address of whom is to be served, phone number(s), kind of paperwork to be served (i.e. summons, subpoena, etc), description of whom needs to be served and best time for service. We cannot serve a P.O. Box.

Provide 2 complete sets of the documents to be served and a self-addressed stamped envelope. We serve 1 set and keep the 2nd set for our records.

Return of Service

It is your responsibility to deliver the Return of Service to the correct court. The Pitkin County Sheriff's Office will generate its own Return of Service. If you require your own Return of Service to be filled in, please include that along with the papers and make reference to that in your cover letter.

Service Fees

If you are due a refund, a check will be mailed to you. If you owe additional fees, you will be billed. All fees for mileage are per mile, round trip.

All balance due statements are due within 30 days. All past due statements (over 30 days) will incur a service charge of $5.00.

Two / More Papers Being Served

Note: Two or more papers served on the same person or different persons at the same time and place in same action.

Pursuant to 30-1-105.5, C.R.S., as amended, in situations when 2 or more papers are served on the same person or different persons at the same time and place and in the same action, the Sheriff's Office shall charge the highest individual fee allowable pursuant to 30-1-104, C.R.S. for the 1st process and an additional $10.00 for each subsequent process served. The Sheriff's Office shall charge a fee for actual mileage traveled for the 1st process.

See the Civil Process Fees document for our current fee schedule.