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39 verbatim mandatory provisions from AO 2026-006.
Third Judicial Circuit (Columbia, Dixie, Hamilton, Lafayette, Madison, Suwannee, Taylor). Check the order's own effective and rescission dates before relying on it. Procedural information only; not legal advice.
• Individuals seeking certification must submit a completed application packet with the required processing fee to Court Administration. • This background investigation, at the applicant's expense, will be requested by the applicant and certified results must be sent from FDLE to Court Administration; • Certificates of completion may be dated between twelve and twenty-four months prior to the application, but in that event, applicants must additionally provide a separate certificate of completion of the FAPPS four-credit-hour continuing education course for process servers, dated within twelve months prior to the application; • The bond shall name "Administrative Office of the Courts, Third Judicial Circuit" as the Obligee. • The applicant must file with Court Administration a certified copy of this bond. • The bond must be maintained at all times during the certification period and shall be renewed annually; and (8) Take an oath of office that he or she will honestly, diligently, and faithfully exercise the duties of a certified process server. • An applicant who completes the requirements set forth in this Administrative Order, as adopted from Florida Statutes section 48.29, shall be eligible to be placed on the approved list of certified process servers. • If the Chief Judge is satisfied that the conditions have been met, the Chief Judge shall issue an order placing the applicant on the list of certified process servers and provide a copy of the order to the Court Administrator and the Clerk of Court for each county in the Third Judicial Circuit. • This Administrative Order shall not apply to the sheriffs of the Third Circuit or any of their divisions or departments. • Certified process servers must, while serving process, carry the official certified process server identification card issued to them and display it to anyone who requests information on the process server's authority to serve process. • Each identification card shall be renewable annually upon the timely filing of an application for renewal with Court Administration. • Certified process servers shall comply with all statutes, rules, administrative orders and case law pertaining to service of process and will be expected to keep up to date with any updates, amendments or modifications to applicable laws and other authorities. • (1) In the event that any process server of the Third Judicial Circuit is arrested or charged with a misdemeanor or felony in any jurisdiction, the process server must report the arrest and/or charge(s) to Court Administration in writing within five days of the arrest or charge. • If the Chief Judge determines that a temporary suspension is warranted, the Chief Judge shall enter an order effectuating the temporary suspension. • (2) In the event that any certified process server of the Third Judicial Circuit is the subject of any sanction or penalty with respect to his or her certification to serve process in another circuit, the process server must report the sanction or penalty to Court Administration in writing within five days. • If the Chief Judge determines that a temporary suspension is warranted, the Chief Judge shall enter an order effectuating the temporary suspension. • Certification of a process server is valid for a period of one year and shall expire unless a renewed certified process server identification card is issued by Court Administration pursuant to a renewal order of the Court, or the certification is extended temporarily as set forth herein, or the certification is otherwise extended by order of the Chief Judge. • Renewal materials must be received by Court Administration no later than thirty days prior to expiration of certification to allow sufficient time for processing of the materials. • Individuals are warned that renewal materials received less than thirty days prior to expiration may not be completely processed before the expiration date and, if not, will be deemed expired pending approval and the individual shall not be permitted to serve process until recertification is approved. • Materials for recertification received after the annual expiration date but within ninety-days (hereinafter, the "grace period") after that expiration date shall still be considered for renewal but the individual will not be permitted to serve process until there is approval of the application for renewal as provided herein. • Failure to properly and timely submit the necessary materials for renewal with Court Administration and/or failure to keep his or her bond current will cause the name of the certified process server to be automatically removed from the approved list and such person shall lose all standing as a certified process server in the Third Circuit until such time as certification is reestablished. • Any request for renewal or reinstatement filed after the grace period and/or lapse of bond will be treated as an original application and must comply with the requirements of section I of this Administrative Order, including the educational requirements for first-time applicants. • To renew, a certified process server must submit the current renewal fee to Court Administration (the amount of the renewal fee is available on the Court Administration website). • In addition to the renewal fee, the certified process server must submit himself or herself to a State of Florida Criminal History Record Check by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, at his or her expense, to ensure that he or she has not been arrested, charged with a crime, nor acquired a criminal record in the preceding year. • The process server must also provide proof of a current $5,000.00 surety bond. • If any of the information provided by the process server has changed in the preceding year (for example, address, telephone number, email address), the process server must provide the updated information to the designated employee in Court Administration. • The process server must also provide an updated passport photo (photo may be taken by Court Administration) for his or her new identification card. • Finally, the individual must provide proof of completing the Florida Association of Professional Process Servers’ four-credit-hour continuing education course after their most recent certification or renewal date, as applicable. • The Clerks of Court shall make the list available to the public, and the list shall also be published on the Court Administration website. • Good cause shall include, but is not limited to, the following: • If a process server engages in conduct prohibited by law or this Order or if a complaint against a process server cannot be resolved by an order of the Chief Judge, the Chief Judge shall issue an order to show cause to the process server setting forth the grounds for the suggested removal, which will be served by ordinary U.S. • This order to show cause will provide a date, time, and location that the process server shall appear before the Chief Judge and show cause as to why the process server should not be removed from the approved list. • The Chief Judge shall conduct a hearing at which the process server may appear and offer evidence. • If, from the evidence, the Chief Judge finds the process server guilty of malfeasance, misfeasance, neglect of duty, incompetence, or other unsuitable behavior by a process server, the Chief Judge shall order that the process server be removed from the approved list. • The order shall indicate whether the removal is permanent or for a limited period. • If the removal is for a limited period, the order shall indicate the length of the suspension and may include any conditions that must be satisfied prior to re-certification. • Within 30 days of a final adverse order, the process server may seek review by common law certiorari to the First District Court of Appeal pursuant to Florida Rule of Appellate Procedure 9.100. • If the Chief Judge orders that a process server be removed from the approved list, the process server shall surrender his or her certified process server identification card to Court Administration within forty-eight hours of the suspension and immediately advise all clients for which he or she is holding outstanding process that he or she has been suspended as a process server. • The person seeking certification following a suspension must comply with the application requirements for persons seeking initial certification as set forth in section I, above.
Individuals seeking certification must submit a completed application packet with the required processing fee to Court Administration.
Reviewer note: Document sha256: 1f45b5912d11c0ccc517259ad43759fb35bf17b676a0a2b0f3424bf45538fa2b (195078 bytes). Text layer cleaned 2026-09-08 (Phase 3a): page markers removed; wording untouched. [title 2026-09-10: subject taken from the order caption / court file name (SEO/GEO Phase 3); the verbatim text is unchanged] Verbatim from the order's own text layer, harvested 2026-07-25; whitespace normalised only. No OCR. Only sentences carrying mandatory language are reproduced — the full order is in custody and is the controlling text. [moved from the text 2026-09-14]
9 verbatim requirements from 4th Circuit Administrative Order 1997-10.
6 verbatim requirements from 4th Circuit Administrative Order 1997-13.