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DeWitt County board raises sheriff service fees after cost study
Summary
The DeWitt County Board voted to raise several sheriff office fees — including process-serving and eviction standby charges — following a county-commissioned cost study. Supporters said the changes reimburse actual costs; a resident said the increases would burden litigants.
The DeWitt County Board voted to adopt an ordinance raising multiple sheriff’s office fees, including the civil process serving fee from $60 to $85, certified-mail process service from $45 to $60, fingerprinting from $20 to $25 and an eviction standby fee from $25 to $65.
Board members approved the ordinance by roll call; the motion carried. Supporters cited a county-commissioned cost study and staff time spent gathering data as the basis for the increases.
The cost study was completed for the county at an expense of about $10,000, and county staff supplied documents and answered study questions, the sheriff told the board. “It’s not that the county board is trying to increase this to generate a revenue stream. It’s to just recover the cost,” the sheriff said, explaining the study showed higher operational expenses since the last review in 2012.
The fee proposal drew public comment. “I can’t understand why DeWitt County needs to be leading the path,” said Mr. Kreider, a resident who provided a comparative county fee spreadsheet and urged the board not to raise the flat serving fee. “I think it’s kind of morally wrong that the county goes and is looking to make an extra $10,000 a year off of people that are already seeking a resort in court.”
Board members and staff said the study examined wages, fuel and insurance costs and that some fees had not been reviewed for decades. The sheriff told the board that past increases followed a formal cost study and that county practice is to rely on professional cost analyses before changing statutory fees. The sheriff also said some new fees, such as the eviction standby, are rarely used: “That’s something we don’t do very often. Maybe half a dozen times a year.”
The board did not adopt any changes beyond the amounts shown in the motion. The sheriff and county staff said litigants can seek recovery of service costs in judgments where state law permits, but the ordinance itself only sets the county’s charge for the service.
The ordinance will take effect according to standard county procedures for ordinances; no effective date was specified during the discussion recorded in the transcript.
The discussion and vote followed a public safety committee recommendation and the presentation of the cost study to the full board.
