Certification Steps:

Let's see...you took the course, studied hard, took the ride-along, sweated through the exam... (and if you need to RENEW your Certification, skip to the bottom of this page!)

Now that you have passed the Exam...

Here is the Application and list of things to attach:

GA Process Server Certification Application Complete the Form 1, (not 1-a, which is the renewal form only), Form 2, Form 3, and Form 6. If you choose to carry full business insurance instead of a bond, then be sure to attach your proof of coverage. Tip: A phone photo is fine, just make sure it is of your face ONLY. (Smile! It's worth it!)

Submitting your Application to the Sheriff Take your completed application package to the county Sheriff Headquarters of your choice. NOTE that they are NOT prepared to answer questions about the certification process. Precinct (local offices) departments will only have to refer you to their Sheriff Headquarters office, so save yourself the trip and time. They would help if they could! The Sheriff's current role in this certification program is to review your application for certification for completion, and then issue your identification card, and administer your Oath.

REMEMBER: You are NOT APPLYING FOR A JOB! You are submitting an application for CERTIFICATION as a statewide process server. You are not asking the Sheriff to "approve" you as a process server in his or her county. DO NOT HAVE THIS DISCUSSION WITH THE DEPUTY. If they refuse to take your application for Certification, just contact Bill Hallsworth of the GSA by email and let him know the Deputy's name and the office you took your application to. He will handle it from there. ***It is critical here to recognize that you do NOT submit this application for Certification to the Sheriff of every county you want to serve in ... because Certification does NOT give you authority to serve papers, and the "Form 4 Notification" is not being submitted or approved (as is an OPTION in the statute O.C.G.A 9-11-4.1). You are only going to ONE SHERIFF to get Certified, and then that ID Card and Certification number will be a criteria that you will have to submit with your applications for APPOINTMENT by Judges in the courts (not Counties) that you want to serve process for, (not in). Remember, when you are appointed into a case or court, you are authorized to serve those papers to ANY location in Georgia, in any county.

***Certification is state-wide but conveys no authority to serve process of any Georgia court's cases.

***Notification by Form 4 - approval would give authority to serve only county-wide, but of any Georgia court cases.

***Appointment by a Judge/Court is authority to serve that case or court's cases state-wide. Call the Sheriff office first where you are going to apply for Certification and ask if they have a preferred source for your fingerprint background check. Most will want a COGENT report from the GA Bureau of Investigation, which is easily obtainable from specific UPS Store locations . ***You will be buying a Georgia fingerprint-based background check for PERSONAL USE, and FROM THE GBI, who will then pull the report and send it to you by email. You are not requesting the report for "employment" with any government agency or other company.*** Others will have you go to their county jail to have their own officers fingerprint you, e.g., Fulton, Cobb, whose instructions are below. Email your FACE and SHOULDER-ONLY photograph to Bill Hallsworth of the Georgia Sheriffs Association at BHallsworth@georgiasheriffs.org and let him know you are submitting your application, and to which Sheriff. He will then have it ready for production of your identification card when the Sheriff has approved your application package. (Not a bad idea to include a .pdf of your completed application with your email to Mr. Hallsworth...though this does NOT replace submitting the original to a Sheriff with the $80.00 fee.)

****A note about your photo - This is a PROFESSIONAL ID CARD, and there should be a solid neutral color background****

When your application is approved, the Sheriff will contact you to come in to take your oath and receive your identification card.

Two ONE-STOP places to submit your application for Certification:

Fulton County Sheriff Office - contact victoria.davis@fultoncountyga.gov

Their procedures include your fingerprint background check taken by their Deputy at the Fulton Co. jail by appointment AFTER you present (in person at the downtown office) your complete application to Ms. Davis, with your USPS money order for $80 made payable to the Fulton County Sheriff, and you must send by email a .png head-shot photo for the ID card to both Ms. Davis and Mr. Bill Hallsworth (BHallsworth@georgiasheriffs.org). You will be contacted to go to the Fulton Co. Sheriff Office to pick up your card and be sworn in.

Cobb County Sheriff Office - email your head-shot photo for the ID card with a copy of your application and the statement that you are submitting the originals to the Cobb County Sheriff, to Bill Hallsworth at BHallsworth@georgiasheriffs.org, and then go to the Cobb County Sheriff Office and go downstairs FIRST to PAY $10.00 for a Georgia fingerprint-based background check, and THEN go to the Deputy in the main office to submit your complete application package with the money order for $80.00.

RENEWAL Renewing your Certification? SAME STEPS AS ABOVE, except you submit only the Renewal form 1-a and forms 2, 3, and 6.

**** A note here about the importance of starting your renewal process at least a MONTH before your expiration date...

If you let your Certification expire, there is currently NO CURE for the 'expired' status this puts you in according to the 2019 Rules and Regulations! The 'old' rules required that you take the exam again ($250.00) and submit a renewal application with $80.00 to the GA Sheriff of your choice. The new rules only allow this cure if you had given notice PRIOR TO EXPIRATION of your certification to the Sheriff to put your certification in "inactive" status.

So, DON'T LET YOUR CERTIFICATION EXPIRE! Our Georgia courts are catching on to the tool it is for their Judges, and more and more of them are requiring FULL CERTIFICATION for their Annual Order of Appointment!