• Some states license process servers.Legal Law Justice image by Stacey Alexander from Fotolia.com
  
  Delivering legal documents or papers to interested parties is generally referred to as service of process. Those who routinely or professional deliver such papers are known as process servers. While not all states require process servers to be licensed, some do, and they may impose different requirements for anyone wishing to become a process server.
  
  

State Registration

• Some states require process servers to be registered with the state. For example, the state of California requires that anyone who serves more than 10 legal documents a year to be registered with the state. These process servers must register in the county in which they reside or work. To do this, a process server must have been a resident of California for at least a year prior to registration, be at least 18 years old, and post a $2,000 bond or cash deposit.
  
  

Local License

• Some states may require registration on a statewide level, while also requiring process servers to be licensed in a particular locality. For example, the city of New York requires that any process servers operating in the five boroughs be licensed through the New York City Department of Consumer Affairs. (Attorneys admitted to practice in the state of New York are exempt from this requirement.) License applications require no testing, but applicants must be able to provide such information as: proof of payment of child support, fingerprints, background information, photo identification, as well as pay a processing and application fee.
  
  

Private Investigators

• Many states allow licensed private investigators to serve as process servers. While these states may not license process servers, or require process servers to register, any private investigator serving papers must be licensed by the state. For example, the state of California allows private investigators to serve process without having to register as a process server, though they can only do so if licensed. To be a licensed private investigator in California, an applicant must be 18 or older, pass a criminal background check through the California Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, meet the educational requirements, pass the private investigator's examination, and pay the licensing fee.