PRINTER'S NO. 2764
No. 2097 Session of 1989
INTRODUCED BY GIGLIOTTI AND COWELL, NOVEMBER 15, 1989
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT, NOVEMBER 15, 1989
AN ACT
1 Amending the act of July 6, 1984 (P.L.614, No.127), entitled "An
2 act establishing the fees to be charged and received by
3 sheriffs," further providing for fees, compensation and
4 mileage.
5 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
6 hereby enacts as follows:
7 Section 1. Sections 3(a), 4(a), 5, 6(a), 8, 10, 11, 14,
8 15(a) and 16 of the act of July 6, 1984 (P.L.614, No.127), known
9 as the Sheriff Fee Act, are amended to read:
10 Section 3. Civil and criminal actions.
11 (a) General rule.--Fees for the services of the sheriff
12 involved with civil actions, criminal proceedings or public
13 matters required by any court, statute or regulation including,
14 but not limited to, writs, complaints, orders, equity matters,
15 subpoenas, interrogatories and official notices, are as follows:
16 (1) Receiving, docketing and making
17 return..........................................[$7.00] $9.00
18 (2) Service, either personally by the sheriff
19 or by copy served or posted:
1 (i) First serving........................[7.00] 9.00
2 (ii) Each additional defendant or person
3 served or copy posted.........................[4.00] 6.00
4 (3) Making each copy served or posted........[3.00] 5.00
5 (4) Deputizing the sheriff of another county to
6 enable the other sheriff to make service or
7 accomplish an act.................................[5.00] 9.00
8 (5) Making a return of an item delivered to the
9 sheriff too late to serve before expiration.......[3.00] 5.00
10 (6) Return of non est inventus (person to be
11 served cannot be found within the jurisdiction of
12 sheriff)..........................................[3.00] 5.00
13 (7) Attesting each copy of a document which is
14 to be served......................................[2.00] 4.00
15 (8) Service by publication in newspapers, in
16 addition to the actual cost of publication and
17 printing.........................................[9.00] 15.00
18 (9) Taking an affidavit of one person........[1.50] 2.50
19 (10) Taking an affidavit of each additional
20 person............................................[0.50] 1.00
21 * * *
22 Section 4. Real estate executions.
23 (a) General rule.--For executing court-issued writs or
24 orders requiring the levy, seizure or sale of lands and
25 tenements, the following fees apply and, unless otherwise stated
26 in this section, shall be paid by the plaintiff, petitioner or
27 other moving party:
28 (1) Receiving, docketing and making return[$7.00] $15.00
29 (2) Serving or posting a notice or copy.....[7.00] 15.00
30 (3) Levying on each separate piece or parcel of
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1 land.............................................[7.00] 15.00
2 (4) Service of a writ against real estate of
3 defendant requiring service on third party for each
4 party............................................[9.00] 15.00
5 (5) Making immediate return of service on a
6 garnishee when writ or other item is retained for
7 further action....................................[3.00] 5.00
8 (6) Advertising public sale in newspaper, for
9 each parcel of land, in addition to cost of
10 publication and printer's bill...................[9.00] 15.00
11 (7) Advertising public sale by handbills, for
12 each parcel of land separately described by metes
13 and bounds or otherwise, in addition to publication
14 and printer's bills..............................[9.00] 15.00
15 (8) Each sale held subsequent to the first
16 sale.............................................[7.00] 20.00
17 (9) Crying the sale of each separate parcel of
18 land separately sold.............................[7.00] 10.00
19 (10) Distribution of proceeds...............[9.00] 25.00
20 (11) Executing and acknowledging a deed to real
21 property, payment to be made by grantee.........[10.00] 30.00
22 * * *
23 Section 5. Executing writs, orders and decrees.
24 For executing a writ of inquiry, partition, condemnation,
25 appraisement or inquisition or a similar writ, order or decree
26 issued by a court, district justice, or commissioner under a
27 statute, the party procuring execution shall pay the following
28 fees:
29 (1) Receiving, docketing and making return..[$7.00] 9.00
30 (2) Summoning parties or persons in possession
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1 personally or by copy served or posted:
2 (i) First service........................[7.00] 9.00
3 (ii) Each additional service.............[4.00] 6.00
4 (3) Making and certifying each copy served or
5 posted............................................[4.00] 6.00
6 (4) Summoning and swearing special jurors...... 15.00
7 (5) Holding inquisition or appraisal of real
8 estate.............................................. 15.00
9 (6) Otherwise executing......................[7.00] 9.00
10 (7) Serving by publication as required by law
11 or order of court................................[9.00] 15.00
12 (8) Delivering lands to plaintiff in
13 inquisition or similar proceedings...............[9.00] 25.00
14 Section 6. Executing writs.
15 (a) General rule.--For executing execution writs, fraudulent
16 debtors attachment, retorno habendo, replevin, or order issued
17 by a court requiring the levy, seizure or sale of personal
18 property, unless otherwise provided in this section, the party
19 procuring execution shall pay the following fees:
20 (1) Receiving, docketing and making return.[$7.00] $9.00
21 (2) Serving or posting a copy or notice......[7.00] 9.00
22 (3) Each levy on personal property.........[10.00] 20.00
23 (4) Seizing personal property levied upon..[10.00] 15.00
24 (5) Making return of nulla bona (unable to find
25 goods to levy upon)................................. 9.00
26 (6) Advertising personal property for public
27 sale by handbills................................[9.00] 10.00
28 (7) Each adjourned sale.....................[7.00] 15.00
29 (8) Service upon a garnishee.................[7.00] 9.00
30 (9) Receiving a claim of exemption or immunity
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1 and notifying parties in interest to the filing of
2 the claim........................................... [9.00]
3 12.00
4 (10) Receiving and docketing each claim to
5 property or to proceeds produced by sale thereof, to
6 be paid by claimant upon the filing of the claim.... 10.00
7 (11) Notifying an agency as required by law of
8 the proposed sale of the property or franchise of a
9 corporation or joint stock association, liquid fuels
10 producer or distributor..........................[7.00] 10.00
11 (12) Appraising personal property under a
12 statute or at the request of a party or arranging an
13 appraisal by another............................[10.00] 20.00
14 (13) Making arrangements to preserve property
15 taken into legal custody including, but not limited
16 to, obtaining a watchman, together with the cost of
17 compensation for the watchman by the party benefited
18 thereby or person requiring service................. [10.00]
19 20.00
20 (14) Securing insurance; arranging goods for
21 sale; furnishing heat, light, power, storage, rent,
22 transportation and supplies; feeding livestock; and
23 meeting similar expenses incurred in caring for and
24 keeping the goods and chattels levied upon or
25 attached, when the same are necessary or
26 advantageous, or when requested by any party
27 interested to incur any such expense, the actual
28 costs thereof to be paid by the plaintiff,
29 petitioner or party requiring same to be incurred,
30 providing any surplus of advances for same to be
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1 refunded.
2 * * *
3 Section 8. Property claims.
4 For processing of property claims filed under statute or
5 rules of civil procedure, the claimant shall pay the following
6 fees:
7 (1) Receiving and filing
8 of property claim.............................[$10.00] $12.00
9 (2) Staying the execution and
10 providing notice.................................... 9.00
11 (3) Making determination as to the owner of the
12 property without hearing and filing in the
13 prothonotary's office the determination and
14 valuation........................................... 9.00
15 (4) Determining ownership of property with a
16 formal hearing and filing in the prothonotary's
17 office the determination and valuation..........[18.00] 25.00
18 (5) Appraising property by the sheriff and
19 giving notice...................................[10.00] 15.00
20 Section 10. Writs of ejectment or possession.
21 For executing writs of ejectment or possession,
22 dower or similar writs requiring the delivery of
23 possession of real property or ejecting or
24 dispossessing a person of personal property, the
25 claimant shall pay...............................[$20.00] $30.00
26 Section 11. Warrants and attachments.
27 For executing a process, warrant, attachment, decree,
28 sentence or order of the court, issued in court on a person or
29 taking the defendant's body into custody, the party procuring
30 the process, writ, order or decree or, if the Commonwealth is
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1 interested, the county, will pay the following fees:
2 (1) Receiving, docketing and making return.[$7.00] $9.00
3 (2) Each arrest............................[20.00] 30.00
4 (3) Each commitment to jail, correctional
5 institution, asylum or place of detention pursuant
6 to lawful order..................................... [10.00]
7 20.00
8 (4) Removing a person from any place of
9 confinement pursuant to lawful order.............[9.00] 20.00
10 Section 14. Licenses.
11 For issuing and recording of a license, the licensee shall
12 pay, in addition to a fee payable to the county or Commonwealth,
13 the following fees:
14 (1) Issuing a license to sell firearms directly
15 to a consumer.................................[$10.00] $27.00
16 (2) Issuing or reissuing a license to carry a
17 firearm on or about one's person.................... 5.00
18 Section 15. Conservator of the peace.
19 (a) Sheriff.--For the services performed in the capacity as
20 a conservator of the peace or police officer in suppressing
21 riots, mobs or insurrections, and when discharging any duty
22 requiring the summoning of a posse, comitatus or special deputy
23 sheriffs, the sheriff shall receive per diem compensation at the
24 rate of $50 in a county for eight hours service, together with
25 [the mileage and necessary expenses, including subsistence for
26 the sheriff and those under him, all to be paid by the county.]
27 compensation for his deputy or deputies at an hourly rate equal
28 to the prevailing wage scale of the sheriff's office, including
29 subsistence for the sheriff and those under him, to be paid by
30 either the county or the issuing authority. In addition thereto,
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1 the sheriff shall receive a fee of $10.00 for each deputy
2 employed to cover administrative costs.
3 * * *
4 Section 16. Mileage.
5 For mileage in serving and executing writs, official notices,
6 rules, decrees, orders or processes, or copies thereof, or
7 performing the duties or services specified in this act or
8 authorized by law, the sheriff shall receive and may tax as
9 official costs [the mileage fee as established by section 1 of
10 the act of July 20, 1979 (P.L.156, No.51), entitled "An act
11 establishing a uniform mileage fee for all officials, officers
12 and employees of the Commonwealth, its political subdivisions,
13 intermediate units, and authorities,"] $.25 for each mile
14 necessary to be traveled by the sheriff, deputies or employees.
15 The mileage fee shall be received on each separate writ, rule,
16 order, decree, process or notice served or service performed.
17 The sheriff shall not receive more than one mileage where the
18 plaintiff and the defendant and two or more contemporaneous
19 writs are the same, or when two or more persons or prisoners are
20 being conducted at one time to or from a place of detention or
21 correction. The sheriff shall receive the mileage fee for
22 transporting the prisoners and the deputies guarding them, and
23 meals and lodging during the journey and the return of the
24 deputies.
25 Section 2. This act shall take effect in 30 days.
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