Civil Unit

Every Sheriff’s Office in Ohio is mandated by the Ohio Revised Code to serve documents that are issued by the court system. The Butler County courts served by our Civil Processing Unit includes the Butler County Common Pleas Court, Domestic Relations Court, Juvenile Court, Probate Court, and Area I, II, and III Courts. In addition, the Butler County Sheriff’s Office must provide for “Foreign” service. Foreign Service includes serving various papers that originate from courts outside Butler County (from other Ohio counties or other states), but must be served upon people or businesses who live in or operate in Butler County.

Civil processing includes serving a variety of court documents and orders such as subpoenas, writs of possession, domestic violence protection orders, restraining orders, foreclosure notices, grand jury notices (for both civil and criminal proceedings), and notices for petit jury service.

Sergeant Steven Poff supervises the “serving process” which is handled by six (6) part-time Deputy Sheriff process servers who are occasionally assisted by volunteer Special Deputies. These deputies are tasked with serving civil papers that are processed by several courts and the Butler County Sheriff’s Office. There are a variety of court documents that we are mandated by the Ohio Revised Code to serve. In 2017, there were over twenty-four thousand (24,000) subpoenas and summons served including domestic violence protection orders and civil stalking orders served. The unit receives the paperwork from the courts, processes it at the Sheriff’s Office and provides it to the deputies to serve.

Once processed, paperwork is distributed to be served to the alleged defendant or responsible parties of a court case. When those papers are served or failed due to no contact with the party involved, an invoice is issued for the fees and they are mailed to the respective agencies.