Civil Unit Services
The Yakima County Sheriff’s Office Civil Unit processes and serves a wide range of court documents filed in Washington and other states.
Our responsibility, and priority, is to serve those court documents directly requiring the Sheriff of Yakima County to serve, including Protection Orders, Writs of Restitutions, Writs of Execution, Orders of Sale, Criminal Subpoenas, Writs of Habeas Corpus, etc.
The Civil Unit will make several attempts at service based on how much time we have to serve and our ability to locate the person(s) you wish to have served. We do not guarantee service.
Starting March 1st, 2025, the Yakima County Sheriff's office will be initiating a moratorium on the service of other court documents that are not required to be served by state law through the Sheriff's Office. For the court documents listed below, service will need to be sought through alternative methods.
- Small Claims
- Notices
- Summons & Complaints
- Petitions
- Declarations
- Order to Show Cause
Alternative Methods of Service: If service is required on other court documents listed above, you may choose one of the following methods as referenced in RCW 4.28.080:
- Service may be made by personal service methods
- Have the documents served by someone other than the person who filed the claim who is over the age of 18
- Private process server
- Service may be made by registered or certified mail to the defendant, only if approved by the court
- If mailed, appropriate court guidelines must be followed
We do not transfer custody of children except under court order (Writ of Habeas Corpus) for which children will be transferred to the custody of Child Protective Services.
Please consult the fee schedule for an estimation of cost of service.
Writs of Restitution
All Writs of Restitution must be accompanied by a properly completed Writ of Restitution (Eviction) Intake Form. Additionally, a copy of the Request for Storage of Personal Property form, as provided in RCW 59.18.312, should accompany each copy of the writ. You will find links to these forms below.
EXTENSIONS:
If the writ is pursuant to RCW 59.18 (Residential Landlord Tenant Act) or 59.20 (Manufactured/Mobile Home Landlord Tenant Act) we will only accept it for action if it contains an initial return period as well as any extensions in 10-day increments. The language in the order granting writ must match that of the writ. Due to a high number of unlawful detainer writs the Sheriff's Office receives, it is strongly recommended that extension language be included in the writ of restitution, allowing the Sheriff additional time to serve and enforce the writ. Suggested wording for automatic extensions: “In the event the Sheriff does not return said Writ within ten days of this date, said Writ of Restitution shall be automatically extended for additional ten-day periods until possession is delivered to Plaintiff”. If the writ is not pursuant to 59.18 or 59.20, please use 20-day increments per the applicable statute. We will return the writ to court if you don’t contact our office within twenty days of issuance of the writ. Please read our intake sheet at the link below.
Service & Information Forms