Services

Civil Enforcement

Civil Process

General instructions:

All services will require a Service Information Sheet or cover letter from a law firm or government agency giving detailed and specific information to be used to locate and serve the designated person. Successful and expeditious services are our goal and we, therefore, rely heavily on the information that you provide to us. Plaintiff’s information must also be completed accurately so that we may notify you of the results of our service attempts.

If you wish to have papers served, bring an original set of all papers you received at court to the Civil Unit customer service counter. For any questions or assistance, please call the Civil Unit at (520)351-6000 or email us at civil@sheriff.pima.gov

For additional questions please contact us at (520) 351-6000 or email us at civil@sheriff.pima.gov

Civil Process:

The Civil Unit serves various civil process and court documents, including writs, notices to appear, domestic/divorce papers, complaints, summons and subpoenas. There are service fees for these services and deposits are required. Writs require a deposit of $300 and other processes require a deposit of $100 per service.

No deposit is required to serve Injunctions against Harassment or Injunctions against Workplace Harassment. You will be charged fees at the end of the service unless our office is provided with a waiver or deferral granted from an Arizona Superior Court.

Any excess proceeds resulting from a Writ sale, will be processed as per ARS 12-1562.

Mailing Address:

Pima County Sheriff's Department
Civil Enforcement Unit
32 N. Stone Ave., 16th floor
Tucson, Az. 85701
DT-LSB16-205

For additional questions please contact us at (520) 351-6000.

Process Service Deposits and Fees

Waivers and deferrals:

Unless you provide a waiver or deferral from an Arizona Superior Court, there will be charges for serving your papers. A valid copy of the court order waiving or deferring fees must accompany the papers you submit for service.

Waiver– means that the issuing Court is waiving all service fees and charges, and, therefore, no payment will be required.

Deferral – means that you will be billed later by the Pima County Sheriff's Department for any applicable service fees and charges.

Out-of-state waivers or deferrals will not be accepted.  You may contact a local Arizona Superior Court for assistance in obtaining a waiver or deferral order.

Required Deposits:

A deposit is required with all civil processes except for Orders of Protection, Injunctions Against Harassment and Injunctions Against Workplace Harassment. Fees will be applied at the end of the service for Injunctions Against Harassment and Injunctions Against Workplace Harassment unless you have a court order waiver, deferral or stipulated from the court. Payment may be made by cashier’s check, money order, law firm check, or credit/debit card. Checks must be made for the proper amount and be made payable to the Pima County Sheriff's Department. 

A deposit of $100.00 is required, per service, on all civil process and criminal papers (Subpoenas, Summons, Writ of Garnishment, etc.).

A deposit of $300.00, one set of original paperwork, a set for each person being served, and an extra set is required on all writs:

  • Writ of Execution - General or Special
    Writ of Restitution, Attachment or Possession
  • Writ of Replevin

Extra charges may apply concerning multiple services.

After deduction of charges and fees, any excess deposit will be refunded to you by mail. If the fees exceed the amount of the deposit the Pima County Sheriff's Department Civil Enforcement Unit will bill you for that amount.

The required deposits will be:

Protection Orders

No charge

All civil process and criminal papers

$100.00 per person being served

Writs

$300.00 per case

If you would like to review Arizona Revised Statutes, please visit the Arizona State Legislature website.

The Civil Enforcement Unit’s Tax Unit is responsible for the collection of all delinquent, unsecured personal property taxes in Pima County. Tax payments may be made in person or by mail to:

Pima County Treasurer's Office
240 N. Stone Ave.
Tucson, AZ 85701 

Tax payment due dates:

A.R.S. 42-18052 provides payment due dates and a schedule outlining when property taxes become delinquent. Property taxes are normally paid in two (2) installments; the first payment is due October 1st and the second payment is due March 1st. The October payment is delinquent after 5:00pm on November 1st and the March payment is delinquent after 5:00pm on May 1st. If the total amount due is $100.00 or less, the entire amount is due on October 1st, and is delinquent on November 1st at 5:00pm.

Seizure and sale of property for non-payment of taxes:

Arizona Revised Statutes allows for the seizure and liquidation of personal property necessary to pay the delinquent taxes, interest, and costs associated with this process. Taxes are considered delinquent and property considered eligible for seizure after the second installment is past due, May 2nd. Seized property will be sold at public auction to the highest bidder to pay taxes owed.

Sale information:

Sale notices providing dates, times and locations are posted at the following locations:

Civil Enforcement Unit
Legal Services Building
32 N. Stone Avenue, 16th floor
Tucson, AZ 85701-1409 

Pima County Superior Court
110 W. Congress Street
Tucson, Arizona 85701  

Pima County Administration Building
130 W. Congress, 1st Floor
Tucson, AZ 85701 

Contact the Sheriff’s Department Civil Enforcement Unit Tax Unit at (520) 351-6000 or the Pima County Treasurer’s Office at (520) 724-8341 for additional information regarding unsecured property taxes.

Appeals process:

In order to contest a delinquent personal property tax bill, you must first pay the delinquent bill at the Treasurer's Office. You may then contact the Pima County Assessor’s Office at (520) 724-8700. You will be able to begin the appeal process as outlined in ARS 42-19051 and obtain appeal forms.

The Civil Enforcement Unit serves Orders of Protection at no charge to the plaintiff. We also serve the following Injunctions with charges due at the end of the service:

  • Injunctions against Harassment
  • Injunctions against Workplace Harassments

To obtain an Order of Protection/Injunctions Against Harassment from an Arizona Court, you can contact the Pima County Superior Court at 724-3210 and their website is http://www.sc.pima.gov/ or https://azpoint.azcourts.gov/.

Protection Orders

Once you have been granted a protection order, it will be assigned to the agency by the Arizona Protective Order Initiation and Notification Tool (AZPOINT).

You will be notified by the Arizona Protective Order Initiation and Notification Tool (AZPOINT) via email, once your order has been served.

Injunctions Against Harassment/Injunctions Against Workplace Harassment
Once you have been granted an Injunction Against Harassment, you can download the Civil Enforcement fact sheet from our website that will explain our charges that will apply at the end of the service and bring the paperwork to our office.

There is also an Information sheet on our website that will need to be filled out, on additional information not entered in the Arizona Protective Order Initiation and Notification Tool (AZPOINT).

Bring your court paperwork to our office to process for service. Although we prioritize the service of Orders of Protection, it may take 3-5 business days for the defendant to be served.

Charges that will apply at the end of the service except those with a dating relationship when stipulated by the courts. Unless you provide a waiver (Waiver – means that the issuing court is waiving all service fees and charges, and, therefore, no payment will be required) or deferral (Deferral– means you will be billed later by the Pima County Sheriff's Department for any applicable fees and charges) from an Arizona court, there will be charges for serving your papers. If fees are to be waived or deferred, a valid copy of the court order waiving or deferring fees must accompany the papers you submit for service. Out-of-state waivers or deferrals will not be accepted. You may contact a local Arizona court for assistance in obtaining a waiver or deferral order.

o    $16.00 service fee (per order served)

o    $2.40 a mile ($16.00 min. per attempt)

o    $8.00 prep fee for out-of-state affidavits

Payments are accepted by in-state personal, cashiers, or business checks, money orders, or credit/debit cards. Checks must be the exact amount and made out to the "Pima County Sheriff 's Department". In-state personal checks will be accepted with proper identification.

Please ensure you read the following Civil Enforcement fact sheet concerning the service of your Order of Protection/Injunction Against Harassment.

Out-of-State Protection Orders and Injunctions
You can download and complete our information sheet from our website Information sheet. Please ensure you read the following Civil Enforcement fact sheet concerning the service of your paperwork. Please send your order and Information sheet to our office. Charges for Injunctions Against Harassment will apply at the end of the service.

We are located at the following address:

Pima County Sheriff's Department
Civil Enforcement Unit
32 N. Stone Ave., 16th floor
Tucson, AZ. 85701
DT-LSB16-205

For additional questions, please contact us at (520) 351-6000 or email us at civil@sheriff.pima.gov.

The Pima County Sheriff’s Department Civil Enforcement Unit is responsible for the administration and issuance of Pawnbroker Licenses in accordance with Arizona Revised Statute 44-1627.

To obtain an initial license or renew a Pawnbroker License in Pima County, an Affidavit of Request to Obtain or Renew a Pawnbroker License and an Affidavit of Fingerprint Integrity for Pawnbrokers License in Pima County must be filled out. The affidavit must be notarized and returned to our office by each proprietor, partner, designated agent, corporate officer, director, and any stockholder owning 10% or more of the corporation.

An annual background investigation will be performed on each person to ensure that the applicant has not, within the last five years, been convicted of a felony involving: trafficking in stolen property, fraudulent schemes, forgery, theft, extortion, conspiracy to defraud or a felony involving moral turpitude. This is required to ensure that the applicant meets the requirements of Arizona Revised Statute 44-1627H.

Applicants should be very familiar with all aspects involving the licensing of pawnbrokers and ensure that they and their establishment satisfy all the requirements as stated in ARS 44-1627. One requirement of special note is that the agent/owner must be a bona fide resident of Arizona.

Following is the procedure to be used when applying for a Pawnbroker License:

1) Fill out the applicable forms: 

Every proprietor, partner, designated agent, corporate officer, director, and any stockholder owning 10% or more of the corporation and the designated agent will need to fill out and have notarized an Affidavit of Request to Obtain a Pawnbroker license and  Affidavit of Fingerprint  Integrity for Pawnbroker License in Pima County. 

2) Provide the Pima County Sheriff’s Department, Civil Enforcement Unit the Pawn license name, a list of the names of the applicants that will be participating in the background process and a contact name and phone number. 

3) Pima County Sheriff’s Department Civil Enforcement Unit requires that all applicants must provide a valid, unexpired form of government-issued photo identification during the application process and prior to fingerprinting to verify their identity. 

4)  Each applicant applying for a Pawnbroker license will need to have a fingerprint card submitted for the background process. Applicant(s) will need to be fingerprinted, on the fingerprint packet provided with this sheet, at a Law Enforcement agency of their choice or by the Pima County Sheriff’s Auxiliary Volunteers located at 1650 E. Benson Highway, Suite B, (520) 351-4971. There is a $15.00 fingerprinting fee at the Sheriff’s Auxiliary Volunteer location.

  • You will be given the following concerning the Fingerprint process:
    • Applicant Instructions on Handling and Returning Fingerprint packet information sheet.
    • FBI Applicant Privacy Rights Notification form for applicant to keep.
    • Noncriminal Justice Applicant’s Privacy Rights for applicant to keep
    • Fingerprint Technician Instructions
      • Fingerprint packet
      • Fingerprint card
      • Chain of Custody form
  • Pre-labeled envelope with return postage paid for by the applicant
  • Completed fingerprint cards will not be given back to the applicant. Fingerprint technician will return to our office via US Mail

5). Once all the fingerprints are returned to our office, you will be contacted by our staff to turn in the remaining items:

  • Pawn license application (corporate or non-corporate) for each pawn license
  • $1,000.00 license fee made out to the “Pima County Sheriff’s Dept.” for each license. (money order/cashiers or business check)
  • Affidavit of Request to Obtain/Renew a Pawnbroker License and Affidavit of Fingerprint Integrity for each applicant
  • $22.00 fingerprint fee made out to the “Arizona Department of Public Safety” for each fingerprint card. (separate Money order)

6). Please allow up to 60 days to process the application and fingerprint background check.

7). If approved, licenses can be picked up in person at our office or delivered in the mail.

8). If you will be handling firearms, you will need to contact the ATF for an application. If your business is located within a municipality, please check with them for any additional restrictions or requirements.

First year license fee= $1,000.00
Second year license fee= $500 prorated amount at approximately $42.00 a month.
Third year and subsequent years license fee= $500.

Licenses cannot be sold or transferred without approval from the Pima County Sheriff’s Department; a new license fee will apply. Any change request will need to be done in writing and submitted to the Pima County Sheriff’s Department. In order to process your paperwork in a timely manner, ensure that all questions on the application and Affidavit(s) are filled out completely. Applicants should be very familiar with all aspects involving the licensing of pawnbrokers and ensure that they and their establishment satisfy all the requirements as stated in Arizona Revised Statutes. One requirement of special note is that the agent or pawnbroker must be a bona fide resident of Arizona. Thank you for your attention to this matter, and if you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact our Pawnbroker License coordinator at (520) 351-6000.

Thank you for your attention to this matter, and if you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact our Pawnbroker License coordinator at (520) 351-6000.

Any questions regarding pawn shops or pawned items that are not related to licensing, can be directed to the Pima County Sheriff’s Department Criminal Investigations Division at (520) 351-4810.

Civil Sales

Certain writs require the court-ordered seizure and sale of both personal and real property at public auction. All such sales of real property are conducted at the Pima County Superior Court House, east steps (facing Church Avenue). Personal property sales are held at various locations.

The dates, times and locations of all civil sales are publicly posted and announced above, as well as at the following locations:

Civil Enforcement Unit
Legal Services Building 
32 N. Stone Avenue, 16th floor 
Tucson, AZ 85701-1409

Pima County Superior Court 
110 W. Congress Street 
Tucson, Arizona 85701

Pima County Administration Building
130 W. Congress, 1st Floor
Tucson, AZ 85701 

If you would like to review Arizona Revised Statutes, please visit the Arizona State Legislature website.

© 2024 Pima County Sheriff's Department