4-29-2008-
EMERGENCY REVISION
DPS POLICY CHANGE HINDERS RENEWAL PROCESS
The Texas DPS no longer allows fingerprint cards to be dropped of at their Austin
office by a third party. Your choices are:
Mail your fingerprint card to the DPS and wait up to four weeks or more to get your
criminal report back.
Drive to Austin and have your fingerprints taken by a DPS technician. Your criminal
report will be ready the next day. Confirm this with the DPS first. They can be
reached at (512) 424-2000.
Contact FAST Fingerprint Applicant Services of Texas at the link below and set an
appointment at an office near you.
Because of this unforeseen development, Directors of The Certified Civil Process
Servers Association of Texas are preparing a letter on behalf of the industry asking
the Texas Supreme Court to extend the deadline for submitting renewal applications.
Hopefully the Court will give those whose certifications expire on July 1, 2008 an
additional 45 days to submit their renewal applications. The Court's answer will be
posted on this website.
4-18-2008- (Original Article With Notes and Changes)
GET YOUR DPS CRIMINAL HISTORY REPORT BACK
IN TWO DAYS!!! Renewals Of Those Whose Certification
Expire On July 1, 2008, Are Due By May 15, 2008!
Process Server In Austin Helps Industry With Next-Day Turnaround.
NOTE: THIS OFFER NO LONGER AVAILABLE
Process servers have been given an unreasonably short period of time to complete
the renewal process. Renewal applications must be submitted no less than 45 days
before the server's expiration date. However, the required criminal history report can
not be older than 90 days. This means we have only 45 days to get our fingerprint
card prepared, send it to the DPS, receive the criminal report back and send the
completed application to the PSRB. And, this doesn't include the required training.
Hopefully, all those who are set to expire in July have already taken training within the
last year.
NOTE: Renewal applications can be submitted as much as 90 days before
certification expires. Technically, this means a person can obtain a criminal report as
much as 180 days prior to expiration. However, be cautious. Obtaining your criminal
report this far in advance would give you a very small window to get your application
to the PSRB. A delay of one day could cause your application to be rejected.
There is absolutely no reason certification should be this complicated and restrictive.
And, the Process Server Review Board has done nothing to improve matters. In fact,
the PSRB has further complicated the application form and the whole process
generally.
There are two ways process servers can get their DPS criminal reports back quickly.
It's too late to send your fingerprint cards to the DPS by mail as the turnaround can be
as long as four weeks or more. One way is to utilize an electronic fingerprint
submission company like FAST Fingerprint Applicant Services of Texas. Please go to
the DPS's web page for more information on this service at:
www.txdps.state.tx.us/administration/crime_records/pages/applicantfingerprintservice
s.htm
You can also check out an overview of the FAST system at:
www.txdps.state.tx.us/administration/crime_records/docs/fastverview.pdf
If you live in an area that does not have a FAST office, you can still use the fingerprint
cards available at most local law enforcement offices. Call your local law enforcement
office for their specific details. Once you have your fingerprint card completed, send
it to me along with an authorization letter. I will drop it off at the main DPS office here
in Austin and pick up your criminal report the next business day. Please visit my
website for details about this service at www.DirectResultsLegal.com.
NOTE: THIS OFFER NO LONGER AVAILABLE
If you are having trouble getting a fingerprint card completed, law enforcement is not
the only option. There are other private companies that are authorized to prepare
fingerprint cards like concealed handgun training academies. NOTE: The instruction
form on the PSRB website instructs us to go to a "law enforcement" office. However,
fingerprint cards are submitted to the DPS, not to the PSRB. So, it is my personal
belief that any fingerprint technician can prepare your card for you. However, you
should check with the Supreme Court on this issue. As long as the DPS can read
your prints, there is no reason we should be restricted to law enforcement only. I
have asked the Court for clarification on this issue, but, they have yet to reply.
Which brings me to my next point. Process servers are being treated like a bunch of
criminals. With over three thousand certified process servers, there has been only
one person known to have been revoked because of a disqualifying criminal
conviction (as of 2007); and that conviction had nothing to do with the service of
process. Why all the scrutinizing? Especially in light of the fact that anyone over 18,
without being certified and regardless of training or background, can serve all state
and federal subpoenas, all federal summons, all AG child support process, all process
from other states for service in Texas, and all Texas issued process being served
outside the state. In fact, some Texas judges have made the service of citations and
other writs issued from their courts essentially the same as the service of subpoenas.
The following two charts show how unreasonable it is to have such strict
requirements for private process servers. [PIE CHART] [COMPARISON GRAPH]
Furthermore, there is little or no evidence of any process servers in Texas ever being
convicted of process service related crimes like trespassing, impersonating an
officer, assault, perjury, filing a fraudulent document, falsifying an officer's return, etc.
The criminal background component is solely a result of unreasonable and
unnecessary constable influence on our industry. Why are we being singled out as
untrustworthy?
Another unreasonable aspect of certification is the required "monitored" training
classes. Again, process servers are being singled out as untrustworthy. Many other
professions allow training via the internet and even by correspondence through the
mail. Private investigators, for example, can take training/continuing education online
or through the U.S. mail; no classroom, no teacher. Process servers deserve no less.
This issue has also been brought before the PSRB and the Court, but, has fallen on
deaf ears.
The Certified Civil Process Servers Association of Texas has petition the Texas
Supreme Court and the Process Server Review Board to make these changes to the
certification program. The CCPSAT's Directors have suggested that process servers
be allowed to simply state under a penalty of perjury that they have no disqualifying
convictions. This how Notaries Public are commissioned through the Texas
Secretary of State. And we have suggested options to classroom training. The PSRB
has ignored the industry's pleas and refuses to recommend these changes to the
Court. One would think the PSRB would work for the industry. Instead they work to
protect the public from an imaginary threat.
The CCPSAT has circumvented the PSRB and has petitioned the Court directly.
Nothing has yet to be done.
Story by:
Tod E. Pendergrass
Founding Director, The Certified Civil Process Servers Association of Texas
NOTE: It is important that all persons wishing to become certified or renew an
existing certification follow the Supreme Court's instructions carefully. The PSRB will
reject an application for the smallest error or omission. Unless you get a different
answer from the Court, you should have your fingerprint card prepared by a law
enforcement official. Though unreasonable, this is how the instruction sheet reads.
Also, there may be other companies like FAST that offer electronic fingerprint
services. However, Process Service Czar, Carl Weeks, has stated that he will accept
fingerprint cards only from a "DPS authorized vendor." No one is sure what that
means and the Court has yet to take an official position on this issue. One thing is for
sure. This unauthorized proclamation by the Czar means any training course
instructor who is authorized to prepare fingerprint cards and who competes with the
Czar's course cannot offer this service in their class. This is just one more example of
the numerous conflicts of interest that exist on the PSRB.
Anyone can send a letter or email to the Court and/or the PSRB at any time with
suggestions or complaints. This is our industry and we should have a voice in how it
is regulated. If we don't speak up, nothing will change.
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