§ 8011.Fixed fees of sheriffs.
Article 80. Fees · Last amended 2025 · Last verified July 21, 2026
Full Text of CPLR 8011
Plain-English Summary
Sheriffs perform many of the mechanical steps that make a judgment or court order effective, and CPLR 8011 prices each of those steps. Subdivisions (a) through (e) cover the enforcement side of civil practice: receiving and levying an order of attachment, receiving and levying a property execution, serving and levying an income execution against a judgment debtor's earnings, and receiving and executing an order to recover a chattel, each with its own flat fee and, where travel is involved, a mileage charge on top. Most of these fees are payable in advance, meaning the party seeking the sheriff's action has to pay before the sheriff acts rather than after.
Subdivision (f) turns to summary proceedings, the eviction process, listing separate fees for receiving and serving a notice of petition, for making an affidavit of military or non-military service, and for the later steps of receiving, serving notice of, and executing a warrant of eviction. Subdivision (g) then covers sales: posting or advertising notice of a sale, drawing a conveyance when real property sells, and attending or conducting the sale itself.
The remaining subdivisions round out the schedule. Subdivision (h) prices service of a summons, subpoena, or other civil process, along with execution of an order of arrest or another mandate not otherwise covered, and carves out no fee when a court has directed service of an order of protection. Subdivision (i) covers taking undertakings and producing certified copies, subdivision (j) covers committing or discharging a prisoner and attending a bail surrender, and subdivision (k) covers notifying and attending jurors, attending a view, and other constable-type services. This section works together with two companion sections: one covering mileage, poundage, and additional court-allowed compensation, and another covering the sheriff's reimbursable expenses, so that between the three, a sheriff's full compensation for a given piece of work is rarely captured by this section alone.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does CPLR 8011 do?
It sets the fixed fees a sheriff charges for a wide range of services, including attachments, executions, evictions, sales, service of process, prisoner handling, and jury or constable duties, most of them payable in advance.
Are sheriff's fees under CPLR 8011 paid before or after the service is performed?
Most of the listed fees are payable in advance, meaning the party requesting the sheriff's action pays before the sheriff carries it out, though a few items are payable afterward.
How much does it cost to have a sheriff execute a warrant of eviction?
Subdivision (f) sets a specific fee for executing a warrant of eviction or a mandate requiring the sheriff to put a person in possession of real property and remove those in possession, in addition to separate fees for the earlier notice and service steps in the eviction process.
Does CPLR 8011 cover mileage and poundage fees for the sheriff?
Only in part. This section covers many of the flat, fixed fees and their associated mileage charges, but broader mileage, poundage, and additional compensation issues are addressed in a companion section, and the sheriff's reimbursable expenses in another.
Is there a fee for serving an order of protection under CPLR 8011?
No. Subdivision (h) specifically provides that when a court has directed service of an order of protection, there is no fee for serving that order or related papers served with it.
What does CPLR 8011 charge for handling a prisoner?
Subdivision (j) sets a fee for each person committed to or discharged from prison, paid by the person at whose instance the commitment occurs, and a separate fee for attending a bail surrender.
Advisory Committee Notes
This section, §§ 8012 and 8013, are derived from CPA § 1558, which was extensively amended in 1958. Laws 1958, c 942. No change in substance has been made, but the provisions have been reorganized and changes in terminology have been made to conform the section to changes made by the new CPLR.
This section contains provisions relating to the flat fees to which a sheriff is entitled for his service, payable in advance. To distinguish it from the following sections, it is designated “Fixed fees of the sheriff.” Section 8012 contains those provisions of CPA § 1558 which prescribed additional compensation to the sheriff. This consists of mileage fees, which are based upon the distance traveled; poundage fees, which are based upon the amount collected by the sheriff; and additional compensation, which may be allowed by the court in unusual circumstances. Section 8013 contains those provisions of CPA § 1558 which related to expenses incurred by the sheriff for which he was entitled to reimbursement.
Subparagraph 1 of subd (a) of this section is based upon part of subd 3 of CPA § 1558. A change has been made from “warrant of attachment” to “order of attachment” to conform with changes made in article 62. The remainder of subd 3 of the former section appears in subd (c) (2). Subparagraph 2 of the subdivision is based upon part of subd 8 of the former section. The remainder of the latter subd appears in subd (e)(3) of this section and in subd (b) of § 8013.
Subd (b) of this section is based upon subd 4 of CPA § 1558.
Subparagraph 1 of subd (c) of this section is based upon subd 1 of CPA § 1558. Subparagraph 2 of this subdivision is based upon part of subd 3 of CPA § 1558. Subparagraph 3 of this subdivision is based upon subd 2 of CPA § 1558.
Subparagraph 1 of subd (d) of this section is based upon part of subd 14 of CPA § 1558. The remainder of subd 14 appears in § 8013(a). The provision of subd 15 of CPA § 1558 has been incorporated into this subdivision. Subparagraph 2 of this subdivision is based upon subd 16 of CPA § 1558.
Subparagraph 1 of subd (e) of this section is based upon subd 13 of CPA § 1558. Subparagraph 2 of this subdivision is based upon subd 18 of CPA § 1558.
Subparagraph 3 of this subdivision is based upon part of subd 8 of CPA § 1558. The certificate of sale made by the sheriff relates to redemption, which has been eliminated in article 52; the reference to it has been eliminated from this subdivision. Subparagraph 4 of this subdivision is based upon subd 9 of CPA § 1558.
Subparagraph 1 of subd (f) of this section is based upon subd 10 of CPA § 1558. Subparagraph 2 of this subdivision is based upon subd 11 of CPA § 1558.
Subparagraph 1 of subd (g) of this section is based upon subd 19 of CPA § 1558. References to precepts of commissioners to inquire into competency have been omitted because this procedure is abolished. See new article 5-A of the Mental Hygiene Law. Subparagraph 2 of this subdivision is based upon subd 17 of CPA § 1558. Subparagraph 3 of this subdivision is based upon subd 23 of CPA § 1558.
Amendment History
Add, L 1992, ch 55, § 403, eff April 10, 1992; amd, L 1996, ch 190, § 1, eff Jan 1, 1997; L 2002, ch 655, § 1, eff Feb 24, 2003; L 2003, ch 11, § 2, eff Feb 24, 2003; L 2007, ch 36, § 1, eff Aug 19, 2007; L 2024, ch 575, § 1, effective March 13, 2025.