PARIS — County officials may pursue legislation to update the state’s antiquated laws governing fees for serving civil paperwork.

According to Oxford County Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy Hart Daley, the department’s plan to charge a $50 flat rate for each document served by a deputy was scuttled after some complained the change violated state statute.

The Sheriff’s Office is responsible for serving legal papers, court orders and notices to people and entities involved in civil legal proceedings. Fees are collected by the Sheriff’s Office for each paper serviced on behalf of one of the parties in the case.

On Tuesday, Daley told commissioners the state hasn’t updated its fee structure in more than two decades.

“If we can get legislation in to revisit these fees and maybe bump them up $5 or $10 per paper, from 20-plus years ago, it will benefit the county’s revenue,” Daley told commissioners.

Submitting legislation to amend the law is the most straightforward way to revise the fee schedule, county Administrator Scott Cole said.

Commissioners may enlist the aid of the Maine County Commissioners Association to move the possible bill forward. Since the deadline to submit bills to the Legislature for the 2014 session has already past, the county may have to wait almost two years to see a change in the fee schedule.

Earlier this year, the civil process division in the Sheriff’s Office, manned by nonuniformed, part-time employees, was disbanded and replaced with two uniformed deputies tasked with serving legal paperwork.

Replacing nonuniformed employees with patrol deputies has raised the professionalism of the service and deputies on the road serving papers have also responded to emergency calls, Daley said. 

The two deputies are intended to be fully funded through service fees. On Tuesday, Cole told administrators that even without the $50 flat fee, the revenue should still cover the expense of having the two deputies on the road.

The changeover was intended to coincide with a revised flat-fee rate for service. The new fee structure was abandoned shortly after implementation after regular clients such as landlords and law firms questioned its legality.

Sheriff’s deputies receive $16 to serve most papers and $8 to serve divorce papers, according to Maine law. Oxford County charges an additional 50 cents per mile traveled. The section of the law that deals with service fees for most court paperwork was last amended in 1989. Some sections that deal with filing real estate with the Registry of Deeds Office or recover personal property were amended in 1997.

As it stands, the Sheriff’s Office ends up charging around $50 for papers served outside the Norway-Paris-Oxford area, explained Crystal Aylward, the department’s administrative assistant.

In many cases, the current fee schedule actually works out in the county’s favor, revenue-wise, Daley noted at the commissioners’ meeting. The flat-rate fee would actually save money for some customers, especially those who rarely used the department’s service, he told commissioners.

“The reality is, if we serve paperwork more than once, if we have to do a return trip twice, or a third trip, that’s added mileage billed to that individual that takes them beyond the $50.”