This return has three defects. Find them.

Online orientation and continuing education for Texas process servers, built around the documents you file. Each of these defects could get a default judgment set aside. Tap the words you think are wrong.

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CAUSE NO. 2026-CV-04417

RETURN OF SERVICE

Came to hand on the 3rd day of March, 2026, at 9:40 o’clock a.m.

Executed on the 5th day of March, 2026, at 6:22 o’clock p.m., by delivering to Dean Holloway, personally, a true copy of the Citation, with the date of delivery endorsed thereon, together with a copy of Plaintiff’s Original Petition, at 1412 Oak Street, Temple, Bell County, Texas 76501.

I am a person over eighteen (18) years of age and I am competent to make this affidavit. I am a resident of the State of Texas. I am familiar with the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure as they apply to service of process. I am not a party to this suit nor related or affiliated with any herein, and have no interest in the outcome of the suit. I have never been convicted of a felony or of a misdemeanor involving moral turpitude. I have personal knowledge of the facts stated herein and they are true and correct.

My name is Ruth A. Delgado, my date of birth is April 12, 1981, and my address is 815 Mesquite Trail, Belton, Texas 76513. I declare under penalty of perjury that the foregoing is true and correct.

Ruth A. DelgadoCertification Number: PSC-00000Certification Expiration: 03/31/2027

Sample document. The names and case are fictional.

Opening soon. Courses will be offered only after approval by the Judicial Branch Certification Commission.

New Requirement

The Commission now requires proof you may work in the United States

Since October 1, 2026, every initial application and every renewal requires documents showing you are authorised to work lawfully in the United States, uploaded to a secure Commission site. A US passport on its own is enough; so is a driver licence together with a Social Security card. Without it an application is not approved and a renewal is not granted.

Read the Commission’s guidanceUpload your documents

Pick the course you need.

Getting certified, renewing, or just need your ethics hours.

Initial Certification

7 hours (planned)

$129

Texas Process Server Orientation

Everything a new server needs, from the first knock on the door to filing the return, with demonstrations of the situations you’ll face in your first month.

Course Details
Renewal Certification

8 hours, including ethics (planned)

$109

Texas Civil Process: Statutes, Rules and Ethics

For working servers who already know the job. Real court orders and returns taken apart line by line, the rule changes since you certified, and the mistakes that get default judgments set aside.

Course Details
Ethics Only

2 hours, all ethics (planned)

$35

Ethics for Texas Process Servers

The Code of Ethics and the Sanction Matrix, provision by provision, and exactly where the line falls between an honest mistake and a career-ending one.

Course Details

Course lengths are planned and subject to approval.

How It Works

From enrollment to certificate, entirely online.

  1. Enroll and Verify

    Pick your course, pay, and confirm your identity once. It takes about five minutes.

  2. Work at Your Own Pace

    Modules unlock in order. Each page shows a countdown, and the clock pauses when you step away.

  3. Pass Each Module Quiz

    Score 70% to move on. Retakes are unlimited, with new questions every time.

  4. Download Your Certificate

    It’s ready the moment you finish, with your program number and hours on it.

Certificate of Completion

Your Name Here

Texas Civil Process: Statutes, Rules and Ethics

8 hours, including ethics

Ryan CrumleyRyan Crumley, Owner
Caprock Legal Education
JBCC Program NumberIssued on approval
Your completion dateDate of Completion
Your certificate carries everything the Commission requires, including the program number and your hours.

Fifteen ways a return fails.

Every one is a real mistake servers make, and every one is covered in the courses.

1

personally delivered

Describes who delivered it. The rule asks who received it.
2

Came to hand: ________

The date and hour you received process is a required element.
3

service by refusal

A label, not a description. Say what you did.
4

left at the residence

A residence is a building. The standard is a person’s immediate presence.
5

left with an adult occupant

Unnamed recipients can’t be evaluated by the court.
6

appeared to be over sixteen

Your return swears to the age. Ask it. Never estimate it.
7

a copy was also mailed

Passive voice hides who acted, and one server must perform every ordered method.
8

Maria Gonzalez, Registered Agent

Registered agent of what? The defendant entity is never named.
9

delivered to CT Corporation

You can’t hand papers to a company. Name the employee.
10

the agent was unavailable

Secretary of State service needs the predicate proved, not asserted.
11

numerous diligent attempts

Diligence is a conclusion the court reaches from your facts.
12

neighbors have confirmed

Hearsay adopted as fact. Attribute it: “a neighbor told me.”
13

USPS tracking confirms delivery

Rule 107(c) requires the return receipt with the addressee’s signature.
14

posted at the address

Front door? Gate? The order said where. So must the return.
15

Amended Return of Service

Amendment needs the court’s permission. Re-service is usually better.

1–3 of 15

Meet the Instructor

Ryan Crumley

A certified Texas process server who started on the other side of the counter, issuing the papers servers carry.

  1. 2008

    District Clerk’s Office

    Responsible for issuing citations, protective orders, temporary restraining orders, and other process for service.

  2. 2016

    Serving Process

    Serving in district, county, and justice courts across Lubbock County and the surrounding area.

  3. Today

    Caprock Legal Education

    Teaching the rules from both sides: the office that issues process and the server who delivers it.

Certification
JBCC, PSC 12306
Courts
District, County, and Justice
Based In
Lubbock County, Texas
Satellite Office
Childress, Texas
Membership
National Association of Professional Process Servers (NAPPS)
Training
Has Trained Other Process Servers

Every course is built around the documents servers actually handle, and the standards those documents must meet.

See the teaching before you buy.

One real page from the course, with a working knowledge check. No sign-up, no email.

Look Inside a LessonWhich course do I need?

What you're buying.

Written from the rules themselves, and checked against the current text.

0Pages of instruction
0Knowledge checks
0Exam questions, each explained
0Decision flowcharts

Can you serve this?

Three documents land in your stack on the same morning. Rule 103 says you may serve one of them.

CITATION

THE STATE OF TEXAS

TO: TRAVIS K. WHITFIELD, Defendant —

You have been sued. You may employ an attorney.

…you are hereby commanded to appear by filing a written answer…

An ordinary citation in a suit on a debt.

Can a certified process server serve this?

0 of 3 rightTry all three. One of them catches nearly everyone.

Deliver the papers correctly, and tell the truth about it.

The whole job, in one sentence. The courses are the rest of it.

Be first when enrollment opens.

One email the day the courses are approved and open. While you wait, look inside a lesson.

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