Court fees and process server fees: what landlords still pay separately

Eviction court fees are the amounts the court, county, e-filing portal, constable or sheriff, and any process server charge to file, transmit, serve, and later execute an eviction — not the software fee that organizes the packet. In Texas, as of 2026, Justice of the Peace filing fees are commonly reported in the tens of dollars and writ-of-possession fees are commonly reported around $150–$200; those are public-source ranges, not a quote for your county. A document organizer that hides those lines inside one “all-in” price is not being transparent.

Eviction Wizard helps landlords organize eviction documents, submit through the court's e-filing system, request a process server, and track every deadline — in one dashboard. Eviction Wizard AI Partners, LLC is not a law firm and does not provide legal advice.

Key takeaways

• Court filing fees, e-filing service fees, citation-service fees, process-server invoices, and writ fees are paid to the court, portal, officer, or server — never folded into the $149 Document Organizer fee.
• Texas Justice of the Peace (JP) filing fees are commonly reported in the tens of dollars. Confirm the current figure with that court.
• A private process server delivers the pre-suit notice. The sheriff or constable serves the court citation. Those are two invoices.
• Writ-of-possession fees are commonly reported around $150–$200. Only law enforcement executes the writ. Self-help lockouts are illegal.
• A wrong-precinct filing under the 2026 Texas rules is dismissed, not transferred. A second filing means a second court fee.
• Build the case file free. Pay the organizer fee only when you file. Court and third-party amounts should appear as their own lines.

Contents

• What eviction court fees actually cover
• Texas JP filing fees as commonly reported
• E-filing service fees are not the court filing fee
• Process-server fees cover notice delivery, not citation
• Citation service and writ of possession fees
• How to line-item fees before you authorize filing
• How Eviction Wizard handles this
• Frequently asked questions
• Keep every invoice on its own line

What eviction court fees actually cover

Landlords searching eviction court fees often want one number next to unpaid rent. The court does not sell a single product called “eviction.” It charges to accept a sworn petition, issue process, and later — if the case reaches that stage — issue a writ of possession. An Electronic Filing Service Provider (EFSP) charges to transmit the envelope. A process server charges to deliver the notice. A constable or sheriff charges to serve the citation. An attorney, if hired, charges for advice or representation.

Those payees sit on different parts of the lifecycle: notice → deliver → notice period → file → citation → hearing → judgment → appeal → writ → possession. A fee at “file” does not prepay citation or the writ. Treating them as one blended number is how a $149 organizer fee gets mistaken for the whole case.

The cost of an eviction for landlords is that stack: lost rent, the organizer or attorney or service-company invoice, and every court and third-party line that still has to clear. This article is the ledger for those separate lines — not a county quote, and not an outcome promise.

Line item	Who you typically pay	What it buys	In the $149 fee?
Document Organizer	Eviction Wizard	Packet organization, templates, authorized e-file, tracking	Yes — $149 per case
JP / court filing fee	The court or county	Accepting the sworn petition	No
E-filing service fee	The EFSP / portal	Transmitting the envelope	No
Process server (notice)	The independent server	Notice delivery and proof of service	No
Citation / constable service	County or authorized officer	Serving the citation and petition	No
Writ of possession fee	The court and/or law enforcement	Issuing and executing the writ	No
Optional attorney	The attorney you hire	Completeness review or representation	No

Typical attorney eviction fees are often described in the $1,500–$3,000 range; some public comparisons cite $1,500–$5,000. Typical full-service eviction companies are often described around $475. Those are market observations on the Eviction Wizard site, not bids. Court and server amounts sit beside them, not inside them.

If a vendor says “one price covers filing,” ask which payee receives which dollar. PM software vs eviction tools is the same test: a subscription that “includes evictions” still sends the clerk’s dollar to the clerk. A checkout that cannot name those lines separately is a bundle, not a court quote.

Texas JP filing fees as commonly reported

Texas residential evictions are filed in the Justice of the Peace precinct where the property sits. The filing fee is the court’s charge to accept the suit. As of 2026, public sources commonly report that JP eviction filing fee in the tens of dollars. That is a reported range, not a statewide promise. Counties publish their own schedules; some add local charges or list filing and citation service on the same page. Read the schedule for the court that has venue, then confirm the amount before you pay.

Texas SB 38 (89th Legislature) applies to eviction suits filed on or after January 1, 2026. Under Texas Property Code §24.00505, the suit is initiated by a sworn petition. Paying a filing fee on an unsworn draft does not start the case the statute describes. Rule 510 of the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure is the specialized procedural rule. The fee buys a filing attempt. It does not swear the petition for you.

Venue is a fee issue. Section 24.0041 and Rule 510 require the JP precinct of the property. A filing in the wrong precinct is not cured by transfer. Materials on the 2026 rules describe dismissal, with a new filing required in the correct precinct. A dismissed envelope is a spent filing fee and, if you refile, a second one. A precinct helper that suggests a court “based on the information you provided” is a starting point, not a guarantee. Verify the precinct against the county map or the clerk before you authorize payment.

Tenant name, property address (unit included), rent amount, and lease dates should match the lease and the notice you already delivered. A fee paid on a petition that lists the wrong unit is not a finished filing. Call the court or read that precinct’s schedule. Do not guess from a blog table.

E-filing service fees are not the court filing fee

Court e-filing for eviction is the act of sending the sworn petition and exhibits into the court’s approved electronic channel. In Texas, the official statewide portal is eFileTexas. An EFSP sits between you and that portal. The EFSP’s convenience or service fee is a transmission charge. It is not the JP filing fee, and it is not the Document Organizer fee.

A typical conceptual path — without inventing unofficial screen labels — looks like this:

1. Use an account on a certified EFSP that connects to eFileTexas.
2. Open an envelope for the correct county and justice court.
3. Identify the matter as an eviction / forcible detainer using the court’s case types.
4. Attach the sworn petition and supporting documents in a format the court accepts (commonly PDF).
5. Pay the court’s filing fee and any e-filing service fee, unless you are filing a statement of inability to afford court costs under the applicable rules.
6. Submit and keep the confirmation.

Those steps are conceptual. Each EFSP designs its own screens. Follow the clerk or official help page for that court. Self-represented landlords are not in the same mandatory e-file bucket as attorneys in every justice court, but a growing set of courts tell the public to use eFileTexas. Paper windows still exist. Treat each county as a local filing.

An envelope can be rejected for a missing verification, a wrong court, a bad attachment, or an unpaid fee — and a rejected envelope can still generate a portal charge. Read the fee line before you click. Software that “submits through the court’s e-filing system” is arranging transmission at your direction. You remain the filer. You review, confirm, and authorize. The portal and the court still charge their own fees. If those two lines are missing from a checkout screen, the screen is incomplete.

Process-server fees cover notice delivery, not citation

A process server for eviction is the person you hire to deliver the notice, not the officer who later serves the citation. Mixing those jobs is how landlords pay a server and then discover the constable still has to be paid.

The notice comes first. Texas Property Code §24.005 requires written notice before many eviction suits. If the only issue is unpaid rent and it is the tenant’s first delinquency during the lease term, the statute requires a notice to pay rent or vacate before a standard notice to vacate. Later delinquencies may use either form. Check the lease. Consult a Texas attorney. This article does not choose a form for your case.

Who may deliver that notice is a landlord decision. You can deliver it yourself, or hire someone — including an independent process server. Section 24.005(f-3), as amended for suits filed on or after January 1, 2026, lists recognized methods: mail (first-class, registered, certified, or a delivery service); delivery to the inside of the premises in a conspicuous place; hand delivery to any tenant who is 16 or older; and electronic communication, including email, only if the parties agreed in writing. Sufficiency for your lease or hearing is a legal question. Eviction Wizard does not advise on it. Check the lease. Consult a Texas attorney.

The server’s invoice pays for acceptance, attempts, and a proof of service. Rates vary by county, mileage, rush, and attempts. This article will not invent a dollar range. Pay the server. Store the affidavit with the notice. Review that packet before you authorize filing.

Delivery starts a clock, not a citation. Section 24.0042 excludes the trigger day, counts weekends and holidays, and rolls a last-day weekend or holiday to the next business day. The default notice period is still three days unless the written lease sets a different period. Covered properties may still need a 30-day notice under the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act). A server hired on day one does not stop those clocks and does not replace the constable. Eviction Wizard’s process-server request is notice delivery: browse independent process servers and track notice delivery from acceptance to proof of service. It does not replace constable citation service. The server’s bill and the county’s citation-service bill should never share one unlabeled line.

Citation service and writ of possession fees

After you file the sworn petition, the court issues a citation telling the tenant a suit was filed. Who serves that paper is not your private-server choice on day one. Section 24.0051(f), as amended by Senate Bill 38 for suits filed on or after January 1, 2026, assigns a diligent-effort duty to the sheriff or constable, including a deputy: serve the citation and petition not later than the fifth business day after the petition is filed. That is a diligent-effort duty, not a guarantee of service by Friday. A later trained-officer fallback, if it applies, is still law enforcement. Ask a Texas attorney before you change who serves a citation.

Counties typically charge a citation-service fee, often on the same clerk schedule as the filing fee, sometimes per defendant. Confirm the current amount with that court. Combined filing-plus-service totals vary by county and by how many people must be served. This article will not invent a combined figure.

Writ fees are a later line. If you obtain a judgment and then request a writ of possession in Texas, public sources commonly report writ-related fees around $150–$200. That is a commonly reported range, not a quote. Section 24.0061 gives the sheriff or constable a fifth-business-day duty on the writ. Only law enforcement executes the writ. Self-help lockouts and utility shutoffs are illegal. Do not pay a notice process server as if they will put you back in possession. Appeals, if someone appeals, add their own court costs, a five-day window, and — under Senate Bill 38 — a sworn good-faith affirmation. Keep that high-level and take the paperwork to counsel.

Stage	Paper	Who serves or executes	Fee character (hedged)
Before filing	Notice to vacate or notice to pay rent or vacate	Landlord, or a hired process server	Server invoice, or $0 if you deliver and keep proof
After filing	Citation and petition	Sheriff or constable (or as later authorized)	County service fee; confirm the schedule
After judgment	Writ of possession	Law enforcement only	Commonly reported ~$150–$200; confirm the court

A notice affidavit does not prove citation service. A constable’s return does not prove you delivered the notice on time. A writ fee does not prepay either earlier line. See the 2026 Texas eviction law changes for the rest of the 2026 rule set.

How to line-item fees before you authorize filing

Build a fee worksheet from the case facts, not from a marketing total. Use the same field names you will put on the notice and the sworn petition.

1. Pull tenant name, property address, rent amount, and lease dates from the signed lease. If you uploaded the lease into a document tool, treat extraction as a draft. Edit every field, including the unit. Auto-fill is not a sworn statement and not a fee quote.
2. Identify the JP precinct for that property address, then verify it. If a helper suggests a court “based on the information you provided,” confirm it against the county precinct map or the clerk. Wrong precinct means dismissal and a second filing fee.
3. Write the Document Organizer fee as its own line: $149 per case. Founding members lock $149 for life. That line does not include court or third-party amounts.
4. Look up the current JP filing fee on that court’s schedule. Enter the posted number. Call the clerk if the schedule is silent. Do not paste “tens of dollars” onto a check.
5. Add the e-filing service fee the EFSP or portal lists for this envelope. Leave it blank only if you are filing on paper with no portal fee.
6. Decide whether you will hire a process server for the notice. If yes, get that server’s quote for this property address and this document. If you deliver it yourself, enter $0 and list the proof you will keep.
7. Add the citation-service fee from the clerk or constable schedule, including a per-defendant note if the court charges that way. Leave a later writ line using the commonly reported ~$150–$200 range only as a placeholder until the court posts the real figure.
8. If you want counsel, add the attorney’s fee separately. Optional packet review for completeness is not hearing representation. Typical attorney fees cited on the Eviction Wizard site are about $1,500–$3,000 (sometimes $1,500–$5,000).
9. Authorize filing only after you can see every line you are about to pay. You review, confirm, and authorize. You remain the filer. Count the notice period under §24.0042 first. Paying fees early does not shorten the statute.

How Eviction Wizard handles this

Eviction Wizard is a document organizer and transmission workflow, not a court clerk and not a law firm. The product follows the lifecycle the site names: notice → deliver → notice period → file → citation → hearing → judgment → appeal → writ → possession.

You upload a lease. The product may extract tenant name, property address, rent amount, and lease dates into the forms you selected, for your review. You enter the property address. The product helps identify the Texas precinct and JP court commonly associated with that location, including typical filing-fee information and e-filing portal links, framed as “based on the information you provided.” That helper is not a guarantee of venue or of the fee the clerk will charge. You still confirm the court and the schedule.

When the packet is ready, you submit documents to the court’s e-filing system through Eviction Wizard. Nothing transmits until you review, confirm, and authorize. You remain the filer. Court fees and third-party fees are separate, paid independently, and shown before you approve them. The $149 Document Organizer fee per case covers notice options populated for your review, a filing packet formatted from court form templates, authorized submission, and tracking through later stages. Founding members lock $149 for life. You can build the case file free and pay the organizer fee only when you file.

You can browse independent process servers and track notice delivery from acceptance to proof of service. That request does not replace the constable. You can browse an Attorney Directory of independent attorneys — not employees or agents — and optionally request a packet review for completeness. That review is not representation and not legal advice.

Launch is Texas first, county by county. Florida, Georgia, Arizona, and Nevada are next on the public roadmap, not live. Bulk filing, team seats, and portfolio guardrails are coming, not live. The product does not swear the petition, serve the citation, execute a writ, decide that a notice method was sufficient, or hide a clerk’s fee inside $149.

Frequently asked questions

Do eviction court fees include the $149 Document Organizer fee?

No. Eviction court fees are what the court, county, and related officers charge. The $149 Document Organizer fee is Eviction Wizard’s per-case charge for packet organization, authorized submission, and tracking. E-filing, process-server, citation, and writ fees stay on their own lines and appear before you approve them.

How much is the Texas JP eviction filing fee?

Public sources commonly report Texas JP eviction filing fees in the tens of dollars. That is a reported range, not a quote. Counties publish their own schedules, and some add local charges. Confirm the current amount with the justice court for the property’s precinct before you authorize payment. A blog table cannot replace that court’s page.

Does a process server serve the court citation in Texas?

Not as the default path. A process server you hire delivers the pre-suit notice. After you file, the sheriff or constable must make a diligent effort to serve the citation and petition by the fifth business day. A later trained-officer fallback, if it applies, is still law enforcement. Do not pay a private server as if they replaced the constable.

Are writ of possession fees included in the filing fee?

No. The filing fee opens the suit. A writ of possession is a later court paper, requested after judgment if you still need law enforcement to restore possession. Writ-related fees are commonly reported around $150–$200. Confirm the figure with that court. Only law enforcement executes the writ. Self-help lockouts are illegal.

When do I pay Eviction Wizard versus the court?

Build the case file free. The $149 Document Organizer fee is due when you file. Court filing fees, e-filing service fees, and third-party server or officer charges are due to those payees on their own schedules, and should appear before you approve them. You review, confirm, and authorize. You remain the filer.

Keep every invoice on its own line

Eviction court fees, e-filing charges, process-server invoices, citation service, and writ fees are the court’s and the third parties’ prices. The $149 Document Organizer fee is the price of a reviewed packet, an authorized transmission, and a deadline list. Texas JP filing fees are commonly reported in the tens of dollars; writ fees are commonly reported around $150–$200. Confirm both on the clerk’s current schedule. No honest software bundles those lines into one fake total.

To keep the organizer fee, the court fee, and every server or officer charge on separate lines you approve yourself, join the Eviction Wizard waitlist.