Each officer serving any process shall endorse thereon the items of his fees, with the number of miles traveled by him. If any officer demands and receives on any civil process more than his legal fees, he shall pay threefold the amount of all the fees demanded to the defendant in the action in which the illegal fees were exacted, if such fees have been paid by the defendant, otherwise to the plaintiff in such action. The provisions of this section shall not apply to any case in which the fees claimed to be illegal have been taxed and allowed by the proper authority.