Calexico is Imperial County's second-largest city, with 38,633 people at the 2020 Census, and it sits directly on the international border across from Mexicali. Its population barely moved through mid-2025, by the Census Bureau's estimate. What a process server needs to know about Calexico starts with two facts: the court is in another city, and some of the people connected to a Calexico case may live on the other side of the line.
Calexico has no courthouse. The Imperial Superior Court lists three locations, and the one Calexico uses for civil, family and probate work is the El Centro Courthouse on West Main Street, about 8.4 miles north of Calexico's Census center point. We run Calexico requests from our Sacramento office, roughly 530 miles away, and a process server makes the attempts at the Calexico address.
Calexico cases are heard in El Centro
Local Rule 2.7 splits Imperial County into three venues, named for El Centro Main, El Centro Wake and Winterhaven. For a Calexico matter, the rule and the court's locations page point to these buildings:
- El Centro Courthouse, 939 West Main Street. All general and unlimited civil, family law, probate and appeal papers must be filed in its clerk's office. Limited civil cases, including evictions, are filed and heard there. Clerk's hours are 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, at (760) 482-2200.
- El Centro Criminal Courthouse, 650 Wake Avenue. Criminal cases only.
- Winterhaven Court, 2124 Winterhaven Drive. Small claims and traffic, open Tuesday through Thursday.
Attorneys filing for a Calexico client should know that e-filing is mandatory in Imperial County for represented parties. Local Rule 2.18 lists civil unlimited and limited, probate, family law, family support, small claims and adoptions. People without a lawyer are exempt and may file on paper at the counter. Our Imperial County court filing page explains how we file and then serve the filed papers.
Small claims: two counters, one practical choice
Small claims is the court Calexico residents are most likely to use on their own, for a deposit dispute, an unpaid loan or damage to a car. Local Rule 2.7(c) lets the plaintiff's claim be filed at the El Centro Courthouse or at Winterhaven Court, and Rule 2.3(e) says an appointed referee hears small claims at designated times in both places.
The choice is usually easy. Winterhaven is about 50 miles east of Calexico in a straight line, near the Arizona border, and the court lists its hours as Tuesday through Thursday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., with the office closed from 11:00 a.m. to noon and shut on Mondays and Fridays. The El Centro Courthouse is open every weekday. The court's Small Claim Info line is (760) 482-2238.
After the claim is filed, the defendant has to be served by someone other than the plaintiff. A defendant who lives in Imperial County must be served at least 15 days before the hearing, and one who lives in another county at least 20 days before (CCP § 116.340). The server then fills out form SC-104, which is filed before the hearing.
Free help at the Access Center
For people handling their own case, the court runs a Self-Help Access Center in the family law area of the El Centro Courthouse, 939 West Main Street, open Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. except court holidays. Its listed services include divorce, paternity, child support, spousal support, guardianship, conservatorship and requests for order.
The Access Center's weekly schedule sets aside time for small claims questions: 8:00 to 10:00 a.m. Monday through Thursday, and 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. on Fridays. Dissolution, guardianship and judgment workshops run on set days, in English and Spanish. The court asks visitors to bring copies of their court papers and, for support cases, pay stubs from the last 90 days and two years of tax returns. Only adults may enter, unless a minor is opening their own case.
The court is clear about the limits: staff give legal information, not legal advice, no attorney-client relationship forms, and the same staff may help the other party. Once the forms are filed, the other side still has to be served, and that's where we come in.
When the other side lives in Mexicali
Cases that start in Calexico sometimes involve a spouse, a tenant, a debtor or a parent who now lives in Mexico. A Service Request to Valpro Attorney Services covers addresses in California. If you can find the person at a California home or workplace, a server can make attempts there, and the usual California rules apply.
Service on someone living in Mexico is a separate process. The Hague Conference on Private International Law's status table shows that Mexico is a party to the 1965 Hague Service Convention, with the treaty in force there since June 1, 2000. How service in Mexico should be done in a particular case is a question for your attorney. General information, not legal advice.
What we can do is check whether the person has a current California address. Skip tracing looks for one, and our post on how to find a defendant in California explains what records can show.
Papers to serve in Calexico?
Sheriff or private server?
Imperial County's Sheriff serves civil process, along with restraining orders, writs, wage garnishments and evictions. Its Civil Division page sets out the terms:
- requests go in person to 328 Applestill Road, El Centro, or by mail to P.O. Box 1040, until an online portal opens
- office hours are 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, at (442) 265-2011
- original documents plus 2 copies are needed for each service
- fees are charged per person served, and exact change is required
- service can't be guaranteed, and deputies won't use surveillance, DMV records or criminal databases to find someone
A private process server is the other route. Any adult who isn't a party to the case can serve most civil papers, and our guide on who can serve papers in California explains the registration rules for paid servers. A private server can try early mornings, evenings or a workplace, and send attempt notes as they happen. Only the sheriff can carry out the final lockout in an eviction.
Most of 92231 lies outside the city
Calexico has one ZIP Code area, 92231. The Census Bureau's 2020 relationship file measures about 178 square kilometers of land in it, and only about 12.5% of that is Calexico city. The rest is unincorporated county land, with no other Census place inside.
An address in town is usually straightforward: give the unit or space number for apartments and mobile home parks, and mention a gate. An address outside town needs more help, since a house set back from a rural road may not show a number. Send cross streets or a map pin, describe the driveway, and tell us when the person is usually home. Remote areas are subject to different timelines.
Evictions from a Calexico rental
A Calexico landlord files an unlawful detainer as a limited civil case at the El Centro Courthouse; a landlord with an attorney files it electronically. The summons and complaint are then served on every tenant the papers name. A tenant who is personally served has 10 court days to file an answer. General information, not legal advice.
If the landlord wins, the court issues a judgment for possession and a writ of possession, and only then can the Sheriff act. Its civil page describes the steps: a sheriff's representative posts a Notice to Vacate at the property, the tenant gets a copy of the writ, an earliest enforcement date is set, and deputies restore possession if the tenant hasn't left by that date. The earlier steps, from the summons to any later notices, can be handled by a private server. For a rental in a fourplex or a mobile home park, give us the unit or space number and any gate code.
Family cases that start in Calexico
A divorce, custody or parentage case from Calexico is filed at the El Centro Courthouse, under Local Rule 2.7(d). The petition and summons must then be served on the other party. If you have the person's work schedule, a second address or a photo, include it; a parent who works irregular hours can take several tries to find at home.
A domestic violence restraining order is also filed at the El Centro Courthouse, and the restrained person must receive the temporary order and hearing notice from someone other than the protected party. The sheriff serves restraining orders, and so can a private server. Put the hearing date on the request so the attempts are planned around it.
Calexico businesses
To serve a corporation or LLC, look up its agent for service of process on the Secretary of State's bizfile Online and give us the name and address as listed. A small Calexico business may list the owner at a local address. A larger company may list a commercial agent in another county, in which case service goes to that agent rather than to the Calexico storefront. Our serving corporations page explains each option.
2027 changes to substituted service
From January 1, 2027, under AB 747, three good-faith attempts at personal delivery on 3 different days at 3 different times show reasonable diligence before papers are left with another adult at the home (CCP § 415.20(b)(2)). County clerks' registers of process servers also become public (Bus. & Prof. Code § 22355). See our AB 747 guide and the proof of service guide. We make no guarantees for service. General information, not legal advice.
Starting a Calexico Service Request
Open a Service Request and attach up to 5 PDFs. Name each person or business exactly as the papers do, give every California address you have with unit numbers and access notes, and say whether you need a filing at the El Centro Courthouse first. Choose Rush or Standard. The updates come to you by email. Questions go to 855-582-5776, Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., or Service@ValproAttorneyServices.com.
Near Calexico
El Centro, where the courthouse is, lies about 8 miles north. Holtville is 11.2 miles away and Imperial 11.6. Brawley is about 20 miles north. Our Imperial County page lists every city we serve in the county.