Clovis is an incorporated city on the northeast side of the Fresno area, with about 25.4 square miles of land in the Census Bureau's 2020 Gazetteer. We serve summonses and complaints, eviction papers, family law petitions, small claims and subpoenas at Clovis homes, apartments, offices and job sites, and in the unincorporated county that surrounds the city. Our Sacramento office is about 158 miles away, and Clovis requests are sent out from there.
Every Clovis case is filed in downtown Fresno. The court's locations page lists no courthouse in Clovis, so the useful question is which Fresno building, and which local rule, applies to your papers.
Which Fresno courthouse a Clovis case uses
Fresno County Superior Court splits its work by case type, not by city. These are the buildings a Clovis matter is most likely to need:
| Matter | Courthouse | Straight-line distance from Clovis |
|---|---|---|
| Limited and unlimited civil, evictions, small claims, family law, probate, restraining orders | B. F. Sisk Courthouse, 1130 O Street, Fresno | 8.4 miles |
| Felony and misdemeanor criminal, juvenile dependency | Downtown courthouse, 1100 Van Ness Avenue, Fresno | 8.7 miles |
| Juvenile delinquency | Juvenile Justice Court, 3333 East American Avenue, Suite A, Fresno | 11.7 miles |
The Sisk building is open 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on weekdays, but its clerk's office takes filings only from 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Monday through Thursday and until noon on Friday. A filing that has to land the same day it's served needs to reach the counter before 3:00 p.m., or before noon on a Friday. The family law clerk's phone is (559) 457-2100. Civil, small claims and eviction questions go to (559) 457-1900.
A Clovis civil case: the 60-day service rule
Fresno County expects quick service on new civil cases. Local Rule 2.1.5 has the plaintiff serve every named defendant with the pleadings and notices the rules require, including the Notice of Case Management Conference, and file the proof of service within 60 days of filing the complaint.
If service is going to run late, Rule 2.1.6 controls the request for more time:
- Timing. The motion or ex parte application must be filed before the original deadline expires.
- Form. The court offers a form at the Clerk's Office and on its website.
- Outcomes. The court may deny it, extend to a set date, or hold a hearing.
- Long delays. When the request rests on the conditions in CCP § 583.240, the plaintiff must state the earliest date service can reasonably be made, so the court can set new dates.
The statute behind all of this, CCP § 583.210, allows up to three years from filing to serve the summons and complaint and 60 days after that to file the proof. The local rule is much tighter, so plan around 60 days. When the 60 days are close, choose Rush on the Service Request and call 855-582-5776 so we see the date.
Clovis evictions under Fresno's local rules
Fresno's local rules move unlawful detainers fast. The court aims to finish 90% of eviction cases within 30 days of filing and all of them within 45 days, under Local Rule 2.9.1. The steps that touch service:
- Day 0. The landlord files at the Sisk courthouse.
- Within 15 days (Rule 2.9.3). Serve every named defendant and file the proof of service, or file an application for a posting order, unless a responsive pleading is already on file.
- About two weeks after filing (Rule 2.9.2). The clerk issues a Notice of Dismissal Hearing, set within 45 days of filing.
- Within 25 days (Rule 2.9.4). File a Request to Set Case for Trial, unless the case is resolved, settled or stayed.
How the tenant was served sets the answer deadline, according to the state court self-help page. Personal delivery gives 10 court days. Substituted service or posting gives 10 calendar days after the mailing, then 10 court days. A tenant served through Safe at Home gets 15 court days. Posting an eviction summons needs a court order under CCP § 415.45. Starting January 1, 2027, AB 747 adds that reasonable diligence before substituted service is shown by attempting personal delivery on at least three occasions, on three different days at three different times (CCP § 415.20(b)(2)). Our AB 747 guide explains it.
The court's eviction page lists a few more trial details. A party who wants a jury files an At Issue Memorandum, and the jury fee deposit is due five days before trial. Witnesses must be personally served with a subpoena. Exhibits go on form PCV-75. For a Clovis unit, send the summons, the complaint, the notice that ended the tenancy, the unit number and every adult occupant's name.
After the judgment: Sheriff enforcement in Clovis
Lockouts are done by the Fresno County Sheriff's Civil Unit, not by a private process server. The court's eviction page says the Sheriff serves a Notice to Vacate, and the tenant then has five days to move. The Sheriff's civil page adds these points for anyone holding a writ:
- Scheduling. Evictions are being scheduled about two to three weeks out from the time approved documents are received.
- Instructions. Every request needs a signed SER-001, or SER-001A for enforcement. Since January 1, 2026, the form must be completed before you arrive, and the Civil Unit no longer hands out the forms.
- Address declaration. Since January 1, 2025, a judgment creditor must give a declaration of address verification with a writ or levy paper, and since January 1, 2026 it must be on form WG-015/EJ-135.
- Mail. Send mail to the Civil Unit's own address. The page warns against PO Box 1788 and 2200 Fresno Street.
- Contact. The Civil Unit answers (559) 600-8230 on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
We serve the notice and the summons that come before a judgment. The writ itself goes to the Sheriff.
Papers to serve in Clovis?
Family law papers for a Clovis household
A Clovis divorce, legal separation or parentage case is filed at the Sisk courthouse. The family law page sets the residency test: one spouse must have lived in California for six months and in the filing county for three. When the spouses have lived in different California counties for the last three months, either county can be chosen.
The same page says you can't serve papers in your own case. Any adult who isn't a party may do it. For a parentage case, it says the respondent must be personally served, and that a respondent who files nothing within 30 days of service can be defaulted. The earliest a divorce can end is six months and one day after the respondent is served or responds, whichever comes first.
Short-notice family requests have their own rules. Fresno Local Rule 5.2.2 requires a declaration supporting an ex parte order to disclose any change to the status quo, and its first paragraph must state the exigent circumstances. For forms help, the Family Law Facilitator and Self-Help office at Sisk takes walk-ins Monday from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. and Tuesday and Wednesday from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., with phone and email help on Thursday and Friday at (559) 457-2143.
Small claims papers for a Clovis defendant
A Clovis small claims case is filed and heard at the Sisk courthouse, and Fresno Local Rule 2.10.2 decides what happens when service runs short. If no proof of service on the defendant is on file by the trial date, the case is not heard that day, and the court or clerk may reset it. With several defendants and proof filed for only some, the court may continue the trial under CCP § 116.570 or go ahead against the ones who were served, then reset the rest.
So the proof matters as much as the service itself. Give us the hearing date with the filed claim, and leave enough time for the proof of service to reach the clerk before trial. The court's eviction page lists Better Business Bureau mediation for landlord and tenant disputes in Room 104 of the Sisk building, (559) 457-2174, for parties who want to try settling first.
Ex parte hearings and tentative rulings
Fresno's civil ex parte rule sets two deadlines. Under Local Rule 2.7.1(B), the application, all supporting papers and fees reach the clerk by 2:00 p.m. on the day before a morning hearing, or by 9:00 a.m. the same day for an afternoon hearing. The hearing date comes from the law and motion clerk or the civil filing counter. If notice has to reach a Clovis party in person, send the papers to us as soon as the date is set.
Tentative rulings in civil law and motion are available by phone at (559) 457-4943 or on the court's website, under Local Rule 2.2.5. A party who wants oral argument gives notice by phone to the clerk of the department hearing the matter.
Clovis ZIP Code areas and the city line
Clovis addresses mostly fall in three ZIP Code areas, and they behave very differently. From the Census Bureau's 2020 relationship file:
| ZIP Code area | Land area | Share inside Clovis city limits |
|---|---|---|
| 93611 | About 10.3 sq mi | About 98% |
| 93612 | About 6.7 sq mi | Nearly all |
| 93619 | About 186.5 sq mi | About 4%, with about 95% outside any city |
So a 93619 address can be a street inside Clovis or a rural parcel far outside the city, under the County of Fresno. The Census file also shows small slivers of the City of Fresno inside all three areas, and small pieces of Clovis inside the 93626 and 93726 areas. For an address in the outer part of 93619, send the cross streets, a map pin, gate codes if you have them, and the best hours to find the person home. Census ZIP Code areas approximate postal ZIP Codes, so use the numbers as a guide.
Serving a Clovis business
Look up the company's agent for service of process on the Secretary of State's bizfile Online, and send us the name and address it lists. A Clovis shop or contractor may name its owner at a local address. A larger company often uses a commercial agent such as CSC or CT Corporation, and we can serve that office. Our serving corporations page covers each option, and skip tracing looks for a new address when a party has moved.
Sending Clovis papers
- Open a Service Request and attach up to 5 PDFs, including the Notice of Case Management Conference on a new civil case.
- Name each person or business exactly as the papers do.
- Give every address with unit numbers, gate details and cross streets.
- Choose Rush or Standard, and add a Fresno County court filing if papers also need to reach the Sisk counter.
Get every update by email, call 855-582-5776, or email Service@ValproAttorneyServices.com. Our proof of service guide explains what comes back to you. We make no guarantees for service.
Near Clovis
Fresno is 6.8 miles southwest and Sanger 11.4 miles southeast. Fowler is 14.1 miles away, Selma 18.2 and Reedley 20.7. For the rest of the county, see Fresno County.