Contra Costa splits into three court regions, and the split decides where a small claims or eviction case goes. Civil, probate and family cases all sit in Martinez. We serve papers at any county address and file in person or through e-filing. Send a Service Request with up to 5 PDFs, email Service@ValproAttorneyServices.com, or call 855-582-5776, Mon–Fri 8:30 a.m.–5 p.m.
Martinez handles the big filings
Every limited and unlimited civil case is filed at the Wakefield Taylor Courthouse, 725 Court Street, Martinez, and unlimited cases are heard there. Limited civil cases, $35,000 or less, are heard elsewhere: the court's limited civil page says they were all reassigned to Department 14 in Richmond effective January 5, 2026, and its civil departments page places Department 14 at the George D. Carroll Courthouse. Probate, guardianship and conservatorship matters, elder abuse cases and most appeals stay at Wakefield Taylor. Its clerk windows run 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., the phones 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., and anything left in the drop box between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. counts as filed that day.
Family law has its own building a few blocks away, the Spinetta Family Law Center at 751 Pine Street. Divorce, custody, support, adoptions and domestic violence restraining requests for the whole county are filed there. The court encourages filing by drop box or mail. Mailed papers need a self-addressed stamped envelope for the return copies.
Juvenile papers go only to the Walnut Creek Juvenile and Traffic Center at 640 Ygnacio Valley Road. That building takes no civil filings.
Three regions for small claims and evictions
For small claims and unlawful detainer cases, the court says to file in the courthouse serving the city where the dispute started. Its ZIP Code table on the Where to File page does the sorting:
- East County goes to the Richard E. Arnason Justice Center, 1000 Center Drive, Pittsburg: Antioch, Brentwood, Oakley, Pittsburg, Bay Point, Bethel Island, Byron, Discovery Bay and Knightsen.
- West County goes to the George D. Carroll Courthouse, 100 37th Street, Richmond, with its entrance around the corner off Bissell Avenue: Richmond, El Cerrito, San Pablo, Pinole, Hercules, Rodeo, Crockett, El Sobrante, Kensington and North Richmond.
- Central county goes to Wakefield Taylor in Martinez: Concord, Walnut Creek, Lafayette, Pleasant Hill, Clayton, Danville, San Ramon, Orinda, Moraga, Alamo and Pacheco.
One edge case: the ZIP table assigns Port Costa (94569) to Martinez, while the Richmond courthouse page lists Port Costa among the communities it serves. If your dispute started there, confirm with the clerk at (925) 608-1000 before filing.
Small claims limits are $12,500 for an individual or sole proprietor and $6,250 for a corporation, LLC or partnership, per the court's small claims page.
Limited civil forms at the Richmond counter
The Where to File page lists Martinez for civil filings, but the court's George D. Carroll Courthouse page lets parties in limited jurisdiction cases drop forms off in Richmond when the next hearing or filing deadline is at least 3 court days away. With less time than that, the papers go to Room 103 at Wakefield Taylor, 725 Court Street. Source: the court's George D. Carroll Courthouse page, checked October 29, 2026.
Papers to serve in Contra Costa County?
E-filing and electronic service
Local Rule 2.87 makes electronic filing and service mandatory for represented parties in the case types the court designates. Represented parties have to accept electronic service as well as file that way. The court's e-filing page lists the mandatory dates: July 5, 2022 for unlimited, limited and complex civil, unlawful detainer, small claims and family law, and July 13, 2022 for appeals. Self-represented litigants are exempt but may opt in. Criminal and juvenile e-filing is optional.
A party can ask to be excused on Judicial Council form EFS-007. General information, not legal advice; read the rule and the court's current e-filing page for your case type. Our Contra Costa court filing service handles both paper and electronic submissions, and the California e-filing post explains how electronic filing service providers fit in.
Getting around the county
Contra Costa had 1,165,927 residents in the 2020 Census. Concord, Richmond and Antioch each passed 115,000. Distance from our Sacramento office runs from about 44 miles straight-line at Oakley to about 65 at Richmond, so East County is usually the shortest trip and the West County shoreline the longest.
The Delta side is where addresses get hard. Bethel Island, Discovery Bay, Byron and Knightsen mix levee roads, marinas, farm parcels and gated streets. Remote areas are subject to different timelines. A boat slip number, a gate code or a note that the person works days in the Bay Area can save an attempt.
Plenty of the county has no city government. El Sobrante, Rodeo, Crockett, Knightsen and Port Costa are Census-designated places, and the court's ZIP table also names unincorporated areas like Alamo, Blackhawk, Diablo, Kensington, North Richmond and Bay Point. Give us the street address and ZIP exactly as the person uses it, and we treat it like any city address.
When the address is wrong or the defendant is a company
A home address alone often means early-morning or evening attempts when the person works elsewhere. List a workplace if you have one. When the person has moved, skip tracing can look for a current address before the next attempt, and our post on finding a defendant in California covers what helps.
For a corporation or LLC, look up its agent for service of process on the Secretary of State's bizfile Online search first. Our serving corporations page covers the options.
Sending a Contra Costa request
Upload up to 5 PDFs on the Service Request, list each address, and say in the Letter of Instruction which region the case belongs to if you also want us to file. You'll get a confirmation email, and every update comes in that thread. When service is done, we return a proof of service you can file.
Rules on contested service change on January 1, 2027. Our AB 747 guide explains what a defendant can now challenge. For papers that cross county lines, see our hubs for Alameda County, Solano County and San Joaquin County.