Process Server in Dixon, California

Dixon is an incorporated city in Solano County, with 18,988 residents in the 2020 Census and an estimated 21,116 on July 1, 2025. We serve summonses and complaints, small claims, eviction papers, subpoenas, family law petitions and restraining order papers at Dixon homes, ranches and businesses. When a case still has to be opened, we can file it with the Solano County court in Fairfield first.

Dixon requests are handled from our Sacramento office, about 21 miles east of the city in a straight line. Upload the papers on a Service Request, email Service@ValproAttorneyServices.com, or call 855-582-5776.

Where a Dixon case is filed

Dixon has no courthouse. The Superior Court of California, County of Solano lists four buildings on its locations page: three in downtown Fairfield and the Solano Justice Building in Vallejo. For the case types we see most from Dixon, the court's own pages point to Fairfield:

The Old Solano Courthouse building is open 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on weekdays. Its civil and small claims clerk takes walk-ins from 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. and answers the phone at (707) 207-7330 from 8:00 a.m. to noon and 1:00 to 3:00 p.m. Appointments with the clerk's office can be booked online.

From central Dixon, the Fairfield courthouses are about 18 miles southwest in a straight line. That's a long round trip for one filing, which is why many Dixon filers e-file or have the papers taken in for them. Our Solano County court filing service covers both.

A Dixon mailing address can be in Yolo County

Most of the land that uses a Dixon mailing address isn't in Dixon. The Census Bureau's 2020 relationship files measure the 95620 ZIP Code area at about 241 square miles of land. Dixon's city limits take up about 7 of those, roughly 3%. The rest is unincorporated land:

The same file shows 95620 touching small pieces of two other cities: about half a square mile inside West Sacramento, which is in Yolo County, and a sliver too small to matter inside Vacaville.

So "Dixon, CA 95620" doesn't settle the county. A house on the Yolo side is a Yolo County address, and a case that has to be filed where the defendant lives goes to the Yolo Superior Court at 1000 Main Street in Woodland, about 16 miles north of central Dixon. Its phone and window hours are 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. on weekdays, and its civil, probate, small claims and family line is (530) 406-6704. For a Yolo case, use our Yolo County court filing page.

Service itself doesn't care which county the house is in. We serve at the street address on either side of the line, for a case filed anywhere in California. ZIP Code areas are Census approximations of postal ZIP Codes, so for a rural parcel the assessor's record is the better test.

Small claims: start with the right county

The Solano court's small claims instructions are blunt about filing location. A claim filed in the wrong judicial district is dismissed unless every party shows up at the hearing and agrees to have it heard there, and the judge approves. The proper place can be:

• where the defendant lives, or where a business defendant has its principal place of business
• where the person or property was injured or damaged
• where the contract was signed or breached
• for a vehicle retail installment contract, where the buyer lived when signing

For a Dixon dispute, that list can point to Solano or Yolo depending on where the other side lives and where things happened. Sort it out before you pay the filing fee.

Once the claim is filed in Solano, the clock runs from the hearing date. The court counts back 15 days for personal service on a defendant inside Solano County and 20 days outside it, and adds 10 days for substituted service. A Dixon defendant who has moved to Davis or Woodland is out of county, so the longer deadline applies. For substituted service, the first copy is left with an adult at the defendant's home or business, or at a usual mailing address that isn't a U.S. Postal Service box, and a second copy follows by regular mail, not certified. The plaintiff can't serve the claim personally, and the proof of service goes back to the clerk at least five days before the hearing. If the claim is against a government agency, the same page says a formal claim with the agency comes first, generally within six months of the incident.

E-filing a Dixon civil case under Local Rule 20

Since January 2, 2025, Solano Local Rule 20 has made e-filing mandatory for attorneys in civil, family and probate cases. Self-represented parties and non-parties are exempt, though the court encourages them to e-file, and they can still file by mail or in person. Filings go through an electronic filing service provider; the court posts its list as a PDF on the e-filing page.

The court's e-filing FAQ answers the questions a Dixon paralegal usually asks:

1. Deadline. A document received between 12:00 a.m. and 11:59:59 p.m. on a court day is filed that day. One received on a weekend or holiday is filed the next court day.
2. Format. PDF, and text-searchable under California Rules of Court, rule 2.256(b)(3).
3. Exhibits. Civil and discovery motions with exhibits need electronic bookmarks to the first page of each exhibit, under rule 3.1110(f).
4. One stamp, one document. Anything that needs its own file stamp is its own lead document with its own event code.
5. Proposed orders. A document that needs a judge's signature is filed as its own lead document, separate from any cover letter.

E-filing doesn't serve anyone. The accepted filing comes back with a link to a file-stamped copy, and that endorsed summons and complaint is what we take to the Dixon address. Local Rule 20 also keeps paper service where a statute or rule requires personal service, and ex parte applications are excluded from mandatory e-filing.

After filing: one judge, tentative rulings and the mediation center

The civil division assigns each case to one judge for all purposes when the complaint is filed, so a Dixon case stays in front of the same judge unless it's reassigned. A few phone lines on the court's civil page are worth saving:

• Tentative rulings: (707) 207-7331, after 2:00 p.m. on the day before the hearing
• Law and motion clerk: (707) 207-7332
• Mediation center: (707) 207-7413
• Civil and small claims email: civildivision@solano.courts.ca.gov

Clerks can't give legal advice. The court points self-represented filers to the Solano County Law Library on the third floor of the Hall of Justice, and to the advisors listed on its legal help page.

Suing or serving the City of Dixon

A case against the city, or a subpoena for one of its departments, goes to City Hall. Under CCP § 416.50, a summons on a public entity is delivered to its clerk, secretary, president, presiding officer or other head of its governing body. The city's website lists City Hall at 600 East A Street, Dixon, CA 95620, phone 707-678-7000.

Mind the schedule. City Hall is open Monday through Thursday, 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., and every other Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. It's closed on the alternate Fridays. Name the office or official on your Service Request so the server asks for the right person. Claims against a city have their own filing deadlines, so check those with your attorney before the lawsuit. This is general information, not legal advice.

Family law papers for Dixon households

A Dixon divorce, custody, support or domestic violence case is filed with the Family Law Division at the Hall of Justice in Fairfield. Its clerk is at (707) 207-7340, with walk-in hours of 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. The division's page says ex parte applications and domestic violence restraining order requests have to be complete and ready to submit before noon each day.

Service starts an important clock. The same page notes that a marriage can end no sooner than six months and one day after the respondent is served with the summons and petition. Send us the filed petition, the summons and any blank response forms, and tell us if the respondent works shifts or lives with a new partner. Our proof of service guide explains which form comes back to you.

What to send for a Dixon Service Request

Upload up to 5 PDFs on the Service Request and add:

1. The county. If the address is outside town, tell us whether it's on the Solano or Yolo side, if you know.
2. Directions. Road names, a gate, the house set back from the road, a shared driveway or an outbuilding used as an office.
3. Work. An employer and shift, especially for someone who commutes out of town.
4. The deadline. The hearing date, or the last day for service in your case.
5. Other adults at the address. A spouse, an adult child or a roommate who answers the door matters if substituted service becomes an option.

Choose Rush or Standard, then get status updates by email. If the person turns out to have moved, skip tracing can look for a newer address. To serve a company, check its agent for service of process first; our serving corporations page explains how. From 2027, AB 747 changes how attempts are documented; see our AB 747 guide. We make no guarantees for service.

Places near Dixon

Straight-line distances from central Dixon:

• Elmira, 8 miles, also in Solano County
• Davis, 8.8 miles, in Yolo County
• Vacaville, 9.9 miles
• Winters, 10.1 miles, in Yolo County
• Travis Air Force Base, 13.7 miles

Every community in the county is on our Solano County process server page.

Start a Service Request or call 855-582-5776.