Fullerton counted 143,617 residents at the 2020 Census, and the Census Bureau's estimate for July 2025 is 138,675. It sits in the north end of Orange County, near Anaheim, Brea, Placentia, La Habra and Buena Park, with the Los Angeles County line a few miles away. We serve summonses and complaints, civil and criminal subpoenas, small claims, restraining orders, family law papers and eviction documents on people and companies anywhere in the city.
Fullerton requests are handled from our Sacramento office, about 382 miles north, and the attempts are made at the Fullerton address you give us. You upload the papers, and every update from the first attempt to the signed proof comes by email.
A courthouse in town that doesn't take civil filings
Fullerton is one of the few Orange County cities with a justice center inside its limits. The North Justice Center at 1275 North Berkeley Avenue is about a third of a mile from the city's Census center point. People reasonably assume it's where a Fullerton lawsuit belongs. It isn't.
The court's own page for the building describes it as handling traffic, minor offenses and criminal matters, "as well as some civil proceedings." Its hours table lists civil as "Central Justice Center only," and the civil division's mailing address is 700 Civic Center Drive West, Santa Ana. The building serves eight cities for criminal and traffic work: Anaheim, Brea, Buena Park, Fullerton, La Habra, La Palma, Placentia and Yorba Linda.
So a small claims form, an eviction complaint or a civil summons walked into the Berkeley Avenue lobby is in the wrong place. The building is also a full security facility. Everyone passes a weapons screen and has bags x-rayed, and the court's list of banned items includes pocketknives, scissors and pepper spray. Budget time for the line if you're going in for a criminal or traffic hearing. The same page lists a self-help center in the building, open Monday through Thursday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Friday until 3 p.m., and a main number of (657) 622-5600.
Where each kind of Fullerton case goes
The Court Designation List, effective June 30, 2025 under Local Rule 365, assigns every Orange County city to a set of justice centers by case type. Fullerton's row reads like this:
| Fullerton matter | Courthouse | Straight-line miles from central Fullerton |
|---|---|---|
| Limited and unlimited civil | Central Justice Center, Santa Ana | 9.8 |
| Small claims | Central Justice Center (all filings processed there) | 9.8 |
| Unlawful detainer and civil harassment | Central Justice Center | 9.8 |
| Complex civil | Civil Complex Center, 751 W. Santa Ana Blvd. | about 10 |
| Family law and domestic violence | Lamoreaux Justice Center, Orange | 7.3 |
| Probate, mental health, elder abuse restraining orders | Costa Mesa Justice Complex | 13.2 |
| Criminal and traffic | North Justice Center, Fullerton | 0.3 |
Distances run from the Census Bureau's internal point for Fullerton to the coordinates on each courthouse page. Assignments come from the designation list, checked October 2026.
The list also says civil and probate actions must be e-filed. In practice, that means attorneys. The court's civil filing page says self-represented filers may file in person at the Civil Clerk's Division on the first floor of the Central Justice Center, Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. If you'd rather not make that drive, our Orange County court filing service can file the case and then serve it on the same request.
Subpoenas for hearings at the North Justice Center
Because the Fullerton building is criminal and traffic only, most of what we serve for it is witness subpoenas. A witness for a hearing there might live in any of the eight cities the building serves, or out of the county entirely.
A subpoena has a date and a department on it, and that date drives everything. What helps us get it to the witness in time:
- The issued subpoena as a PDF, with the case number and the department visible.
- Where the witness can be found on a weekday. Home is fine, but a workplace name and shift often gets it done sooner.
- Any phone number you have. We don't call to warn people, but a number helps confirm we're at the right door.
- Whether a records custodian is involved. A business-records subpoena goes to a company's custodian, and we need the company's legal name and location.
Our post on how to serve a subpoena in California covers the basics for civil and criminal cases. If the hearing is less than a week away, choose Rush and say so in the Letter of Instruction.
Limited, unlimited and small claims: the dollar lines
The court's civil filing page sets the categories. A dispute of $35,000 or less is a limited civil case, and the court gives landlord-tenant disputes and collections as typical examples. Over $35,000, or a case with no money at stake, such as quiet title or a writ of mandate, is unlimited. Small claims covers $12,500 or less, and a person owed more can give up the difference to stay in small claims.
For a Fullerton case, all three end up at the same Santa Ana building, so the category changes the forms and the rules more than the trip. It also changes service timing. A limited or unlimited summons gives the defendant 30 days to respond once served. A small claims defendant has to be served at least 15 days before the hearing if they live in Orange County, or 20 days if they live elsewhere (CCP § 116.340).
One wrinkle on the civil page is worth knowing. Requests for civil harassment, gun violence, postsecondary school violence or workplace violence restraining orders are unlimited cases, but they're heard in limited civil courtrooms. For a Fullerton petitioner, that's still Santa Ana. The temporary order and the hearing notice then have to be handed to the restrained person before the hearing date, and our server signs the proof of personal service.
Papers to serve in Fullerton?
Four ZIP Code areas, and Fullerton land under other ZIPs
The Census Bureau's 2020 relationship file ties four ZIP Code areas to Fullerton, and the city covers nearly all of each:
- 92831: entirely inside Fullerton.
- 92832: entirely inside Fullerton, including the blocks around the North Justice Center.
- 92833: about 99.6% Fullerton, with small slivers in Anaheim and Buena Park.
- 92835: about 99.4% Fullerton, with slivers in Brea and La Habra.
The reverse also happens. Small pieces of Fullerton city land fall inside ZIP Code areas that belong mostly to neighbors: 90621 (Buena Park), 90631 (La Habra), 92801 and 92806 (Anaheim) and 92821 (Brea). An address with a neighboring city's name can be inside Fullerton limits, and the other way around. For service it changes nothing, since we go to the street address on the papers. It matters when a pleading or a city ordinance turns on which city a property is in. Census ZIP Code areas approximate postal ZIP Codes.
What to tell us about a Fullerton address
Fullerton addresses range from single-family houses to apartment complexes and storefronts, and each needs different details. A short Letter of Instruction saves attempts:
- Apartments: the building letter or number as well as the unit, and whether a gate or leasing office controls entry.
- Houses: a side gate, a dog, or a second unit at the back of the lot.
- Shared homes: a description or photo of the person, since several adults may answer the door.
- Workplaces: the employer, the person's hours and the entrance staff use.
- History: anything a friend, a prior server or the client already learned at the address.
From January 1, 2027, AB 747 changes what counts as diligence before papers are left with another adult. Good-faith attempts at personal delivery on at least 3 occasions, on 3 different days at 3 different times, show reasonable diligence under CCP § 415.20(b)(2). Our AB 747 guide explains the rest, and proof of service in California shows what the signed form contains. We make no guarantees for service.
Evictions for Fullerton rentals
A landlord with a Fullerton unit files the unlawful detainer at the Central Justice Center, and the case is heard there. What comes back to us is the summons, the complaint and usually the notice that started it.
Send every adult occupant's name, the unit and gate details, and the dates the notice was served. A tenant who is handed the summons has 10 court days to file an answer, according to the state court self-help page. If the papers are left with another adult or posted, the clock runs from the mailing instead. Posting an eviction summons after attempts fail is covered by CCP § 415.45, and from January 1, 2027, the same three-attempt pattern shows diligence there too (CCP § 415.45(d)(1)).
Serving the City of Fullerton or another public agency
A summons against a city, a school district or another public entity is delivered to its clerk, secretary, president, presiding officer or other head of its governing body (CCP § 416.50). For the City of Fullerton, that usually means the City Clerk's office at City Hall. Confirm the entity's exact legal name and the right recipient with your attorney before the papers go out, and send us that name. A government claim, which often has to come before a lawsuit against a public entity, is a separate step with its own deadline.
Serving a Fullerton business
Corporations and LLCs are served through the agent for service of process they list with the Secretary of State. Search bizfile Online, copy the agent's name and address exactly, and send it with the papers. A Fullerton shop may list its owner at a home address. A larger company usually lists a commercial agent such as CSC or CT Corporation. Our serving corporations page covers officers who can accept and companies formed out of state.
If the person or company has moved on, skip tracing can look for a current address before the server goes back out.
Getting Fullerton papers to us
Use the Service Request form. Attach up to 5 PDFs, name each person or entity exactly as the papers do, add every address with unit numbers, and pick Rush or Standard. The updates come to you by email. You can also call 855-582-5776 or email Service@ValproAttorneyServices.com.
Cities next to Fullerton
La Habra is 3.2 miles away and Placentia 4.2. Brea is 4.5 miles, La Mirada, across the line in Los Angeles County, 4.8, and Buena Park 5. Anaheim shares a border and the same Santa Ana courthouses. The rest of the county is on our Orange County page.