King City is an incorporated city in the southern Salinas Valley, along U.S. 101 in Monterey County, with about 3.8 square miles of land. The 2020 Census counted 13,332 residents, and the Census Bureau's July 2025 estimate is 14,002. Valpro Attorney Services serves summonses, complaints, subpoenas, family law papers, restraining orders and eviction documents in King City and on the ranch and farm land around it.
King City requests are handled from our Sacramento office, about 167 miles north. The Service Request carries the documents, so the server can start without a hand-off.
A courthouse in town with a short list of jobs
The court's King City Courthouse is at 250 Franciscan Way, in Courtroom 18. Its page lists what it serves:
- traffic payments and filings
- traffic arraignments
- family filings
- restraining order filings
- small claims filings
- self-help services
- child support calendars
That list matters more than the building. A King City resident can start a family case or ask for a restraining order here, and can file a small claims case here. A civil lawsuit, an eviction or a probate petition can't be started here at all.
The schedule is limited too. The court posts no general clerk hours for King City, and the phone number on its page, (831) 883-5300, is the same line the court lists for the Marina Courthouse. The Self-Help Center is open Tuesdays from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., closed noon to 12:30. The traffic counter and a pre-set arraignment calendar run on the second Tuesday of each month. Local Rule 19.12 puts it plainly: the King City courthouse accepts filings in person on the days it's open to the public.
For a filing deadline, that means calling the court first. We don't plan a King City counter run around an assumed open day.
What goes to the Monterey Courthouse instead
Monterey County runs its civil work from one building on the Peninsula. Local Rule 2.2 says probate, guardianship and conservatorship proceedings, and all civil proceedings, including family law, harassment, domestic violence, child support, paternity, adoption and small claims, are commenced in the Monterey Division. Local Rule 6.2 places the civil division at 1200 Aguajito Road, Monterey, with jurisdiction over civil cases of any amount.
From King City, the Monterey Courthouse is about 49 miles northwest in a straight line from the Census Bureau's internal point for the city.
| King City matter | Where it can be filed | Where it's heard |
|---|---|---|
| Civil, any amount | Monterey Courthouse or e-filing | Monterey |
| Unlawful detainer | Monterey Courthouse or e-filing | Monterey |
| Probate, guardianship, conservatorship | Monterey Courthouse or e-filing | Monterey, Dept. 13 |
| Family law | King City on open days, Monterey or e-filing | Monterey, Depts. 16–17 |
| Restraining orders | King City on open days, Monterey or e-filing | Monterey |
| Small claims | King City on open days, Monterey or e-filing | Marina, Dept. 20 |
| Child support (DCSS) | Monterey or e-filing | King City or Marina calendars |
| Traffic | King City (second Tuesday) or Marina | King City or Marina |
Sources: the court's King City, Monterey, small claims and traffic pages and Local Rules 2.2, 6.2 and 19.12, checked October 2026.
Attorneys don't need the counter at all for most of this. Local Rule 1.7 requires e-filing in every case type except appellate division cases; self-represented parties may e-file but aren't required to. Our Monterey County court filing service files electronically or in person and passes the endorsed copies straight to the server.
Small claims: file in town, argue in Marina
The small claims process is split across three places for a King City resident. The claim can be filed at the King City Courthouse on an open day, at the Monterey Courthouse, or by e-filing, which the court encourages. Trials are all in Department 20 at the Marina Courthouse, Thursdays at 8:30 a.m. or 1:30 p.m. The filing party can ask the processing clerk for the morning or afternoon calendar, and the court asks parties to arrive 15 minutes early.
Marina is roughly as far from King City as Monterey is, about 49 miles. Build that drive into the trial-day plan, and give us the trial date with the claim so the defendant is served with time to spare. The court's limit for an individual's claim is $12,500.
Evictions from King City rentals
A King City unlawful detainer is filed at the Monterey Courthouse or e-filed. The court has a free mediation program for eviction and small claims cases, run with the Monterey College of Law and the Mandell-Gisnet Center, but only when both sides are self-represented. Requests go to the ADR coordinator at 831-582-4095 or courtadr@mandellgisnetcenter.org.
Once a writ is out, a tenant's request for a stay can be filed electronically, at the Monterey Courthouse, or in the drop box at any court location. The court says drop box and mail filings are processed the next day, and that the Salinas and Marina boxes may add a day.
When a King City tenant is served personally with an eviction summons, they have 10 court days to respond. Send the summons, the complaint, the unit number and every adult occupant's name. If the rental is a house on farm property, say which building is the dwelling.
AB 747 takes effect January 1, 2027. From then on, three good-faith attempts at personal delivery on three different days at three different times show reasonable diligence before substituted service (CCP § 415.20(b)(2)). Posting an eviction summons, under CCP § 415.45, still needs a court order. Our AB 747 guide lays out the rest.
Papers to serve in King City?
Family cases and restraining orders from King City
Family filings and restraining order requests are two of the things a King City resident can hand in locally on an open day. Hearings are another matter. The court hears family law in Departments 16 and 17 at the Monterey Courthouse. Domestic violence restraining orders are set on Tuesdays at 8:30 a.m. in Department 16, and civil harassment restraining orders the same afternoon at 1:30.
Child support is the exception that stays close. The King City page lists child support calendars, and the court's family page sets child support actions on Tuesdays at 8:30 a.m. in Department 21 at the Marina Courthouse.
Whatever the local counter takes, the other party still has to be served. For a temporary restraining order, send us the signed order, the hearing date, where the restrained person lives and works, and a photo. For a dissolution or custody petition, include the respondent's address and the days and hours they're usually home.
Probate and guardianship for King City families
An estate, guardianship or conservatorship for a King City resident is filed at the Monterey Courthouse, never locally. The court's probate page says probate court sits on Wednesdays in Department 13, on the third floor, with evidentiary hearings and trials on the first and second Mondays of each month at 1:30 p.m. Its family page sets guardianships on Wednesday afternoons at 1:30 in the same department.
Probate notes are first posted about two weeks before a hearing, then updated the Friday before and again the Tuesday before. Check them before the hearing date, since a note can flag a missing notice or proof.
When a relative in King City or on a valley ranch must receive notice of a guardianship or conservatorship hearing, send the filed papers, the hearing date and the person's address, plus directions if it's off the highway.
One ZIP Code area covering hundreds of square miles
King City uses the 93930 ZIP Code area, and all of the city's land is inside it. The ZIP Code area is far larger than the city. The Census Bureau's 2020 relationship file measures about 343 square miles of land in 93930, divided like this:
- King City: about 1.1%.
- Pine Canyon CDP: about 1.0%.
- San Lucas CDP: a small fraction of 1%.
- Outside any named place: about 97.9%.
Pine Canyon and San Lucas are census-designated places with no city government; Monterey County governs them and the rest of the unincorporated land. A "King City, CA 93930" address can therefore be a house in town or a ranch many miles off the highway. Remote areas are subject to different timelines. For an address well outside town, call before choosing Rush, and expect the server to plan the trip rather than fit it between other stops.
Fort Hunter Liggett
Fort Hunter Liggett lies in southern Monterey County. If the person lives or works on the installation, base access is controlled, so give us an off-base address: a home in town, a rental in the valley, or another place the person regularly goes. Put any known schedule in the Letter of Instruction.
Serving the city government
The Census Bureau lists the place as King City city, but the city's website and municipal code call it the City of King. When the city is a party, name it the way the case papers do.
- City Hall: 212 South Vanderhurst Avenue, King City, CA 93930, phone 831-385-3281.
- City Manager's Office, where the City Clerk works: weekdays 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; the city's calendar notes City Hall closes for lunch from noon to 1.
- Police Department: 415 Bassett Street, phone 831-385-4848. The directory lists office hours of 9 to 11 a.m. and 1 to 4 p.m. on weekdays, with 4 to 5 p.m. by appointment.
CCP § 416.50 lets a summons on a public entity be delivered to its clerk or the head of its governing body. A records subpoena for a police report names the department's custodian of records and goes to Bassett Street during those office hours.
What a King City request should include
- Directions past the pavement. For a ranch, give the road name, mileage from the highway, gate details and the house's position on the property.
- A workplace. Any job site in town or in the valley gives the server a second place to try.
- Best hours. If the person works shifts, give the shift and the days off.
- Language. If the person speaks Spanish or another language, note it in the Letter of Instruction.
- A photo or description, and a vehicle if you know it.
Each update comes to you by email. If the person has moved, skip tracing can look for a new address. For a company, find the agent for service of process on the Secretary of State's bizfile search and read our serving corporations page. We make no guarantees for service.
Sending King City papers
Open a Service Request, upload up to 5 PDFs, and pick Rush or Standard. For a filing deadline or a remote address, call 855-582-5776 first, or email Service@ValproAttorneyServices.com.
Places near King City
Greenfield is about 9.7 miles north, Soledad 18.3 and Gonzales 26.5. Salinas is about 43 miles, and Coalinga, across the county line in Fresno County, about 44.6. The full list is on our Monterey County page.