Los Banos has its own courthouse, and that sets it apart from most of the west side of the San Joaquin Valley. Merced Superior Court runs two districts, and Los Banos is the seat of the smaller one. A Los Banos landlord, family or small business can usually file without driving to Merced. Some hearings still happen there.
The city counted 45,532 people in the 2020 Census, and the Census Bureau estimates 49,614 for July 2025. It's about 113 miles from our Sacramento office in a straight line. One Service Request can cover service at a Los Banos address and a filing at the G Street courthouse, which sits about a fifth of a mile from the city's Census center point.
The West County District, ZIP by ZIP
The court's Local Rules define districts "for the convenience of the parties, attorneys, and the court." The West County District consists of the courthouse in Los Banos and is drawn by ZIP Code:
| ZIP Code | Communities the rule names |
|---|---|
| 93635 | Los Banos |
| 93620 | Dos Palos |
| 93665 | South Dos Palos |
| 95322 | Gustine and Santa Nella |
| 95374 | Stevinson |
Every other part of the county is the Merced District. Unless the rules or the Presiding Judge say otherwise, a case is heard in the district where it arose, where the land in dispute sits, or where a party lives. Either district can transfer a case on its own motion, or on a party's noticed motion, when it was filed in the wrong place or for other good cause.
The rule sends anyone unsure of the right district to the venue statutes, CCP §§ 392 through 401. Those decide which county hears a case before the local rule picks a courthouse inside Merced County. Under § 395, the general rule is the county where a defendant lives when the case begins, with added options for injury cases and family matters. So a Los Banos plaintiff suing someone who lives in Fresno may belong in Fresno County, not on G Street at all. General information, not legal advice.
What the G Street counter takes
The Robert M. Falasco Justice Center is the Los Banos Division. Its page says the division accepts all small claims, limited civil and unlimited civil filings, including adoption, probate, conservatorship, guardianship, civil restraining orders and name changes, plus all family law filings. It hears traffic, adult, juvenile, criminal, civil and small claims matters.
Practical details from the court's pages:
- Hours. In person and by phone, 7:45 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, at (209) 725-4124.
- Drop box. In the courthouse parking lot. The court's drop boxes are open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and documents deposited before 4:00 p.m. are filed that day.
- Self-help. The Self-Help Center at Los Banos is closed to walk-ins. It answers its phone, (209) 725-4168, from 8:00 a.m. to noon.
- Security. Everyone entering goes through a metal detector, and bags may be x-rayed.
One gap to know about: the division page doesn't list unlawful detainers by name. An eviction is a limited or unlimited civil case, which the page says Los Banos accepts, but a landlord filing for the first time may want to confirm with the clerk before the trip.
Hearings that move to Merced
Filing in Los Banos doesn't guarantee every hearing stays there. The Local Rules keep a list of proceedings that are heard only in the Merced District:
- Contested probate, conservatorships and guardianships
- Juvenile dependency
- Civil case management
- Mandatory settlement conferences
- Jury trials
- Adoptions
- Drug court
Juvenile justice proceedings are also heard only at the Juvenile Division on Sandy Mush Road in Merced. The Old Merced Courthouse, home of the Civil Division, is about 26 miles from central Los Banos in a straight line, and the Ogletree Jr. Courthouse, which hears family law, is a short walk from it.
For service, the hearing location matters more than people expect. A notice of a case management conference or a settlement conference in a Los Banos case will usually name a Merced courtroom. Check the address on the notice before it goes out, and make sure the proof of service matches the papers actually delivered.
Family law calendars in Courtroom 13
Merced began accepting family law filings at the Los Banos courthouse in January 2017. Under Local Rule 402, cases pending before then remain Merced cases. Cases opened afterward for people living in the Los Banos area can be set, at the litigants' choice, in Courtroom 13. Either way, papers can be filed and copies obtained at either courthouse.
The Los Banos family calendar is narrow:
- Short cause matters, expected to take no more than 15 minutes, are heard on the second and fourth Tuesday of each month at 8:45 a.m.
- Trial setting conferences for cases opened in Los Banos use the same Tuesdays at 8:45 a.m.
- Long cause matters are heard only in Merced, Courtroom 7, on Thursdays.
- Case management and settlement conferences are set Mondays at 11:00 a.m. in Merced.
- Child support (DCSS) matters for Los Banos cases are heard by video on the second and fourth Tuesdays.
With only two short cause mornings a month, a missed service date can push a hearing back weeks. Send a request for order to be served as soon as it's filed, with the hearing date in the notes.
Papers to serve in Los Banos?
Probate: filed on G Street, contested in Merced
Probate petitions, conservatorships and guardianships can all be filed in Los Banos. The Local Rules set Los Banos probate hearings at 8:30 a.m., Monday through Friday. Once a matter becomes contested, it moves to the Merced District.
For a petition to administer an estate, Probate Code § 8110 requires notice of the hearing to go to each known or reasonably ascertainable heir, and to each devisee, executor and alternate executor named in a will offered for probate, at least 15 days before the hearing. That notice is usually mailed under § 1215 rather than handed over. Other probate papers, and citations the court issues, can require personal delivery, so read the citation or order before choosing a method. General information, not legal advice.
E-filing from the west side
Merced's Local Rule 2 requires represented parties to e-file in limited, unlimited and complex civil actions and in family law and probate matters that don't involve child support services, unless the court excuses them. Self-represented parties are exempt. Criminal cases accept e-filing only after the first filing, and domestic violence and gun violence restraining order petitions may be e-filed by attorneys or self-represented parties.
The timing rules are worth reading closely. A transmitted document isn't filed until the clerk accepts it. Mandatory e-filings received before midnight are deemed filed that day, but when same-day service is required, the document must be e-filed by 5 p.m. The court's provider, Tyler Technologies, has applied a $1.00 minimum card convenience fee on e-file transactions since September 1, 2024. Our Merced County court filing service can e-file or use the G Street counter.
Evictions for Los Banos rentals
A Los Banos eviction starts with service of the summons and complaint on each tenant. Once the papers are handed over, the tenant has 10 court days to answer, not counting weekends or court holidays. If the tenant answers and demands a jury, the trial is heard in Merced under the district rule.
When a tenant can't be served after repeated tries, a landlord can ask the court for permission to post the summons. Merced's local forms list includes an optional ex parte application to serve a summons by posting in an unlawful detainer, form MSC-CV-004, and a matching order, MSC-CV-005. Attempts on different days and at different hours, written down as they happen, are what support that request. Our proof of service guide explains what a signed proof records.
Small claims from Los Banos
The Los Banos Division takes all small claims filings, so a Los Banos plaintiff doesn't need to file in Merced. The court's small claims advisor serves both the Ogletree Jr. Courthouse and the Falasco Justice Center, by phone at (209) 725-4168 from 8:00 a.m. to noon, or by email.
Two small claims services are offered only in Merced: the settlement office at the Old Merced Courthouse, open 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. on Mondays and Tuesdays, and evening hearings on the second Wednesday of each month, which you request when filing. A defendant who lives in Merced County must be served at least 15 days before the hearing, or at least 20 days if they live in another county (CCP § 116.340). The plaintiff can't serve the claim personally.
ZIP 93635 runs far past the city
Los Banos has one ZIP Code area, and it's one of the larger ones in the valley. In the Census Bureau's 2020 ZCTA to place relationship file, 93635 covers about 391 square miles of land:
- Los Banos city: about 10 square miles, roughly 2.6% of the ZIP.
- Volta: a separate Census-designated place of about 4.4 square miles, entirely inside 93635.
- Outside any city or Census community: about 376 square miles, or 96% of the land.
A "Los Banos, CA 93635" address can therefore be a city house or a farm parcel far out along a county road. For anything outside town, give the cross road, the gate or driveway, any dogs, and when the person is usually home. Remote areas are subject to different timelines.
Diligence rules from 2027
Starting January 1, 2027, three good-faith attempts at personal delivery, on 3 different days and at 3 different times, show reasonable diligence before papers are left with another adult at the home or workplace (CCP § 415.20(b)(2), as amended by AB 747). The county clerk's register of process servers also becomes public. Our AB 747 guide covers both changes. General information, not legal advice.
Sending a Los Banos Service Request
- Attach up to 5 PDFs to the Service Request and name each party as the papers do.
- Give the hearing date and courtroom, and say whether it's in Los Banos or Merced.
- Describe rural access for any address outside the city grid.
- For a business, send the agent for service of process from bizfile Online; our serving corporations page explains the rules.
If an address turns out to be stale, skip tracing can look for a current one. Get status updates by email, or call 855-582-5776, Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. We make no guarantees for service.
Near Los Banos
Dos Palos is about 12.6 miles southeast and Gustine 15.7 miles northwest, both in the West County District. Newman, across the line in Stanislaus County, is 20.1 miles away. Livingston is 23.3 miles and Atwater 24.1, both in the Merced District. Every community we serve in the county is on our Merced County page.