For a process server in Martinez, CA, Valpro Attorney Services serves summonses, complaints, subpoenas, family law papers, probate notices, small claims and eviction papers on people and businesses in the city. Martinez had 37,287 residents at the 2020 Census. It's a small city with an outsized role: as the Contra Costa County seat, it holds the courthouses where most of the county's civil, probate and family law papers are filed.
We work from our Sacramento office, about 54.1 miles from Martinez, and we have no Martinez location. Service Requests and filing jobs come in online, and every update comes by email.
Three court buildings in one small city
Martinez has three Contra Costa County Superior Court buildings, and each does a different job.
| Building | Address | What it handles |
|---|---|---|
| Wakefield Taylor Courthouse | 725 Court Street | Filing for all civil cases, limited and unlimited; unlimited civil hearings (limited civil is heard in Dept. 14, Richmond, since 1/5/26); probate, guardianship and conservatorship; elder abuse; most appeals; small claims and evictions from central county cities; criminal |
| Spinetta Family Law Center | 751 Pine Street | All family law filings, including DVROs and adoptions |
| A.F. Bray Courthouse | 1020 Ward Street | Criminal, mental health and jury services |
From the court's where-to-file page and the three courthouse pages, read in October 2026.
The Wakefield Taylor building also houses the court's main administrative offices, the Presiding Judge's department, and the general civil and criminal processing units. The court's page describes Bray as sitting between Court and Pine Streets.
Filing at Wakefield Taylor
Most Martinez filing work happens at 725 Court Street. The court's page gives the times that decide a deadline:
- Clerk windows open at 8:00 a.m. and close at 4:00 p.m., Monday through Friday.
- The drop box counts anything deposited between 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. as filed that same day.
- Court Records, Room 103, is open 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. for file review and copies.
- Phones at (925) 608-1000 are answered 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
Metered parking surrounds the building. The court's page also lists the Martinez law library hours, 8:00 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. on weekdays.
Represented parties don't usually see the windows. Under Local Rule 2.87, the court made e-filing mandatory for attorneys in civil, unlawful detainer, small claims and family law cases on July 5, 2022, and for appeals on July 13, 2022. Paper is still an option for self-represented filers. We e-file, file at the window, or use the drop box, and return conformed copies. Our Contra Costa County court filings page explains what we need, and our post on court messenger service for attorneys covers recurring runs.
The Spinetta Family Law Center
The family law center at 751 Pine Street houses five of the county's seven family law courtrooms. Its page lays out the building:
- The filing counter is just inside, on the left. It accepts every family law filing except temporary emergency order requests and domestic violence restraining order papers.
- The DVRO and ex parte window handles those. Restraining order requests can also be emailed to the court or e-filed.
- Mediation and investigation windows are at the rear of the lobby, for check-ins with mediators and child custody recommending counselors.
- The drop box sits in front of the building.
For mail, the court's address is 751 Pine Street, P.O. Box 911, Martinez, CA 94553, Attn: Clerk's Office. Send the original, at least two copies, the fee or a fee waiver request, and a self-addressed stamped envelope. The page points to a post office at 815 Court Street for envelopes and postage. The Family Law Facilitator isn't offering in-person help at the courthouse right now.
When family law papers have to be served on the other party in Martinez, send the hearing date and what you know of their schedule. Our proof of service guide covers the proof.
Probate for the whole county, filed in Martinez
Every Contra Costa estate, guardianship and conservatorship is filed and heard at Wakefield Taylor, whether the family lives in Richmond, Brentwood or across the street. For an out-of-town law office handling a Contra Costa probate matter, that makes Martinez the one counter to know.
Send us the petition, the notice of hearing and any supplements with the hearing date, and say whether the filing should be e-filed or taken to the window. If heirs, a proposed guardian or a conservatee need papers delivered by hand, add their names and addresses to the same request and we'll coordinate both.
Papers to serve in Martinez?
The A.F. Bray Courthouse
Bray, at 1020 Ward Street, was completed in 1987 and named for a former superior court judge and Court of Appeal justice. It holds Jury Services and nine courtrooms for general trials and criminal arraignments. No civil, family, probate, small claims or eviction filings are listed there.
Its page does list three phone lines worth knowing, each answered 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.: landlord-tenant at (925) 875-7746, small claims at (925) 875-7846 and traffic at (925) 875-7800.
Martinez evictions and small claims
Contra Costa files small claims and evictions in the courthouse that serves the city where the dispute started. For Martinez and the central county, that's Wakefield Taylor. The landlord-tenant page lists Department 57 as the Martinez department, with its own remote-appearance link.
Small claims limits are $12,500 for a person or sole proprietor and $6,250 for a corporation, LLC or partnership. The person who sues can't serve the claim personally. Our guide on who can serve papers in California explains who can.
For a Martinez eviction, send the notice and the complaint packet, every adult occupant's name, and the unit and entry details. Starting January 1, 2027, AB 747 changes substituted service; our AB 747 guide explains how.
Juvenile and traffic matters go to Walnut Creek
Two kinds of Martinez cases leave town. All juvenile case documents are filed only at the Walnut Creek Juvenile and Traffic Center, 640 Ygnacio Valley Road. The court's page lists Martinez and Pacheco among the communities its traffic court serves. Juvenile dependency, delinquency and truancy cases are heard there.
One ZIP Code area, mostly unincorporated land
The Census matches a single ZIP Code area, 94553, to Martinez, and all of the city falls inside it. But the city is only about a fifth of that area's land. The Census Bureau's 2020 ZCTA to place relationship file breaks 94553 down roughly like this:
- Martinez city: about 20%.
- Outside any city or Census-designated place: about 73%, which is unincorporated Contra Costa County.
- Alhambra Valley and Vine Hill: about 2.5% each. Both are unincorporated Census-designated places.
- Pacheco: about 1%. Also unincorporated.
- Mountain View: under 1%. Also unincorporated.
So "Martinez, CA 94553" on an envelope can mean a city street or a property well outside city limits. For filing it doesn't change the courthouse: the court's table lists both Martinez and Pacheco, 94553, under Wakefield Taylor. For service, it can change the approach. An address outside city limits can mean a longer drive or a private gate, so send a cross street or a photo if you have one.
Port Costa: two court pages, two answers
Port Costa, about 5 miles from central Martinez, shows how carefully the court's pages have to be read. The where-to-file table lists Port Costa, 94569, under the Wakefield Taylor Courthouse in Martinez. The George D. Carroll Courthouse page in Richmond lists Port Costa among the West County communities it serves, and the where-to-file page's West County restraining order list includes it too. Before filing a Port Costa small claims or eviction case, confirm the courthouse with the clerk.
Getting to Martinez
Martinez has no BART station. The station that carries its name, North Concord/Martinez, has a Concord address: 3700 Port Chicago Highway. If the person you're serving commutes by BART, they may drive there and back, so early mornings and evenings are the likeliest times at home.
Serving a Martinez business
Look up the company on the California Secretary of State's bizfile Online and send us the agent for service of process exactly as listed. A counter clerk or a receptionist usually can't accept for the business. If the agent is a commercial registered agent, we serve that office. Our serving corporations page explains each route.
Sending Martinez papers
- Open a Service Request and attach up to 5 PDFs.
- Name each person or company to be served.
- Add every address, in town or out.
- Choose Rush or Standard, and tell us which Martinez building the filing goes to.
Questions go to 855-582-5776 or Service@ValproAttorneyServices.com. We make no guarantees for service. If the person has moved, our skip tracing service can look for a newer address.
Near Martinez
Straight-line distances from central Martinez:
- Pleasant Hill (3.7 miles) and Concord (6.4)
- Port Costa (5.0) and Crockett (6.8)
- Benicia (5.6), in Solano County, and Lafayette (7.4)
Every city we serve is on the Contra Costa County page.