Valpro Attorney Services serves legal papers in Moraga, the Contra Costa County town that is home to Saint Mary's College. We serve summonses, subpoenas and every other legal document on residents, students, staff and businesses, and we file the matching papers with the Contra Costa court in Martinez. Moraga is about 63 miles from our office.
Upload the papers on a Service Request, up to 5 PDFs, or email them to Service@ValproAttorneyServices.com. For a near deadline, call 855-582-5776, weekdays 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The Town of Moraga and its police department
The Town of Moraga's history page traces it from a Mexican land grant through decades of ranching and farming that lasted into the early 1950s. As subdivisions grew, residents pushed to keep the town's low-density character, and an incorporation election in November 1974 created the Town of Moraga. Town offices are at 329 Rheem Boulevard.
Moraga runs its own police force. The Moraga Police Department's About page says it serves the community around the clock and is authorized for 12 sworn officers, with volunteer reserves, police cadets and two civilian staff. The page notes that patrol officers are trained in civil and criminal law, traffic accident investigation and crisis intervention.
What that means for a Moraga case:
- Claims against the town name the Town of Moraga. Ask your attorney about government claim deadlines before filing.
- Police witnesses and records come from the town's department, so subpoenas go there, not to the county Sheriff.
- Court filings go to the Contra Costa County Superior Court in Martinez for nearly every case type.
Saint Mary's College and the 94575 ZIP Code
Saint Mary's College moved to the Moraga Valley in 1928, according to the town's history page, after the Moraga Company donated land. It had been founded in San Francisco in 1863 and moved to Oakland in 1889. The college lists its address as 1928 St. Marys Road, Moraga, CA 94575.
ZIP Code 94575 is a small, separate ZIP Code area. The Census Bureau's 2020 file puts its 0.2 square miles of land entirely inside the town. Serving someone at a college takes planning:
- Know who you need. A student, a faculty member and an administrator keep very different schedules.
- Give a location. A building, department, office or residence hall saves a search across campus.
- Add a home address if you have one, since many people are easier to find off campus.
- Serving the college itself means serving its agent for service of process, not the first employee at a front desk. Look it up on the Secretary of State's bizfile Online. Our page on serving corporations and other entities explains how.
Most of 94556 lies outside the town
Moraga's main ZIP Code, 94556, covers about 19.3 square miles of land in the Census Bureau's 2020 file. About 9.3 square miles lie inside the town, a negligible edge touches Lafayette, and about 10 square miles belong to no city or Census place. So a 94556 address can be a house in town or a property in the unincorporated hills around it.
The court's Where to File table treats all of Moraga the same way. It lists 94556, 94570 and 94575 for Moraga and sends every one of them to Wakefield Taylor in Martinez. The table also gives Canyon, 94516, its own line with the same courthouse. 94570 has no Census ZIP Code area, so if the papers show only that ZIP Code, ask your client for a street address before sending the request.
For addresses on hillside roads or long private drives, include a description, a gate code and the best way in.
Moraga cases in Martinez and Richmond
Contra Costa County keeps its civil, probate and family law filings in Martinez, and the court's Where to File page sends small claims and evictions to the courthouse serving the city where the dispute started. For Moraga that's Martinez as well. Straight-line distances from Moraga's Census center point:
| Case type | Courthouse | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Civil (limited and unlimited), probate, guardianship, conservatorship, small claims, evictions | Wakefield Taylor Courthouse, 725 Court Street, Martinez | about 11.9 miles |
| Family law, including domestic violence restraining orders and adoptions | Spinetta Family Law Center, 751 Pine Street, Martinez | about 12.0 miles |
| Limited civil hearings (Dept. 14) | George D. Carroll Courthouse, 100 37th Street, Richmond | about 13.0 miles |
Juvenile cases are filed only at the Walnut Creek courthouse on Ygnacio Valley Road.
At Wakefield Taylor, the clerk windows open at 8:00 a.m. and close at 4:00 p.m., and court phones are answered from 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. at (925) 608-1000. Anything placed in the court's drop box between 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. is deemed filed that day. The Martinez law library keeps hours of 8:00 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. on weekdays.
For limited civil cases, the Richmond courthouse page says forms may be dropped off there only when the next hearing or filing deadline is at least 3 court days away. With less time, they go to Martinez. The building entrance is around the corner, off Bissell Avenue.
Papers to serve in Moraga?
Family law papers at the Spinetta center
The Peter L. Spinetta Family Law Center holds five of the county's seven family law courtrooms. The court's page for the building gives a few details that help Moraga families and their lawyers:
- The filing counter is just inside the entrance, on the left, open 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. It takes all family law filings except temporary emergency orders and domestic violence restraining order papers.
- The drop box in front of the building takes filings Monday through Friday. Include the original, at least two copies, the filing fee or fee waiver request, and a stamped return envelope. The page notes a post office nearby, at 815 Court Street, for anyone who arrives without postage.
- Restraining orders go to the separate DVRO window, through e-filing or by email to the court. Certified copies still have to be picked up in person.
- Mediation check-in happens at the windows at the rear of the lobby, for appointments with mediators and Child Custody Recommending Counselors.
The Family Law Facilitator's Office isn't offering in-person help at the courthouse. Family law papers still need personal service by an adult who isn't a party. Send the hearing date and any safety details, and see our proof of service guide for form FL-115.
E-filing for Moraga cases
Contra Costa's Local Rule 2.87 and its Ninth Amended E-Filing Standing Order make e-filing mandatory for attorneys, with self-represented parties allowed to choose. The court's e-filing page shows the mandatory dates: July 5, 2022 for unlimited, limited and complex civil, unlawful detainer, small claims and family law, and July 13, 2022 for appeals. Child support cases brought by the Department of Child Support Services followed around August 2022.
If you're unsure whether a document can be e-filed, send it to us with the case number and we'll file it the right way. See Contra Costa County court filing and our post on California court e-filing.
Evictions from Moraga rentals
A Moraga landlord files the unlawful detainer at Wakefield Taylor. The court's landlord and tenant page is blunt about self-help evictions: only the Sheriff can evict someone, and a landlord can't lock a tenant out, remove belongings or cut off utilities, even when rent is months behind. The legal path is the right notice, the wait for it to expire, then the court case.
Once the summons is served, the tenant's answer is due 10 court days after personal service, not counting weekends and court holidays. After substituted service or posting, the time is 10 calendar days plus 10 court days from the day after the mailing. Posting a summons needs a court order under CCP § 415.45.
The court's page also sets rules for eviction hearings:
- Hearings are in person. Appearing remotely requires compliance with CCP § 367.75 and form RA-010. An opposition uses form RA-015.
- Remote hearings use department Zoom links. Department 57 is the Martinez link.
- Papers for a remote hearing must be served and delivered to the clerk's office in person, by drop box or by overnight delivery 3 court days before the hearing. Electronic delivery isn't allowed.
For eviction self-help, the court is using a temporary Civil Self-Help line, 925-608-2178, and the email address selfhelpcivil@contracosta.courts.ca.gov.
Small claims, probate and appeals
Moraga small claims cases are filed and heard at Wakefield Taylor. The court's small claims page sets the limits at $12,500 for an individual, including a sole proprietor using a fictitious business name, and $6,250 for a corporation, LLC or partnership. No one may file more than two claims over $2,500 in a calendar year. The court's filing fees are $30 for claims up to $1,500, $50 up to $5,000 and $75 up to $12,500, or $100 per case for anyone filing more than 12 in a year.
The Self-Help and Small Claims Advisor answers by email, and the court says to expect a reply within 2 weeks. For a lawyer's view, the page points to the Contra Costa County Bar Association at 925-825-5700, which charges a $45 administrative fee to set up a half-hour consultation.
Probate, guardianship and conservatorship papers for Moraga families are filed and heard at Wakefield Taylor, and elder abuse cases are filed there too. Appeals follow a split: most go to Wakefield Taylor, juvenile appeals to Walnut Creek, and small claims and traffic appeals to the courthouse where the case was heard, which for Moraga is Martinez.
Pulling records from older Moraga cases
Non-criminal court records moved to the Wakefield Taylor Courthouse, Room 103, effective January 12, 2026. The records page lists these terms:
- Hours: 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. on weekdays, with phones answered until 3:00 p.m.
- ID: a valid ID is required to view any file.
- Fees: copies are 50 cents a page, in person or by mail. Certifications cost $40 plus 50 cents a page, except certified divorce judgments, which are $15 including copies.
- Mail requests: use the court's mail request form, with a self-addressed stamped envelope, sent to Court Records, 725 Court Street (P.O. Box 911), Martinez, CA 94553.
The page also warns of delays. The court is scanning about 12 million pages of case files over 12 months, toward a paperless file that the public can reach online, and requests may take longer while that work goes on. Our document retrieval service handles the request for you.
Sending a Moraga request
Include the documents, each person or business to serve, every address you have and a Letter of Instruction with schedules and descriptions. Get each update by email. If the person has moved, skip tracing can look for a newer address, and the 2027 rules on substituted service are covered in our AB 747 guide.
Places near Moraga
Nearby places we serve include Lafayette, Orinda, Walnut Creek, Pleasant Hill, and across the county line in Alameda County, Piedmont and Oakland. For the rest of the county, see Contra Costa County process servers.