Napa County is small enough that almost every civil filing goes through one counter, and close enough that it's one of the shorter trips from our Sacramento office. We serve papers at any county address and file at the courthouse or electronically. Send up to 5 PDFs with a Service Request, email Service@ValproAttorneyServices.com, or call 855-582-5776, Mon–Fri 8:30 a.m.–5 p.m.
Three court buildings in downtown Napa
All of Napa Superior Court is in the city of Napa.
Historic Courthouse, 825 Brown Street. The Civil Division's first-floor counter takes general civil (limited and unlimited), unlawful detainer, small claims, family law, probate, guardianship and conservatorship, and mental health filings. Adoptions and restraining requests go through the same phone line, (707) 299-1130. Mail for the juvenile court comes here too.
Criminal Courthouse, 1111 Third Street. Criminal and traffic, including juvenile traffic.
Juvenile Hall Courthouse, 2350 Old Sonoma Road. Juvenile hearings. It doesn't accept mail, so papers go to Brown Street.
Small claims hearings are usually on Thursdays at 1:30 p.m. in Courtroom 2, according to the court's small claims page.
Hours, the drop box and fax filing
Every division is open 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday, and the court notes that this includes the noon hour. Filings are accepted at the counter during those hours. After 4 p.m., the drop box at court facilities takes same-day filings and payments until 5 p.m.
Direct fax filing isn't accepted. The court requires faxed papers to come through a fax filing agency. If you're up against a deadline and can't get to Brown Street, e-filing or a courier is the practical route.
E-filing is available, not required
Local Rule 2.10 says the court accepts electronic filings in civil, family, probate, criminal, traffic and juvenile delinquency and dependency cases through an approved electronic filing service provider. The civil division page says filings may also be e-filed. Neither one makes e-filing mandatory, unlike neighboring Sonoma County, where represented parties must e-file. Filers are responsible for redacting Social Security numbers, driver's license numbers and other sensitive data before they e-file, because the court can't redact e-filed documents.
The civil division page also has opt-in and opt-out forms for electronic service under Code of Civil Procedure section 1010.6. General information, not legal advice. We file on paper or electronically through Napa County court filing, and our California e-filing post explains how filing service providers fit in.
Small claims service options
The court's small claims page lays out the ways to serve a claim. The clerk can send it by certified mail for $15 per defendant and address, but the defendant isn't required to accept certified mail. The Napa County Sheriff charges $50 per defendant served in the county, at (707) 253-4325. A private process server or another adult who isn't a party can also serve it, and the server gives you the proof of service to file.
We serve small claims papers anywhere in the county and return the signed proof. The court page also points to Judicaid Napa Pilot, a free online mediation service that isn't affiliated with the court. The court's Self-Help Center says it doesn't process small claims requests.
Valley floor and hill country
Napa County had 138,019 residents in the 2020 Census. More than half live in the city of Napa (79,246), followed by American Canyon (21,837). Up the valley, St. Helena, Calistoga and Yountville are small towns. Straight-line distance from our Sacramento office runs from about 49 miles at Napa to about 59 at Calistoga.
Outside the five cities, the county is unincorporated. Angwin, Deer Park, Rutherford and Oakville are Census-designated places, and Pope Valley is an unincorporated community with no separate Census count. Many valley addresses sit along Highway 29 and the Silverado Trail, where a winery or vineyard parcel can have a long driveway and a gate. Tell us which building the person works or lives in.
East of the valley, the land turns to hills, ranches and the shoreline around Lake Berryessa. Remote areas are subject to different timelines. The same goes for the mountain roads above the valley floor, such as Howell Mountain around Angwin.
Serving a Napa business
When the defendant is a business rather than a person, start with its legal name. For an LLC or corporation, find the agent for service of process on the Secretary of State's bizfile Online search; that agent may be in another county. Our serving corporations page covers the options.
Sending the request
Name who to serve, list every address and the best times, and add a description. When an address is stale, skip tracing can look for a new one. Status updates come by email. Our proof of service guide explains what comes back, and the AB 747 guide covers the January 1, 2027 changes. Next door: Sonoma County, Solano County, Lake County and Yolo County.