Valpro Attorney Services is a process server for Pittsburg, CA, and the communities around it. We serve summonses, complaints, subpoenas, family law papers, small claims and eviction papers on people and companies throughout the city. Pittsburg had 76,416 residents at the 2020 Census, and the Census Bureau's July 2025 estimate is 77,542.
Our office is in Sacramento, about 46.6 miles from Pittsburg in a straight line, and we don't have a Pittsburg office. Requests come in online, and every update comes by email.
A courthouse in town, with limits
Pittsburg is home to East County's courthouse, the Richard E. Arnason Justice Center at 1000 Center Drive, which the court also calls the Pittsburg Superior Court. It has seven courtrooms. The court lists family law, small claims, unlawful detainers, criminal and traffic cases as heard there, plus some domestic violence and juvenile matters.
What it hears and what it files are two different lists. Contra Costa sends most civil and all family law filings to Martinez, even when the hearing ends up in Pittsburg.
| Pittsburg matter | Where it's filed | Where it's heard |
|---|---|---|
| Small claims | Arnason Justice Center, Pittsburg | Pittsburg |
| Unlawful detainer | Arnason Justice Center, Pittsburg | Pittsburg |
| Civil, limited or unlimited | Wakefield Taylor Courthouse, 725 Court St, Martinez | Martinez; limited cases are assigned to Dept. 14, Richmond |
| Family law | Spinetta Family Law Center, 751 Pine St, Martinez | The assigned department, which can be in Pittsburg |
| DVRO, East County resident with no prior ties to the other party | Domestic Violence window, Pittsburg | As assigned |
| Probate, guardianship, conservatorship | Wakefield Taylor, Martinez | Martinez |
From the Contra Costa County Superior Court's where-to-file and courthouse pages, read in October 2026.
Martinez is about 12.9 miles from central Pittsburg in a straight line. The family law center is in Martinez as well. A Pittsburg case can easily need both buildings.
What the Pittsburg counter covers
The court describes the Arnason Justice Center as the courthouse for the former Delta Judicial District. Its small claims and eviction filings come from nine East County communities: Antioch, Bay Point, Bethel Island, Brentwood, Byron, Discovery Bay, Knightsen, Oakley and Pittsburg. A Pittsburg landlord files at the same courthouse as one from Discovery Bay.
The working hours are a little different from Martinez. The building is open 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., but the filing windows close at 4:00 p.m. There's one entrance, and everyone goes through security, so leave a few minutes for the line. Traffic cases are heard here too, assigned by where the citation was issued.
We can take papers to the Pittsburg windows or e-file them. For attorneys, e-filing is the rule: the court's e-filing page has listed small claims and unlawful detainer cases as mandatory for represented parties since July 5, 2022, under Local Rule 2.87. Self-represented filers can still use the counter. See Contra Costa County court filings for what to send.
Family law: heard here, filed in Martinez
This is the rule Pittsburg filers trip on most. The court lists family law among the matters heard in Pittsburg, but its where-to-file page says all family law cases, including domestic violence restraining orders and adoptions, are filed at the Spinetta Family Law Center in Martinez.
The center encourages filing by drop box or mail. The drop box is in front of the building, and mailed papers need the original, at least two copies, the filing fee or a fee waiver request, and a self-addressed stamped envelope for the return. Represented parties e-file.
There's one carve-out for restraining orders. An East County resident, which includes Pittsburg, who has no existing court case with the other party, no children with them and isn't married to them, submits DVRO papers at the Domestic Violence window in Pittsburg. Everyone else goes to Spinetta or e-files.
When the other party has to be served with family law papers, send the hearing date, a photo and anything you know about their schedule. Our proof of service guide explains what the server's proof needs.
Pittsburg evictions
A Pittsburg unlawful detainer is filed and heard in Pittsburg. The court's landlord-tenant page lists Department 54 as the Pittsburg department, with its own remote-appearance link, and it has followed a written ex parte procedure for eviction cases since November 25, 2024.
A Pittsburg eviction request goes faster when the server has:
- The notice and the complaint packet, as PDFs.
- The occupants' names, every adult, as the lease spells them.
- The unit, building and complex name, plus gate or call-box details.
- Your filing choice: we can file the complaint in Pittsburg or e-file it on the same request.
From January 1, 2027, AB 747 changes substituted service and what the proof has to describe. Our AB 747 guide covers it.
Papers to serve in Pittsburg?
One ZIP Code area, four jurisdictions
The Census matches one ZIP Code area, 94565, to Pittsburg, but Pittsburg doesn't fill it. Under the Census Bureau's 2020 ZCTA to place relationship file, the land in 94565 breaks down roughly like this:
- Pittsburg city: about 38%.
- Outside any city or Census-designated place: about 38%. That's unincorporated Contra Costa County.
- Bay Point: about 13%. Bay Point is an unincorporated Census-designated place.
- Concord city: about 10%.
- Antioch: a sliver.
Almost all of Pittsburg itself, about 98% of its land, sits in 94565. The rest of the ZIP Code area belongs to its neighbors.
For filing, the split matters in one case. The court's table lists both Pittsburg and Bay Point under the Pittsburg courthouse, but a Concord address in 94565 follows the Concord row to Martinez. When an address reads "Pittsburg, CA 94565," confirm which community the property is actually in before you file a small claims or eviction case.
Water, BART and getting around
Part of Pittsburg is water. The Census counts about 5.4 square kilometers of water inside the city, against about 45.8 square kilometers of land.
The city has two BART stations, and they work differently:
- Pittsburg/Bay Point, 1700 West Leland Road, on the line serving northern and eastern Contra Costa County. BART says a transfer platform just outside the station connects riders to the trains to Antioch.
- Pittsburg Center, 2099 Railroad Avenue, on the extension to Antioch, which runs diesel multiple unit trains. BART notes that the transfer platform between the two is reachable only by train.
A commuter who takes BART may be home only early in the morning or in the evening. A work address or a schedule in the Letter of Instruction helps the server time the next attempt.
Pittsburg estates and guardianships
Probate doesn't stay in East County. The where-to-file page says all probate, guardianship and conservatorship documents are filed and heard at the Wakefield Taylor Courthouse in Martinez. A petition for a Pittsburg estate, a guardianship for a Pittsburg child, or a conservatorship for a Pittsburg parent all go there.
For a paper filing, the Martinez drop box counts anything deposited between 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. as filed that day, an hour later than the Pittsburg windows close. If relatives or a proposed conservatee in Pittsburg must be served with notice, add their names and addresses to the same Service Request.
Papers for the wider East County
Because the Pittsburg courthouse serves all of East County, a Pittsburg case often has parties out toward the Delta: Bethel Island, Byron, Knightsen or Discovery Bay. We serve those communities too. Some of those addresses are far from town, and remote areas are subject to different timelines. A gate code, a mile marker or a photo of the driveway helps on a rural approach.
Small claims from Pittsburg
Contra Costa's small claims page sets the limits at $12,500 for a person or sole proprietor and $6,250 for a corporation, LLC or partnership. A Pittsburg dispute is filed and heard in Pittsburg. A frequent filer should note one more line on that page: anyone who files more than 12 small claims in a 12-month period pays a $100 filing fee per case. Once filed, the claim has to be served by someone other than the person suing. Our guide on who can serve papers in California lists who qualifies.
Serving a Pittsburg business
Find the company on the California Secretary of State's bizfile Online and send us the agent for service of process exactly as listed. A cashier or a shift supervisor usually isn't authorized to accept. If the agent is a commercial registered agent, we serve that office instead. Our serving corporations page explains each route.
Sending Pittsburg papers
- Start a Service Request and upload up to 5 PDFs.
- Name each person or company to be served.
- Add every address, and say whether it's Pittsburg, Bay Point or Concord.
- Choose Rush or Standard, and tell us where to file.
Call 855-582-5776 or write to Service@ValproAttorneyServices.com with questions. We make no guarantees for service. If the person has moved, our skip tracing service can look for a current address.
Near Pittsburg
Straight-line distances from central Pittsburg:
- Antioch (6.1 miles), also served by the Pittsburg courthouse
- Clayton (5.6) and Concord (6.5), whose cases go to Martinez
- Pleasant Hill (10.7) and Walnut Creek (11.1)
Every city we serve is on the Contra Costa County page.