Placentia's nearest courthouse is the North Justice Center in Fullerton, about 4 miles west. It's natural to assume a Placentia lawsuit starts there. It doesn't. Orange County Superior Court uses Fullerton for Placentia's criminal and traffic work only. Every civil suit, eviction and small claims case travels about 9 miles south to Santa Ana's Central Justice Center. Divorce and custody go to Lamoreaux in Orange, and probate to the Costa Mesa Justice Complex.
Our servers deliver summonses, subpoenas and every other legal document at Placentia houses, apartments and workplaces, and our court runners file at each of those justice centers. Start a Service Request with the papers attached, or email Service@ValproAttorneyServices.com.
Placentia's justice centers by case type
Under Local Rule 365, the Presiding Judge publishes a matrix of which justice center hears each kind of case. The current version took effect June 30, 2025. Here is Placentia's line from it. Distances are straight-line from the city's Census center point.
| Case type | Justice center | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Civil, limited or unlimited | Central Justice Center (CJC), 700 Civic Center Drive West, Santa Ana | 9.1 mi |
| Unlawful detainer | Central Justice Center | 9.1 mi |
| Small claims | Central Justice Center | 9.1 mi |
| Civil harassment | Central Justice Center | 9.1 mi |
| Family law, domestic violence, juvenile | Lamoreaux Justice Center (LJC), 341 The City Dr. S., Orange | 7.0 mi |
| Probate, elder abuse protective orders | Costa Mesa Justice Complex (CMJC), Harbor Blvd., Costa Mesa | 13.4 mi |
| Criminal and traffic | North Justice Center, 1275 North Berkeley Avenue, Fullerton | 4.1 mi |
Complex civil cases are the one civil exception. They go to the Civil Complex Center at 751 West Santa Ana Boulevard, a short walk from the Central Justice Center.
The Fullerton courthouse and what it takes
The North Justice Center's court page lists eight cities it serves: Anaheim, Brea, Buena Park, Fullerton, La Habra, La Palma, Placentia and Yorba Linda. For those cities it hears criminal and traffic matters, with clerk's hours of 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. on weekdays. Its mailing address table makes the civil split plain. Criminal and traffic mail goes to 1275 North Berkeley Avenue, Fullerton, CA 92832-1258. Civil Division mail goes to 700 Civic Center Drive West in Santa Ana.
The building still matters to civil practice in one way: subpoenas. A Placentia witness in a misdemeanor or traffic trial will usually be ordered to Fullerton. The facility guide notes free parking, accessible spaces in both the lower and upper lots, elevators in the south and central wings, and no food or drink inside. Send us the subpoena with the department and time, so the server can confirm the appearance details at delivery.
The designation list adds a convenience for traffic matters: payments and general questions may be handled at any justice center with a criminal and traffic clerk's office, not only the one assigned. Trials, though, stay in Fullerton for Placentia tickets.
The North Justice Center also has a Self-Help Center, open 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Monday through Thursday and until 3:00 p.m. on Fridays, according to its court page.
Two ZIP Codes on the designation list that don't match
The designation list's footer gives an address for each justice center, and two of them don't match the court's own locations page:
- Lamoreaux Justice Center. The footer prints "341 The City Drive, Orange, CA 92870." 92870 is Placentia's ZIP Code. The court's locations page gives 341 The City Dr S, Orange CA 92868.
- North Justice Center. The footer prints "1275 North Berkeley, Fullerton, CA 92838." The locations page and the North Justice Center's own page give 92832, with the full mailing ZIP 92832-1258 for criminal and traffic.
For a Placentia filer, the first one is the trap. Someone copying the footer could address family law mail to Orange with a Placentia ZIP Code. Use the addresses on the locations page. If you send us papers to file in person, we take them to the right building, so the footer's ZIP Codes don't come into play.
92870 and Placentia's boundary
Census Bureau relationship files from 2020, which compare ZIP Code areas to city boundaries, show a near one-to-one fit. About 98.0% of 92870's land is inside Placentia. About 1.8% is unincorporated county land, and Anaheim and Yorba Linda each hold about 0.1%. From the city's side, about 99.8% of Placentia's land is in 92870, with traces in 92807, 92886 and 92806.
The unincorporated pieces are where a Placentia mailing address might not be a Placentia city address. For service, the street address is all the server needs. For a complaint or notice, describe the property the way the deed or lease does. If the city name matters to your case, such as for a local ordinance, ask your attorney to confirm it before filing.
Filing a Placentia civil case in Santa Ana
Every Placentia civil case, limited or unlimited, is heard at the Central Justice Center. Santa Ana's civil and small claims windows keep weekday hours from 8 in the morning until 4 in the afternoon, per the court's location page. Most attorneys won't stand at that counter, though.
Orange County has required e-filing from lawyers since January 1, 2013. Its e-filing page ties the rule to Local Rule 352 for civil and Local Rule 601.01 for probate: anyone with an attorney files electronically and agrees to electronic service, unless excused by the court. People handling their own case may use the counter, though the court invites them to e-file, and fee-waiver filers who do so owe no e-filing charges. Bonds, undertakings and subpoenaed records are among the originals that still go in on paper.
Once the summons is issued, we serve it with the complaint, the civil case cover sheet and anything else the court requires to go with it. Upload the full set as PDFs on the Service Request.
Papers to serve in Placentia?
Placentia evictions
Placentia unlawful detainers are heard in Santa Ana too. The designation list puts every Orange County landlord-tenant case at the Central Justice Center, along with civil harassment cases.
What to send us for an eviction:
- The summons and complaint, with the case number from the Central Justice Center.
- A prejudgment claim of right to possession, if you're using one, so occupants not named can be reached.
- Every adult occupant's name, spelled as on the papers.
- The unit number and building, plus any gate or entry details.
- The notice that started the case, with its service date.
How the tenant was served sets the response window. Personal delivery starts a 10-court-day clock. Substituted service or posting adds time, because the tenant gets 10 calendar days plus 10 court days counted from the follow-up mailing, and posting is only allowed with a court order under CCP § 415.45. The method and date both appear on the proof we return, which is what your office needs to work out the earliest default date.
Small claims from Placentia
A Placentia small claims case is filed, processed and heard in Santa Ana. The defendant has to receive the claim by a deadline that you work out backward from the trial date the clerk wrote on the first page:
- Find the hearing date and count the day before it as day 1.
- Count back to day 15 if the defendant lives in Orange County, or day 20 if they live in another county.
- If that day is a weekend or court holiday, move back to the last court day before it.
- If substituted service may be needed, plan to finish it 10 days before that deadline.
The plaintiff can't serve the claim personally. Suing a company or a government body? The Judicial Council explains that you serve a particular person, not whoever is at the front desk, and form SC-104C tells you who that is. Afterward the server fills out form SC-104.
Family law at Lamoreaux
At about 7 miles, the Lamoreaux Justice Center is the closest of Placentia's non-criminal courthouses. It hears divorce, custody, support, domestic violence and juvenile cases for the whole county. A family law petition is served on the other party and usually proved on form FL-115. A domestic violence restraining order is proved on form DV-200.
The building guide lays out a few useful details:
- Courtrooms by floor. Department L11 is on the first floor, L21 to L23 on the second, L31 to L34 on the third, L41 to L44 on the fourth and L51 to L53 on the fifth.
- Filing counters. Family law takes filings on the 7th floor and juvenile on the 2nd, both on the building's west side.
- A children's room is set aside for children brought to court to testify, arranged through the Sheriff's security desk.
- Food is across the plaza in the Manchester Office Building, where the cafeteria is usually open 6:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
- Parking is in a fee structure northwest of the main entrance.
Probate matters and elder or dependent adult abuse restraining orders from Placentia are heard at the Costa Mesa Justice Complex instead, about 13 miles away. Its guide describes free parking, with placard spaces in the main lot off Harbor Boulevard and Sunflower Avenue, and a single elevator at the west end of the lobby serving the first and second floors. Original wills and a private professional conservator’s financial documents can’t be e-filed, so an estate case may still need a runner there.
Serving Placentia businesses
For a corporation, LLC or limited partnership, the agent for service of process listed with the Secretary of State is usually the right person. Copy the name and address exactly. If the agent is a registered agent company, see our serving corporations page, plus the separate pages for CSC and CT Corporation. For a sole owner using a trade name, check the county's fictitious business name records before the papers are drafted, so the right person is named.
Getting a Placentia request ready
Give the server enough to recognize the person and the place. In the Letter of Instruction, include:
- The full address, with apartment, suite or space number.
- Gate or call-box codes, or who can let the server in.
- The hours they're usually home or at work.
- A workplace or second address, such as one in Fullerton, Brea or Anaheim.
- What they look like, or a photo, and the car they drive.
- Earlier attempts and what happened at each.
- The date that service has to beat, whether a hearing or a response deadline.
From January 1, 2027, reasonable diligence before substituted service is shown by attempting personal delivery on at least three occasions, on three different days, at three different times (CCP § 415.20(b)(2)). The 2027 rules are summarized in our AB 747 guide. We make no guarantees for service.
When someone has left the address, our skip tracing team researches where they went, and nothing goes back out until you approve the new location. Get the updates by email. For the courthouse side, see Orange County court filing and document retrieval, and for the paperwork you'll get back, our proof of service guide.
Cities near Placentia
Brea is 3.1 miles away in a straight line, Fullerton 4.2 and Yorba Linda 4.8. Anaheim is 5.8 miles off. For anywhere else in the county, begin at our Orange County hub.