Red Bluff is the county seat of Tehama County and its largest city, with 14,710 people at the 2020 Census. It sits on I-5 in the northern Sacramento Valley, about 115 miles from our Sacramento office in a straight line.
For papers, Red Bluff is where everything in Tehama County comes together. The court has a single building, on Walnut Street. The Sheriff's Civil Division is a few miles away on Antelope Boulevard. We serve Red Bluff addresses and file at the courthouse, and a filing and a service on the same case can go on one Service Request.
Walnut Street: one building for every case
The Tehama County Superior Court is at 1740 Walnut Street. Its location page sums up what's heard there in two words: all cases. Inside, one division, Civil & Family Law, takes lawsuits, divorces and custody, estates, guardianships and conservatorships, minors' settlements, small claims and adoptions, while the criminal, traffic and juvenile calendars share the building.
Practical details from the court's pages, read in October 2026:
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Building and counter hours | Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. |
| Main line | (530) 527-3484 |
| Civil & Family Law Division | (530) 527-6441 |
| Courtrooms | Department 1 on the first floor, Departments 2 to 5 on the second |
| Parking | Free lots in front of and around the building |
The court's directions for drivers coming from Sacramento use I-5 exit 649, Antelope Boulevard, then Main Street and Walnut Street to the courthouse.
Tehama's e-filing split
Tehama's e-filing rule draws a line that catches people out. Local Rule 7.A, effective January 1, 2026, has two halves.
Required. An attorney filing in an unlimited civil case has to file electronically. Civil harassment cases are carved out.
Optional. Everything else is open to e-filing but doesn't demand it. The rule names limited civil, probate, family law other than adoption, juvenile cases, and later papers in criminal and traffic cases.
A party without a lawyer doesn't have to e-file, under California Rules of Court 2.253(b)(2), though the court invites them to try it. The court's E-File CA page says it accepts e-filing in every case type except adoptions.
A few working details from that page:
- E-filing runs through Odyssey eFileCA and an approved electronic filing service provider. Provider fees vary.
- The court adds a $3.50 fee per e-filed envelope, except in criminal cases.
- Single documents can be up to 25 megabytes, and a transaction up to 35.
- Anything received electronically on a court day, up to 11:59:59 p.m., is deemed filed that day.
- Documents filed the same day as the hearing can't be guaranteed to reach the judge in time.
So a $50,000 contract suit filed by a Red Bluff attorney must be e-filed. A limited eviction or a $20,000 collection case may go either way. Our Tehama County court filing service handles both routes.
What still goes in on paper
Local Rule 7.A.4 lists documents that can't be e-filed at all:
- an original will or codicil
- a bond
- a subpoena, or documents produced under one
- exhibits
- requests for copies
- writs of execution and abstracts of judgment
- defaults and notices of entry of judgment in family law, unless the Department of Child Support Services files them
The subpoena entry is the one that matters most for service work. A subpoena issued in a Tehama case is handled on paper, so plan for the counter or the drop box.
Faxing has limits too. The Civil & Family Law page says faxed signatures need a fax filing agency, and the small claims page says small claims papers can't be fax filed. General information, not legal advice.
The counter, the courtroom and the drop box
Local Rule 7.B sets out when paper filings count. Documents handed in during window hours are filed when received. If the matter is on calendar within one hour, the documents may be submitted in court for consideration instead.
The drop box gives more room. Rule 7.B.3 opens it on weekdays half an hour before the counter and keeps it open half an hour after, from 8:00 to 5:00. Papers left there count as filed that day, provided the clerk finds them complete. That half hour on each side of the counter's hours can save a filing that arrives late in the afternoon.
The Civil & Family Law page asks for one original and the right number of copies, stapled and organized, signed and dated, with the filing fee or a fee waiver application. Copies from a case file cost $0.50 a page, and certification adds $40. Mailed copy requests need a letter, the case number, payment and a self-addressed stamped envelope; the court says turnaround is usually 1 to 2 days.
Papers to serve in Red Bluff?
Small claims in Red Bluff
Small claims cases are filed in the Civil Division at 1740 Walnut Street. The court's page lists a small claims advisor at the courthouse on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday, 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., and the court's Self-Help Assistance and Referral Program also covers small claims for plaintiffs and defendants. SHARP is at the courthouse on Monday, Thursday and Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., at (530) 527-8649.
To notify the defendant, the court's page gives two routes. The clerk can serve by certified mail for a fee, or the claim can be personally served by someone other than the plaintiff. Personal service has to happen at least 15 days before the hearing for a defendant in Tehama County, or 20 days for one in another county (CCP § 116.340).
After a judgment, the court's page notes that an abstract of judgment is recorded with the County Recorder in the county where the debtor's real property is. In Tehama, that's the Recorder/County Clerk at 633 Washington Street, Room 11, Red Bluff. A debtor examination order, if you need one, must be served on the debtor too.
The Sheriff's Civil Division on Antelope Boulevard
Sheriff's civil work in Tehama is handled away from the courthouse, out on Antelope Boulevard. The office keeps an eight-hour weekday schedule, opening at 8:00 and closing at 4:00, and it's shut on weekends and holidays. Its deputies serve process countywide, in every city and in unincorporated areas.
Its page has a few rules worth reading before sending anything:
- Call first. New users phone (530) 529-7930 before their first submission.
- Email works. Documents can be sent to civil@tehamaso.org.
- Pay ahead. Fees are paid before service, in cash or by check only, and each person served is a separate fee.
- Copies. One copy of each document, front and back, per person served, plus one for the file.
- Instructions. A letter signed and dated by the attorney of record, or by the plaintiff without one, naming the person and the physical address.
The page also says the office is entitled to its fees whether or not service succeeds. A private server is the other route; see who can serve papers in California. AB 747 takes effect January 1, 2027. Under the amended CCP § 415.20(b)(2), good-faith tries at handing over the papers on three separate days, each at a different time, show reasonable diligence before they're left with another adult. See the AB 747 guide, and for the signed return, the California proof of service guide. We make no guarantees for service.
Probate papers in Tehama
Estates, conservatorships and guardianships are part of the Civil & Family Law Division's work at Walnut Street. The court's probate page explains that court investigators help the judge decide whether a conservatorship or guardianship is needed and whether the proposed conservator or guardian is suitable. Investigators interview the proposed conservatee before the first hearing and may talk with family members and neighbors. There's a fee for most investigations.
For service, a probate case often means notices to relatives at several addresses, some outside the county. List every person and address the petition requires notice to. General information, not legal advice.
Evictions in Red Bluff
An eviction filed as limited civil can go in on paper or by e-filing. After personal service of the summons, the tenant's answer is due in 10 court days. When the landlord wins, the Sheriff's Civil Division carries out the lockout, usually on a Wednesday, for a $180 fee, using the original writ of possession, three copies and signed instructions. Only the attorney of record or the plaintiff may sign them.
For the summons, give us the unit number, every adult occupant you're naming, and access details such as a gate or a manager's office.
ZIP 96080 is mostly outside the city
Red Bluff's ZIP Code area is huge. The Census Bureau's 2020 ZCTA to place relationship file shows 96080 covers about 648 square miles of land. Red Bluff city is about 7.6 square miles of it, roughly 1.2%. The Bend, Paynes Creek, Dales and Proberta areas take small shares, and nearly 98% is outside any city or named community.
A 96080 address can therefore be a house a few blocks from Walnut Street or a ranch well out in the foothills. Remote areas are subject to different timelines. For a rural address, send the physical location, the nearest cross road, a gate or driveway description and the person's vehicle. If the person has moved on, skip tracing can look for a current address; how to find a defendant in California describes the records involved.
Sending a Red Bluff request
Use the Service Request to attach up to 5 PDFs, name each party as the papers do and give each address. Say whether the case also needs filing at Walnut Street, and whether it's an unlimited civil case that must be e-filed. Pick Rush or Standard. For a company, look up its registered agent on bizfile Online and send that name and address; serving corporations has the details.
Status updates come by email. Call 855-582-5776, Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., or email Service@ValproAttorneyServices.com.
Near Red Bluff
The small city of Tehama is about 12.1 miles from Red Bluff in a straight line, and Corning about 17.2. North on I-5, Anderson is about 19.3 miles and Redding about 28, both in Shasta County. Orland, in Glenn County, is about 29.7. The rest of the county is on our Tehama County page.