Richgrove is a small farm town at the very bottom of Tulare County. The 2020 Census counted 2,358 people in the Richgrove census designated place, which has no city government of its own. It also sits on a county line, and that line decides which court a Richgrove case belongs in.
For a process server in Richgrove, CA, the practical questions are simple to state. Which side of the line is the address on? Which Tulare County counter takes the filing? And how do you find a house on a rural road with only a mailing address? This page works through each one, using the courts' own pages and Census data read in October 2026.
Tulare County or Kern County?
The Census Bureau's geocoder puts the Richgrove CDP, GEOID 0660606, in Tulare County. So does our place data, and so does the Census ZIP Code tabulation area file, which places all of ZCTA 93261 inside Tulare County. The town's south edge is the county line itself. When we ran test points due south of the Census center point, the CDP continued to about 35.791 degrees north, and the next point, less than half a mile from the center, came back as Kern County.
Kern County's court sees Richgrove from the other side. Its venue table, Appendix A to the Kern local rules, lists Richgrove with ZIP Code 93261 and assigns it to the Delano courthouse. The Delano page of that same table marks Richgrove with an asterisk and a note: limited to locations within Kern County boundaries. A ZIP Code area is drawn for mail, and courts are drawn by county, so the two don't always match.
Here is what that means for filing:
- A 93261 address in Tulare County is a Tulare County Superior Court matter, filed in Porterville or Visalia.
- A 93261 address on the Kern side of the line is a Kern County matter, and Kern's table sends it to the Delano courthouse at 1122 Jefferson Street, about 8 miles west.
If you aren't sure which side a parcel is on, the county assessor's records or the Census geocoder will tell you. It is worth checking before the complaint is filed, because a case filed in the wrong county can be transferred, and that costs time.
Porterville or Visalia: Tulare's two counters
Tulare County Superior Court doesn't split cases by ZIP Code the way Kern does. Its civil, small claims, family law and probate pages all list the same two filing contacts: the Visalia Division at 221 S. Mooney Blvd., Room 201, phone 559-730-5000, and the South County Justice Center at 300 E. Olive Ave. in Porterville, phone 559-782-3700.
Measured straight-line from Richgrove's Census center point, the Porterville building is about 19.4 miles away and the Visalia courthouse about 38.6. That makes Porterville the practical choice for most Richgrove filers. The court's Porterville page lists civil, family law, restraining orders, domestic violence and CARE Court among the cases served there. Its building hours are 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday, and its outside windows are open the same hours for limited services.
Which case goes where
| Richgrove matter | Where it's filed |
|---|---|
| Civil lawsuits and unlawful detainers | Visalia Room 201 or the South County Justice Center, Porterville |
| Small claims | Either counter; both are listed on the small claims page |
| Divorce, custody, paternity, restraining orders | Visalia Room 201 or Porterville |
| Probate, guardianship, conservatorship | Visalia Room 201 or Porterville |
| Child support (DCSS) cases | Clerk inside the Visalia DCSS office, Monday to Thursday; Room 201 or Porterville on Fridays |
| A Kern-side address (93261) | Kern County Superior Court, Delano branch, for limited civil, evictions and small claims |
For the Kern side, Kern's local rules send unlimited civil cases to its Metropolitan Division in Bakersfield, so only limited civil cases stay in Delano. Our Delano page covers that branch in detail.
Child support papers take a different route
DCSS cases don't go to the regular counters most of the week. The court's family law page says DCSS matters are heard in Dinuba on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday and at the South County Justice Center on Tuesday. Filings go to the Clerk of Court inside the Visalia DCSS office, 8040 W. Doe Ave., Monday through Thursday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
There's a trap for south county families. Papers dropped at the Porterville DCSS office at 259 N. Main St. are couriered to the clerk as a courtesy and are not filed the same day. When a deadline is close, file on a Friday at Room 201 or the South County Justice Center, or go to the Doe Avenue office. A respondent served with a family law petition generally has 30 days to respond, as the court's own FAQ notes.
Evictions on Richgrove rentals
Tulare's civil page describes the eviction process from complaint to lockout. Once the landlord wins possession, the Sheriff posts a notice to vacate, and the tenant has five days to move before the Sheriff returns. The court also says it does not provide foreign language interpreters for unlawful detainer cases, so a tenant who needs one should bring a friend or relative or hire an interpreter. Sign language interpreters are provided with notice.
For the landlord, the clock starts with service. The tenant's answer is due 10 court days after personal service of the summons and complaint. If the papers are left with another adult at the home and then mailed, the Judicial Council's guide adds 10 calendar days before those court days begin. Give us the unit or space number, and say whether anyone else lives at the address, because a Prejudgment Claim of Right to Possession can be served along with the complaint. General information, not legal advice.
Papers to serve in Richgrove?
Small claims: plan for the longer notice period
Tulare's small claims page explains that the person suing can't serve the claim personally. It also says service must be completed 10 days before trial for an in-county defendant and 15 days for one outside the county. Those numbers are out of date. The current rule in Code of Civil Procedure § 116.340, as the Judicial Council's guide states it, is 15 days before the hearing in the same county and 20 days when the defendant is in a different county.
That gap matters in Richgrove. A defendant who lives a mile south, across the line in Kern County, is out of county for a Tulare small claims case, so the 20-day period applies. Book the hearing far enough out that a second or third attempt still lands in time.
Witness subpoenas and restraining orders
Some Richgrove jobs aren't a new lawsuit. For an eviction trial, Tulare's civil page reminds parties that a witness subpoena must be personally served, that the witness must get reasonable notice of the trial date and time, and that the party pays the witness's fees, including mileage to and from court. Bring the signed proof of service to the trial. Our post on serving a subpoena in California walks through the steps.
Restraining orders move faster. The family law page says a domestic violence restraining order request can be submitted online through an e-filing provider, and a party can ask to appear at the hearing remotely. The restrained person still has to be handed the order and the hearing notice, so send a photo, a vehicle description and the hours the person is usually home. The Self-Help Resource Center, 559-737-5500, helps people without lawyers prepare these forms, in person at the Porterville building Monday through Thursday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. and on Friday mornings.
E-filing is a choice, not a rule
The court's eFiling FAQ says plainly that e-filing is not currently mandated for any case type. Attorneys and self-represented parties can use an approved e-filing service provider, or file on paper at either counter. A document received electronically between 12:00 a.m. and 11:59:59 p.m. on a court day counts as filed that day; one received on a weekend or holiday counts on the next court day.
Our Tulare County court filing service can do it either way, and can pair the filing with service on one Service Request.
Finding a Richgrove address
ZCTA 93261 covers about 5.8 square miles of land. The Richgrove CDP takes up less than a tenth of it, about 0.45 square miles, and the separate Rodriguez Camp CDP takes up another 0.26. The other seven-eighths or so isn't in any named Census community at all. A 93261 address can be a house on a town street, a unit in Rodriguez Camp, or a home on a farm road a few miles out.
That spread changes what a first attempt needs:
- A physical location. If the only address you have is a post office box, it won't get anyone served. Give the street address, or the nearest crossing roads.
- Camp or unit details. For an address in Rodriguez Camp or any multi-unit property, include the unit number and any building letter.
- Work hours. If you know the person's current employer or shift, say so. A server can then plan attempts for early morning or evening.
- Kern addresses. If you have a second address in Delano, McFarland or elsewhere in Kern County, include it.
Richgrove is about 235 miles from our Sacramento office, and every request is coordinated from there. From January 1, 2027, three good-faith attempts at personal delivery, on three different days and at three different times, show the reasonable diligence needed before papers can be left with another adult (CCP § 415.20(b)(2)). Our AB 747 guide explains the change, and the proof of service guide shows what the server signs afterward. We make no guarantees for service.
When someone has moved away
Small farm communities see people move between jobs and counties. If a Richgrove address turns out to be stale, skip tracing can look for a newer one before another attempt goes out. Our post on how to find a defendant in California explains what that search involves. For a business with a Richgrove location, the agent for service of process on file with the Secretary of State is usually the right person to serve, and our serving corporations page shows how to look one up.
Sending a Richgrove request
- Confirm the county for each address, using the parcel if the home is near the south edge of town.
- Upload up to 5 PDFs to the Service Request form.
- Describe the location: street, crossing roads, unit or camp details, gate or dogs.
- Choose Rush or Standard, and add a Porterville or Visalia filing if you need one.
Get each update by email, or reach us at 855-582-5776 or Service@ValproAttorneyServices.com, Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Near Richgrove
Delano, across the county line, is about 9 miles away, McFarland 11 and Earlimart 11. Porterville, home of the South County Justice Center, is about 19 miles north. Every Tulare County community we serve is on our Tulare County page, and the Kern side is covered on our Kern County page.