Ripon is a small city at the southern edge of San Joaquin County, between Manteca and the Stanislaus County line. We serve summonses, complaints, eviction papers, small claims, family law papers and subpoenas at Ripon homes, shops and workplaces, and we file the matching papers with San Joaquin County Superior Court.
The catch for Ripon cases is geography inside the court system. There's no courthouse in town, and the three buildings that handle Ripon matters sit in three different cities. Knowing which one takes your case saves a wasted trip and a rejected filing.
Which courthouse takes a Ripon case
San Joaquin's court pages split the work by case type, not by where the parties live. Here is how a Ripon matter lines up, with straight-line distances from the Census center point of the city to each building.
| Ripon matter | Where it goes | Miles from Ripon |
|---|---|---|
| Eviction (unlawful detainer) | Stockton Civil Department, or the Manteca Branch, which lists a landlord-tenant line | 17 / 6 |
| Civil harassment restraining order | Manteca Branch, or the Stockton civil clerk | 6 / 17 |
| Other civil cases, limited and unlimited | Stockton Courthouse, 180 E. Weber Ave., 2nd floor | 17 |
| Divorce, custody, support | Stockton Courthouse, Family Law, 4th floor | 17 |
| Small claims | Lodi Department L-1, 217 W. Elm St., 2nd floor | 28 |
| Probate, guardianship, conservatorship | Lodi Department L-2, 315 W. Elm St. | 28 |
| Juvenile delinquency | Juvenile Justice Center, French Camp | 13 |
The table reflects the court's own location, civil, eviction, small claims, probate and family law pages as we read them in October 2026. Court assignments change, so check the page for your case type before a filing deadline.
The Manteca Branch, six miles up the road
For a Ripon landlord or someone seeking a civil harassment order, the Manteca Branch at 315 E. Center Street is the nearest door. Its page lists two phone lines: (209) 239-9188 for civil harassment and unlawful detainer, and (209) 239-1316 for criminal and traffic. The clerk's office, phones and drop box all run Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., excluding holidays, and courtroom proceedings generally start at 8:30 a.m.
Getting there is simple. The court's directions say to take Highway 120 to the Main Street exit, go north to Center Street, then turn east and continue three blocks. Parking is free around the building and in a lot to the north.
Because the Stockton eviction page also names its own window and drop box, call the Manteca line before you bring a new complaint there. It takes two minutes and confirms the branch will accept that filing on that day.
Stockton for civil complaints and family law
Everything civil that isn't small claims, probate or a branch filing is handled by the Civil Department on the 2nd floor of the Stockton Courthouse, 180 E. Weber Avenue. The same building houses Family Law on the 4th floor, where requests for orders are filed at Suite 413.
Two Stockton details matter for a Ripon case:
- Processing is running behind. The civil page posts a table of current processing dates, updated every Friday. When we checked in late October 2026, clerk default judgments were being processed at submissions from late July, while new limited complaints were moving within a week. If a deadline hangs on a default, build in that delay.
- Civil harassment orders have a pickup window. The civil page says these orders can be collected at the 2nd floor clerk's office between 3:30 and 4:00 p.m. Orders filed before 10:00 a.m. are ready the same day; later filings are ready the next business day. The restrained person still has to be served before a hearing, so plan the service attempts around that pickup.
Small claims and probate run through Lodi
This is the part that surprises Ripon residents. Both small claims and probate are handled about 28 miles north, in two buildings on West Elm Street in Lodi.
Small claims. The court's small claims page lists only Department L-1, at 217 W. Elm Street, 2nd floor, with a mailing address at 315 W. Elm Street. Individuals can claim up to $12,500. A Ripon plaintiff doesn't have to make the drive to file. The claim can be e-filed through App File or sent by mail, and the page asks for a stamped, self-addressed envelope if you want documents returned that way. For help with forms, the San Joaquin County Bar Association runs a small claims advisory line at (209) 473-6463, and its free clinics meet the second Thursday of each month from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. at the Margaret K. Troke library in Stockton, by reservation.
Once the claim is filed, it still has to be delivered to the defendant by someone who isn't a party. That can be the clerk by certified mail, the sheriff, a friend over 18 or a process server. The plaintiff can't hand it over personally.
Probate. Decedents' estates, guardianships of minors and conservatorships moved to Lodi Department L-2, 315 W. Elm Street, on February 3, 2025. The court says the Zoom link for probate hearings didn't change, and that every hearing notice should show the Lodi location. Two current instructions from the probate page are worth knowing:
- Because of an e-filing backlog, the court asks anyone whose hearing is within the next 30 days to file in person.
- Proposed orders submitted through e-filing also need an editable word-processing version emailed to probateorders@sjcourts.org.
Notices of a probate hearing often have to be mailed or served on heirs and interested persons. If any of them live in Ripon, we can serve them there.
Papers to serve in Ripon?
Filing from Ripon: App File, the window or the drop box
San Joaquin runs its own e-filing portal, App File, with payments processed by nCourt. The portal's FAQ says e-filing is optional for attorneys and self-represented parties alike, and it lists these working rules:
- Filings submitted by 11:59 p.m. count as filed that business day, as long as the court accepts them.
- Most e-filings are processed within 24 to 48 hours. Proposed orders take longer.
- Each document can be up to 20 MB, and each submission up to 100 MB.
- Common rejection reasons include filing in the wrong venue, unpaid fees, duplicates, and a party name or address that doesn't match the papers.
Eviction complaints are the exception. Since January 3, 2022, new unlawful detainer complaints must be handed in at the clerk's window or placed in the civil drop box, and the eviction page says they're processed within 24 hours. Our San Joaquin court filing service covers either route, and our post on California court e-filing explains how portal filing works in general.
Ripon evictions, start to finish
The eviction process is the same for a house, an apartment or a unit on a farm. The landlord files the complaint, the clerk issues the summons, and the tenant must be served by an adult who isn't a party or by the sheriff. The server then signs a proof of service, which is filed with the court.
How long the tenant has to answer depends on how the papers were delivered. Under the state court self-help page, a tenant handed the summons has 10 court days, not counting weekends or court holidays. If the papers were left with another adult or posted, and then mailed, the tenant has 10 calendar days plus 10 court days after the mailing. Note that San Joaquin's own eviction page still mentions a shorter period; the self-help page reflects current law.
If the landlord wins, the court's eviction page describes the last step: the landlord takes copies of the writ of possession to the Sheriff, a deputy notifies the occupants that they have five days to leave, and even with a court order the landlord can't remove the tenants personally.
For a Ripon eviction request, send the summons, complaint, notice, the names of every adult occupant and the unit or space number. For farm housing or a rear unit, describe where the door is from the road.
One ZIP Code area, mostly farmland
All of Ripon sits in a single ZIP Code area, 95366. The city doesn't fill it. The Census Bureau's 2020 relationship file shows the city covering about 15% of the 95366 land area. About 84% lies outside any city or Census-designated place, and a small sliver belongs to Manteca.
So a "Ripon, CA 95366" address can be a home inside the city or a rural parcel on a county road. Neither changes which court hears the case, since venue in San Joaquin follows case type. It does change the attempt plan. For a rural Ripon address, give us:
- the cross street or a map pin,
- a gate code or note on locked gates,
- whether the house is visible from the road,
- which outbuilding or rear residence the person uses.
Census ZIP Code areas approximate postal ZIP Codes and can differ slightly at the edges.
When the other side lives in Stanislaus County
Ripon sits right against the county line. Modesto, about 10 miles south, and Riverbank, about 10 miles southeast, are both in Stanislaus County. Cases that belong there are filed with the Stanislaus County Superior Court, not San Joaquin.
For service, the county line doesn't matter. A San Joaquin summons can be served on a Modesto worker, and a Stanislaus summons can be served at a Ripon home. If the person lives in one county and works in the other, list both addresses with the hours you know. Venue is a decision for you or your attorney; service follows the person.
Serving the City of Ripon
The City of Ripon is a public entity, so a summons against it goes to its clerk, secretary, president, presiding officer or other head of its governing body under CCP § 416.50. The city's website gives City Hall at 259 N. Wilma Avenue, Ripon, CA 95366, and its phone as (209) 599-2108. Tell us the exact entity name from the caption and the officer the papers should reach. Most damages claims against a city require a government claim first; your attorney decides when that step is done.
Businesses in Ripon are served through their agent for service of process, which you can look up on the Secretary of State's bizfile system. Our serving corporations page explains how that works.
What a Ripon Service Request should include
- The full set of papers, up to 5 PDFs, exactly as filed.
- Each person's or business's name as it appears in the caption.
- Every address you have, with unit, space or rural details.
- A Letter of Instruction: work hours, vehicles, a photo or description, and gate access.
- Your deadline, such as a hearing date or a small claims trial.
You'll get a confirmation email, and every update comes in that thread. If the address turns out to be stale, skip tracing can look for a current one. For records from an existing San Joaquin file, use our document retrieval service. Our proof of service guide shows what the server signs, and our guide to who can serve papers covers the rules on who may deliver them. We make no guarantees for service.
Start a Service Request, call 855-582-5776, or email Service@ValproAttorneyServices.com.
Near Ripon
Manteca, home of the nearest courthouse, is about 6 miles north. Escalon is about 8 miles northeast and Lathrop about 11 miles northwest. Across the county line, Modesto and Riverbank are about 10 miles away. Stockton has the main courthouse. Every place we serve in the county is on our San Joaquin County page.