San Bernardino is the county seat, and most of the courthouses its cases end up in sit in one downtown cluster. The San Bernardino Justice Center at 247 West Third Street holds the civil and criminal divisions. The Historic Courthouse at 351 North Arrowhead Avenue holds family law and child support. The county government lists its own address a block away, at 385 North Arrowhead Avenue. All of them share the 92415 ZIP Code.
We take San Bernardino Service Requests at our Sacramento office, 387 miles away in a straight line, and assign each one to a process server who makes the attempts at the address you give us. You don't need to visit a counter anywhere. Send the papers, the person or business to serve and what you know about them, and get every update by email.
Which courthouse takes a San Bernardino case?
The Superior Court of California, County of San Bernardino, splits case types between buildings, and one of them isn't in San Bernardino at all. This table comes from the court's Where Can I File page, read in October 2026. Distances are straight-line miles from the city's Census center point to each building.
| Case type | Where it's filed | Address | Straight line |
|---|---|---|---|
| Unlimited civil (over $35,000) | Civil Division, San Bernardino Justice Center | 247 West Third Street | 2.6 mi |
| Limited civil ($35,000 or less) | Civil Division, San Bernardino Justice Center | 247 West Third Street | 2.6 mi |
| Unlimited landlord-tenant | Civil Division, San Bernardino Justice Center | 247 West Third Street | 2.6 mi |
| Limited landlord-tenant | Fontana District | 17780 Arrow Boulevard, Fontana | 7.5 mi |
| Small claims | Fontana District | 17780 Arrow Boulevard, Fontana | 7.5 mi |
| Family law, adoptions, domestic violence restraining orders | Family Law Division, Historic Courthouse | 351 North Arrowhead Avenue | 2.4 mi |
The $35,000 line between limited and unlimited civil comes from Code of Civil Procedure § 85. The clerk's offices at all three buildings list hours of 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, except court holidays.
The Fontana row surprises people. A San Bernardino landlord filing a limited eviction, or a resident suing a contractor in small claims, files at the Fontana District, not downtown. The tenant or defendant still gets served at their San Bernardino address. Only the filing, the hearing and the proof of service go to Fontana.
E-filing rules for San Bernardino cases
Attorneys filing civil papers at Third Street now have to e-file them. The court made eFiling mandatory for attorneys in civil cases, judgments included, on September 2, 2025. People representing themselves can still choose paper or e-filing.
The other divisions are voluntary for now, with no mandatory date set:
- Landlord-tenant eFiling opened on October 2, 2023.
- Small claims eFiling opened on May 8, 2023.
- Family law eFiling opened on February 26, 2024.
Each eFiled document has to be a non-editable PDF of 25 MB or less, with a 50 MB cap per upload. Law firms filing through a provider enter the firm's court-assigned ID number in the Bar Number field, which the court publishes as a list. If you want the complaint filed and the summons served on one request, our San Bernardino County court filing page covers the filing side, and the post on California court eFiling explains how the provider step works.
Getting papers served at San Bernardino addresses
The city spans 10 Census ZIP Code areas, including 92401 downtown and 92415 at the civic center. The details in your Letter of Instruction decide how many trips it takes, and different address types need different details.
Civic center offices. County and court employees work in screened buildings around Arrowhead Avenue and Third Street. Give the department, the floor and a desk phone if you have one. A server can ask for the person by name at a reception window, but can't wander a secured floor.
The university campus. California State University, San Bernardino lists its address as 5500 University Parkway, 92407. For a student or employee there, name the building, the department or the class schedule you know about. A home address is usually the better first try.
Apartment complexes. Give the building and unit number. A leasing office may not confirm who lives where, so a unit number, vehicle or parking space saves an attempt.
Neighborhood names on the address. The court's own lists group Arrowhead Farms, Devore Heights, Muscoy and Verdemont with San Bernardino, and an address may carry one of those names instead of the city's. Give the full street address and ZIP, and note any gate, dog or the hour someone is usually home.
Workplaces. A shift schedule or a supervisor's name makes a workplace a strong second address, especially for someone who leaves home early.
If you've already tried an address, tell us what happened there. "His sister answered and said he works nights" changes the plan for the next attempt.
Papers to serve in San Bernardino?
Small claims service for a San Bernardino defendant
You can't serve your own small claims papers. The person suing is a party, and California only allows service by an adult at least 18 who isn't a party to the case (CCP § 414.10). The court's small claims page lists the options: a friend, the sheriff, a process server, or certified mail sent by the clerk for $15 per defendant.
Certified mail only works if the defendant signs the green card and it comes back to the court. If they don't sign, you're back to personal or substituted service, and the hearing date doesn't move on its own. Small claims also allows substituted service without first attempting personal service (CCP § 116.340(a)(3)), which helps with a defendant who is rarely home.
Timing is what decides these cases. The court's page says:
- Personal service must be complete at least 15 days before the trial date if the defendant lives in San Bernardino County.
- That becomes 20 days if the defendant lives outside the county.
- Every proof of service, usually form SC-104, should be filed 5 days before the hearing.
Those deadlines run to the Fontana District, where San Bernardino small claims are heard. Individuals can ask for up to $12,500 in most claims and businesses up to $6,250, according to the same page. This is general information, not legal advice.
Eviction papers for San Bernardino rentals
Which building the case goes to depends on the amount. A limited landlord-tenant case goes to Fontana, while an unlimited one stays at the Justice Center. The court books appointments for limited filings at Fontana and for unlimited filings at the Justice Center civil counter.
The court's landlord-tenant page tells tenants they have 10 days to file a written response after being served. That makes the service date the start of the whole case calendar. We record the date, time, place and method on the proof so the start date is clear.
One 2027 change matters for landlords now. From January 1, 2027, the eviction complaint must state the date, time and location the termination notice was served (CCP § 1166(a)(5), operative January 1, 2027). If we serve the notice, those three details are on our proof.
Serving a business based in San Bernardino
Every California corporation and LLC must name an agent for service of process with the Secretary of State (Corporations Code §§ 1502 and 17701.13). Search the entity on bizfile Online and send us the agent's name and address with the papers. If the agent is a registered agent company, we deliver to a person that company has authorized to accept.
When no agent can be found with reasonable diligence, a court can allow service through the Secretary of State (Corporations Code § 1702). The Secretary of State accepts that only by hand at its Sacramento counter, 1500 11th Street, 3rd floor, Room 390, Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., with a copy of the court order and the $50 fee. It isn't available by mail or at the Los Angeles office. Our Sacramento office is a few miles from that counter, so ask us about it once you have the order.
The guide to serving corporations in California covers officers who can accept, LLCs and out-of-state companies.
When the San Bernardino address is old
An address from a lease application or a years-old judgment can be wrong by the time a case is filed. If the server finds the person moved, ask about skip tracing. We research a current address and, once you approve it, send the papers out again on the same request. Our post on finding a defendant in California explains what records help.
Neighboring cities
Rialto is 5.7 miles away in a straight line and Colton 6.2 miles, center point to center point. Loma Linda, Highland and Redlands are 7 to 9 miles off. Follow a name for its courthouse details. Every other city in the county is on our San Bernardino County page.