San Bruno is a north San Mateo County city between South San Francisco, Pacifica and Millbrae. It had 43,908 residents at the 2020 Census, and the Census Bureau estimates 42,305 for July 2025. We serve summonses and complaints, subpoenas, small claims, restraining orders, family law papers and eviction documents on people and businesses in the city.
San Bruno requests are handled from our Sacramento office, about 85 miles away, and the papers are served at the San Bruno address you give us. The documents come in online, and the signed proof comes back the same way.
Three San Mateo courthouses and a San Bruno case
San Bruno sits close to one courthouse and has business at two others. Which building matters depends on the step:
| Building | Straight-line miles from central San Bruno | Its role in a San Bruno case |
|---|---|---|
| Northern Branch, 1050 Mission Road, South San Francisco | 2.3 | Small claims hearings; criminal and traffic cases |
| Central Branch, 800 North Humboldt Street, San Mateo | 6.3 | Eviction pretrials, court trials and ex partes; no clerk's office or drop box |
| Hall of Justice and Records, 400 County Center, Redwood City | 14.1 | Clerk's office for civil, small claims, family law and probate filings |
Distances run from the Census Bureau's internal point for San Bruno to the coordinates on each court page. Court facts were checked on sanmateo.courts.ca.gov in October 2026.
So the order of events for a typical San Bruno case runs south, then north. A small claims plaintiff files in Redwood City and argues the case in South San Francisco. A landlord files in Redwood City and goes to San Mateo for the eviction pretrial.
The Northern Branch and San Bruno
The court's page on its judicial districts lists San Bruno under the Northern Branch, along with Brisbane, Burlingame, Colma, Daly City, Hillsborough, Millbrae, Pacifica and South San Francisco. The list mixes cities with agencies such as BART, the airport and the Sheriff's Office, so it reads as a guide to where cases from those places and agencies are heard. A criminal or traffic case from San Bruno is likely to be heard in South San Francisco, though the paperwork for each case controls.
The branch's own page lists civil among its case types, but only criminal and traffic for in-person service. Civil activity there is hearings, chiefly small claims. The court's directions: from Highway 280, take the Westborough exit and follow Westborough, which becomes Chestnut, to Mission Road. From Highway 101, take Grand Avenue west about a mile and a half to Mission Road.
For criminal cases heard there, what we usually serve is witness subpoenas. Send the subpoena, the department and date, and where the witness can be found on a weekday. Our post on how to serve a subpoena in California explains the basics.
Small claims: file in Redwood City, argue in South San Francisco
When the right venue for a small claim is San Mateo County, the court's hearing schedule page says the filing goes to the small claims clerk in Room A of the Hall of Justice. Hearings are then held in South San Francisco:
- Monday: 1:30 p.m.
- Tuesday: 8:30 a.m.
- Wednesday: 1:30 p.m.
- Friday: 1:30 p.m.
- Night court: the first Wednesday of each month at 5:30 p.m., in Redwood City.
The small claims division page adds that hearing calendars require an in-person appearance, with Zoom available on a hardship showing. The clerk's office takes phone calls at (650) 261-5100, option 6, from 8:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. on weekdays.
The claim still has to be served before the hearing, and the person who filed it can't hand it over. Any adult who isn't a party can. A defendant living in San Mateo County needs personal service at least 15 days before the hearing date, and one living in another county at least 20 days before (CCP § 116.340). Substituted service needs more room because the papers are mailed afterward. Choose Rush if your date is close, and upload the claim with the hearing date visible.
Filing at the Hall of Justice by appointment
For any civil, small claims, family law or probate filing, the Hall of Justice in Redwood City is the counter. Its page lists in-person service from 8:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. on weekdays, by appointment. The criminal division keeps longer hours, 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
There are two ways around the appointment. One is the after-hours civil drop box outside Room A on the first floor. The civil division page says papers left before 4:00 p.m. are deemed filed that court day, and the box is emptied at 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. The other is e-filing, which attorneys use. The same page notes that since August 11, 2025, civil judgment packets on paper are accepted only from self-represented parties.
Our San Mateo County court filing service can take the filing step off your plate, and the filed papers go straight to a server for San Bruno.
Papers to serve in San Bruno?
A San Bruno eviction, start to finish
A landlord with a San Bruno unit files the unlawful detainer through the Redwood City clerk or by e-filing. The court's eviction page then moves the hearings to the Central Branch in San Mateo: pretrials there, and ex partes on Tuesdays and Fridays at 1:30 p.m. in Courtroom H.
What we serve is the summons, the complaint and usually the notice that started it. Send the names of all adult occupants, the unit number, and any gate or entry details. A tenant who is handed the summons has 10 court days to answer, according to the state court self-help page. From January 1, 2027, posting an eviction summons after failed attempts follows a three-attempt diligence rule (CCP § 415.45). Our AB 747 guide explains it.
The same page describes what happens if a judge grants a tenant a stay of eviction. The tenant posts the rent due for the stay with the Civil Clerk's Office in Redwood City on the day the stay is approved, then serves the stay order on the Sheriff's Office at 300 Bradford Street, Redwood City. Ex parte and stay fees can be paid at Room A or by phone.
Family cases and court records
A San Bruno divorce, custody or support case is filed with the family law clerk at the Hall of Justice, on the same 8:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. appointment schedule as the civil counter. The Hall of Justice page lists Family Court Services by phone at (650) 261-5080, from 8:30 a.m. to noon and 1:00 to 3:00 p.m. on weekdays. In-person help from the Family Law Facilitator is listed for Monday and Tuesday mornings there, with live chat at other times. Once the petition is filed, the other parent or spouse is served wherever they live now, and we need the filed summons and petition plus a blank response form.
Copies of an older San Mateo County file come from the Records Management counter in the same building, also by appointment. If you'd rather not book one, our document retrieval service can pull the records for you.
San Bruno's ZIP Code area, and its edges
San Bruno has one Census ZIP Code area, 94066. The Census Bureau's 2020 relationship file puts about 89% of its land inside the city and about 11% outside any city, with a sliver in South San Francisco. San Bruno city land also reaches a little way into neighboring ZIP Code areas: 94030 (Millbrae), 94080 (South San Francisco), 94044 (Pacifica) and 94010 (Burlingame).
The airport next door has its own ZIP Code area, 94128, and about 92% of it is outside any city. SFO's About page places the airport in unincorporated San Mateo County, run by the City and County of San Francisco. A person who lives in San Bruno and works at the airport is far easier to serve at home than past airport security. Census ZIP Code areas approximate postal ZIP Codes.
Serving the City of San Bruno
A summons against a public entity can be delivered to its clerk, secretary, president, presiding officer or other head of its governing body (CCP § 416.50). The City Clerk's page lists the office at 567 El Camino Real, San Bruno, CA 94066, phone 650-616-7061. Public counter hours are Monday through Thursday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., and the office is closed Fridays. The page says the office serves the public by appointment, by phone or by email, and its duties include processing claim forms.
That last point matters. A damages claim against the city usually comes before a lawsuit, on its own deadline, and goes to the city as a claim, not as service. Your attorney handles that step. When the lawsuit is ready, confirm the entity's legal name and the recipient, and avoid a Friday for in-person delivery at City Hall.
What a San Bruno Letter of Instruction should cover
San Bruno addresses include apartment buildings, condominiums and single-family homes. A few lines in the Letter of Instruction save attempts:
- Unit and building. Give both, and say whether entry is through a locked lobby or a gate.
- The person. A photo or a description, and a vehicle if you know it.
- Their schedule. When they leave and come home, and a workplace if they work days.
- What's been tried. Anything learned at the address before.
From January 1, 2027, good-faith attempts at personal delivery on at least three occasions, on three different days at three different times, show reasonable diligence before papers are left with another adult (CCP § 415.20(b)(2)). Service by that route is complete on the 10th day after the mailing. Our proof of service guide shows what the server signs. We make no guarantees for service.
Serving a San Bruno business
For a corporation or LLC, look up the agent for service of process on the Secretary of State's bizfile Online and send us the agent's name and address. A small San Bruno company may list its owner. Others list a commercial agent such as CSC or CT Corporation. Our serving corporations page covers the rest. If an address turns out to be old, skip tracing can find a current one.
Sending San Bruno papers
Open a Service Request, attach up to 5 PDFs, name each person or entity as the papers do, add every address with unit details, and choose Rush or Standard. Get status updates by email, or call 855-582-5776 or email Service@ValproAttorneyServices.com.
Near San Bruno
Millbrae is 2.4 miles away and Pacifica 2.8. South San Francisco, home of the Northern Branch, is 3.6 miles, Colma 3.7 and Brisbane 4.4. Burlingame is 4.5 miles south and Daly City a little farther north. Every place we serve in the county is on our San Mateo County page.