San Jose is the Santa Clara County seat and the county's largest city, with 1,013,240 residents in the 2020 Census. We serve summonses, subpoenas and every other legal document on people and businesses at San Jose homes, apartments, offices and job sites.
Our office is in Sacramento, and we have no office in San Jose. Everything starts online: upload the papers, describe who to serve, and every update comes by email. Questions go to 855-582-5776 or Service@ValproAttorneyServices.com.
How do I get papers served in San Jose?
Start a Service Request, upload up to 5 PDFs and name the person or business to serve. Give every San Jose address you have, choose Rush or Standard, and write a Letter of Instruction. We assign the request, make the attempts and send the proof of service back for filing.
- Upload the papers. Send the endorsed summons and complaint, or the subpoena with its attachments, as PDFs. Add a Billing Reference if your firm tracks matters that way.
- Name the party precisely. For a person, give the full name and any other names they use. For a business, give the exact entity name from its Secretary of State record.
- Rank the addresses. Put the most likely one first. A San Jose home plus a weekday workplace gives the server two real chances.
- Write the Letter of Instruction. Unit numbers, gate or lobby codes, shift times, a photo and a vehicle all help.
- Watch your email. Each update comes in your confirmation thread.
Which San Jose courthouse handles my case?
Most San Jose civil work happens on one block of North First Street. Downtown Superior Court at 191 North First Street takes civil, probate and small claims. The Old Courthouse at 161 North First Street holds more civil departments. Family law sits at 201 North First Street. Criminal cases are heard at the Hall of Justice on West Hedding Street.
| Case type | Courthouse | Address |
|---|---|---|
| Civil, limited and unlimited, including unlawful detainer | Downtown Superior Court (Depts. 1–16) and Old Courthouse (Depts. 17–22) | 191 and 161 North First Street |
| Small claims | Downtown Superior Court | 191 North First Street |
| Probate | Downtown Superior Court | 191 North First Street |
| Family law | Family Justice Center Courthouse (Depts. 60–79) | 201 North First Street |
| Criminal | Hall of Justice (Depts. 23–54) | 190 West Hedding Street |
The court's civil page says civil cases in the county are heard at Downtown Superior Court and the Old Courthouse. Unlawful detainer cases are part of that civil caseload. The Old Courthouse has no separate mailing address and uses 191 North First Street.
Clerk's Office hours are shorter than building hours. The court posts Monday through Thursday 8:30 a.m.–3:00 p.m. and Friday 8:30 a.m.–12:00 p.m. for the clerk and phones, while the buildings open 8:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m. A drop box in the Downtown Superior Court lobby takes civil filings while the lobby is open.
Two other buildings come up in old files. The Santa Clara Courthouse is listed as temporarily closed. The Palo Alto Courthouse hears criminal cases, and the South County Morgan Hill Courthouse hears criminal and traffic cases. Court facts checked October 2026 at santaclara.courts.ca.gov.
Does Santa Clara County require e-filing?
Yes, for lawyers in most case types. The court's e-filing page says e-filing for all attorney represented parties in civil, family and probate cases is mandatory, and lists unlawful detainer, complex civil and limited and unlimited civil among them. E-filing in small claims cases is available.
The court still takes some documents in hard copy. Its list includes abstracts, writs, sister-state judgments, out-of-state commissions and its local form for subpoenas in out-of-state actions. If your San Jose matter is a deposition for a case pending in another state, ask us about the paper filing before service.
For a self-represented party, paper filing at the Downtown Superior Court counter or drop box is still an option. Our Santa Clara County court filing page explains what we file and how the endorsed copies come back. For the e-filing rules across California, read California court e-filing basics.
Papers to serve in San Jose?
What makes a San Jose address harder to serve?
The city stretches across 31 Census ZIP Code areas, from 95002 in Alviso to 95120 in Almaden Valley and 95138 in the southeast hills. Building type matters more than distance. A badge-access office tower, a gated townhome complex and a hillside house each need different details in the Letter of Instruction.
- Office parks in North San Jose. Many campuses route visitors through a lobby desk. A floor, a suite and the name of an assistant or receptionist save an attempt.
- Downtown apartment towers. Controlled entry and package rooms are common. A unit number, a buzzer name or a leasing office contact helps the server reach the door.
- Gated townhome and condo communities. Give the gate code if a resident shared it, or the management office name.
- Alviso. Alviso, a bayside neighborhood, is part of San Jose. It sits at the south end of San Francisco Bay, apart from the rest of the city.
- East foothills and Mount Hamilton Road. Homes above the valley floor can be far apart. Our turnaround wording applies here: remote areas are subject to different timelines.
San Jose also surrounds unincorporated county pockets. A house can have a San Jose mailing address and still be outside the city limits. For service, the street address is what counts, so give it exactly as it appears on a lease, a DMV record or a utility bill.
How do I serve a company based in San Jose?
Serve the agent for service of process named on the company's California filing, or an officer the statute allows. Corporations and LLCs must list an agent with the Secretary of State (Corporations Code §§ 1502(b) and 17701.13). Search bizfile Online, then send us the agent's name and address with the papers.
A receptionist at a San Jose headquarters is often not the right person. For a corporation, CCP § 416.10 lets you serve the designated agent, or an officer such as the president, a vice president, the secretary, the chief financial officer or the general manager. Many Silicon Valley companies name a registered agent firm instead of an employee. When that happens, the papers go to that firm's office, which may be outside San Jose.
Our guide to serving corporations in California covers out-of-state companies, dissolved entities and court-ordered service through the Secretary of State.
How do the 2027 service rules apply to San Jose addresses?
AB 747 changes two things that affect San Jose service from January 1, 2027. Before substituted service, reasonable diligence will be shown by attempts on at least 3 occasions, on 3 different days at 3 different times (CCP § 415.20(b)(2)). Proofs will also need photos stamped with the date, time and GPS location (CCP § 417.10(a)(1)).
For a San Jose defendant who works long hours at a campus office, the 3-day rule matters. A home address alone may need early, midday and evening attempts across a week. Add the workplace to the Letter of Instruction so the attempts can be spread over both. Read the full AB 747 guide for 2027. This is general information, not legal advice.
Can you file the case and then serve it?
Yes. Tell us both steps in the Letter of Instruction. We file the complaint at Santa Clara County Superior Court, by e-filing or at the Downtown Superior Court counter, and once the summons is issued, the endorsed papers go out for service.
If you need a copy of something already in a San Jose court file, such as a prior judgment or an old proof of service, our document retrieval service pulls it. Our court filing service covers filings at other California courts.
What if the San Jose address doesn't work?
An address from an old lease or a years-old court file can go stale. If the server learns the person moved, ask about skip tracing. We look for a current address and send it to you, and with your approval the papers go back out. Our post on how to find a defendant in California explains what helps.
Serving near San Jose
Neighboring cities and communities we serve: Santa Clara, Campbell, Los Gatos, Coyote and New Almaden. The rest of the county is on our Santa Clara County process server page.