Susanville is the county seat of Lassen County and its only city. The 2020 Census counted 16,728 people there. State Route 36 runs through town as Main Street, and the court's directions bring visitors in from Redding on SR 44, from Red Bluff on SR 36, and from Reno or Alturas on U.S. 395. Every court case in the county runs through one building in Susanville, the Hall of Justice on Riverside Drive, about 1.8 miles from the city's Census center point.
Two things set Susanville apart for anyone who needs papers served. First, the county sheriff has stepped back from most civil service, so a private process server does the work that deputies handle in many other counties. Second, the court doesn't accept e-filing for ordinary civil cases; filings go in on paper, by mail or by fax. Susanville is about 134 miles from our Sacramento office, and we plan the filing and the service as one job.
The sheriff won't serve most civil papers here
The Lassen County Sheriff's Civil page divides civil papers into two lists. The second list, papers the Sheriff won't serve, is the one that matters for most Susanville cases. It includes:
- summons and complaint, and summons and petition
- small claims claims and small claims cross-complaints
- civil and juvenile subpoenas
- dissolution papers, for divorce and annulment
- probate and juvenile citations and petitions
- judgments, answers and responses
- wage garnishments and earnings withholding orders, except for federal and U.S. Postal Service employees
The Sheriff makes an exception only if you are incarcerated in the county's adult detention facility or have a certified fee waiver from the court. Otherwise, the page says, the levies on that list must be served by a registered process server, and non-levy civil process can be served by anyone 18 or older who isn't a party, or by a registered process server.
The first list covers what the Sheriff still does. Evictions under a writ of possession, keeper levies, till taps, claim and delivery, vehicle and equipment seizures and sales, and civil bench warrants are marked as Sheriff-only. Restraining orders, temporary restraining orders, orders to show cause and criminal subpoenas can be served by the Sheriff or a registered process server. The office is closed on weekends and county holidays, and completed civil documents can be emailed to its Civil Department.
For a Susanville lawsuit, then, the summons is a process server's job from the start. Our guide on who can serve papers in California explains the rules for paid servers.
One courthouse: the Hall of Justice
The Lassen Superior Court lists a single location: the Hall of Justice, 2610 Riverside Drive, Susanville, CA 96130. Civil, small claims, probate, family law, juvenile, criminal and traffic matters are all filed and heard there. The building is open from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, and every division uses one phone number, (530) 251-8205.
The court's civil page explains how papers are filed at the Clerk's Office inside the building. The original set must be signed, dated, organized, two-hole punched and stapled, and filed with the right number of copies. The clerk won't accept copies that aren't organized and stapled. Handwritten forms are allowed if they're printed clearly in blue or black ink and otherwise meet the California Rules of Court.
Two calendars come up often:
- Civil law and motion is generally heard on the third Thursday of each month in Department 3.
- Small claims hearings are typically on Wednesdays at 2:00 p.m. in Department 2.
Non-confidential hearing dates can be looked up on the court's Case Index & Calendar Portal, by case number or name, along with weekly and daily calendars. Copies of a case file can be requested online, in person or by mail through the clerk. The civil page also says Zoom and CourtCall appearances are allowed in certain civil situations, with forms and deadlines that have to be met before the hearing, which helps when a party lives hours away.
No e-filing; fax and mail instead
Lassen County doesn't have general e-filing. Local Rule 18.1 runs a limited eDelivery pilot that began with filings from the Lassen County Department of Child Support Services, and the rule states that any electronic filing other than what it authorizes will be rejected and won't be accepted by the clerk.
The remote option is fax. Under Local Rule 17, the court accepts fax filings in civil, probate and family law cases, and in juvenile dependency. Fax filing is also accepted in the Appellate Division under Rule 10. Each division has its own instructions on the court's fax filing page, so read the civil, probate and family law version before sending. Mail filing works too.
When we file a Susanville case for you, we file at the window or by fax, then serve the filed papers. Our Lassen County court filing page explains the process. General information, not legal advice.
Papers to serve in Susanville?
People in custody near Susanville
State prisons operate near Susanville. If the person you need served is held in one, the process is different from a home or business service, because each facility sets its own rules on access and on how legal papers reach a person in custody.
Call us at 855-582-5776 before you send papers for anyone in custody. Have the person's full name, any booking or identification number, the facility and any hearing date ready. We'll go over what the facility allows before a server is dispatched. If someone is held in the county's own detention facility and is the one asking for service, note that the Sheriff's exception for incarcerated requesters may apply.
96130: a small city in a very large ZIP Code
Susanville's ZIP Code area, 96130, covers a great deal of ground. The Census Bureau's 2020 relationship file measures about 1,295 square kilometers of land in it. Only about 1.6% is inside Susanville city limits. Small shares fall in other Census places: Johnstonville about 1.7%, Spaulding 0.7% and Stones Landing 0.4%. Roughly 95.6% lies outside any city or Census place.
So "Susanville, CA 96130" on an envelope can mean a house in town, a home in Johnstonville, a place in Spaulding or Stones Landing, or a ranch far out on a county road. For anything outside town, send:
- the physical address, not a P.O. box
- the nearest cross road or a map pin
- a description of the gate, the driveway and any dogs
- the person's vehicle and usual hours
Mountain and high-desert roads, distance and winter weather can all slow a trip to an outlying parcel. Remote areas are subject to different timelines.
Evictions and debt cases in Susanville
The court's civil page describes unlawful detainer cases as having priority over most legal cases, so they're calendared for trial promptly. A Susanville landlord files the complaint at the Hall of Justice, then has the summons and complaint served on each tenant named. Since the Sheriff won't serve a summons for most filers, that's a process server's job. A tenant who is personally served has 10 court days to answer. If the landlord wins, the Sheriff carries out the eviction under the writ of possession.
The court's civil page puts limited civil cases at $35,000 or less and unlimited above that. After a money judgment, collection steps vary: the Sheriff handles keeper levies and till taps, while a wage garnishment for most debtors goes to a registered process server. To lien a debtor's real estate, an abstract of judgment is recorded with the Lassen County Recorder, 200 South Lassen Street, as the court's small claims page notes. General information, not legal advice.
Small claims papers
Small claims in Susanville are filed at the Hall of Justice and heard on Wednesday afternoons. The court's page says you can't serve the claim yourself, and the Sheriff's page puts small claims claims on its won't-serve list for most filers. That leaves a process server or another adult who isn't a party. The server completes form SC-104 after delivery.
A defendant who lives in Lassen County must be served at least 15 days before the hearing, and one who lives in another county at least 20 days before (CCP § 116.340). A defendant who wants to sue back files form SC-120, which also has to be served. After judgment, the application and order to produce a statement of assets and appear for examination, form SC-134, must be served on the debtor too.
Name changes and family papers
The court's civil page spells out a name change rule that involves service. After the petition is filed, the notice must run in a newspaper of general circulation for four weeks in a row, once a week. To change a child's name, the other parent must be personally served at least 30 days before the hearing, unless both parents sign the petition.
Divorce papers are on the Sheriff's won't-serve list, so a Susanville divorce petition and summons go to a process server too. Give us the other party's home and work addresses and any schedule you know. Our proof of service guide shows what the signed proof includes.
AB 747 in 2027
Starting January 1, 2027, three good-faith attempts at personal delivery, on 3 different days at 3 different times, show reasonable diligence before papers are left with another adult at the home (CCP § 415.20(b)(2)). Each county clerk's register of process servers becomes public under Bus. & Prof. Code § 22355. See our AB 747 guide. We make no guarantees for service. General information, not legal advice.
Businesses in Susanville
To serve a corporation or LLC, find its agent for service of process on the Secretary of State's bizfile Online and send us the name and address exactly as listed. Our serving corporations page explains each option. If a person has left Lassen County, skip tracing can search for a new address.
Sending a Susanville Service Request
Open a Service Request, attach up to 5 PDFs, and name each person or business as the papers do. Add every address with access notes, tell us whether to file at the Hall of Justice first, and choose Rush or Standard. Get every update by email, call 855-582-5776 weekdays from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., or email Service@ValproAttorneyServices.com.
Beyond Susanville
Portola in Plumas County is about 43 miles away, Loyalton in Sierra County 56 and Alturas in Modoc County 73. Chico and Truckee are each about 78 miles off. The Lassen County page covers the rest of the county.