Temple City sits in the west San Gabriel Valley with no courthouse of its own, and the nearest one doesn't help. The El Monte Courthouse is about 2.6 miles from the city's Census center point, but the court's directory lists only criminal and traffic divisions there. Temple City's civil, family and eviction filings go north and west instead, to Pasadena and Alhambra, with collection cases sent clear across the county to Chatsworth.
For the process server, the address is the easy part: the papers are delivered in Temple City and the proof goes back to whichever building issued the case. We run Temple City requests from Sacramento, about 366 miles away, and the request record shows every attempt with its date and time.
Temple City's filing courthouses
We ran Temple City's ZIP Codes through the Los Angeles Superior Court's filing court locator in October 2026. The Temple City rows in 91780 and 91775 returned the same answers, and so did the Arcadia row in 91007, where a sliver of the city lies. Distances are straight lines from the city's center point:
| Case type | Courthouse | Miles |
|---|---|---|
| Limited unlawful detainer | Pasadena Courthouse, 300 East Walnut Street | 5.9 |
| Small claims | Pasadena Courthouse | 5.9 |
| Family law and restraining orders | Pasadena Courthouse | 5.9 |
| Unlimited civil (over $35,000) | Alhambra Courthouse, 150 West Commonwealth (Pasadena also listed) | 4.0 |
| Limited civil collection | Chatsworth Courthouse, 9425 Penfield Avenue | 30.8 |
| Probate | Stanley Mosk Courthouse, 111 North Hill Street | 11.3 |
| Limited civil, not collection | Stanley Mosk Courthouse | 11.3 |
The locator is a lookup tool. Chapter 2 of the court's Local Rules, effective July 1, 2026, holds the filing rules themselves, so read the two together when a case doesn't fit neatly.
Unlimited civil: the Alhambra rule
For unlimited civil, the locator names two buildings, Alhambra and Pasadena. Local Rule 2.3(a)(1)(C) settles it for cases filed in the Northeast District: they go to the Alhambra Courthouse. The rule also leaves room to file many unlimited cases in the Central District at Stanley Mosk, and a personal injury case belongs in the district where the incident happened.
The Alhambra Civil Clerk's Office is in Room 234 on the second floor, (213) 633-6333, open 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on court days. Attorneys file civil cases electronically unless the court grants an exemption, and every new complaint carries form LACIV 109, the Statement of Location. Our Los Angeles County court filing page covers counter and eFiling options.
North El Monte shares 91780 but files elsewhere
The Census Bureau's 2020 ZCTA to place file puts about 91% of Temple City's land in 91780, and about 95% of 91780 inside the city. Most of the rest of that ZIP Code area is North El Monte, an unincorporated census-designated place, with slivers of Arcadia, El Monte and East San Gabriel at the edges.
The locator treats North El Monte differently. Its 91780 row sends limited evictions and small claims to the West Covina Courthouse, 1427 West Covina Parkway, about 7 miles east, while family law and unlimited civil still route to Pasadena and Alhambra. West Covina's directory puts small claims and unlawful detainer together in Room 107, (626) 430-2596, with eviction ex parte hearings at 11:00 a.m. in Department 2.
A mailing address that reads "Temple City, CA 91780" may still sit in North El Monte. If you're filing a small claim or an eviction and the parcel is near the city's edge, confirm the community before you choose a courthouse. Unincorporated North El Monte is governed by the County of Los Angeles, not the city.
The 91775 and 91007 corners
About 5% of the city lies in 91775, a ZIP Code area the Census file splits mainly between East San Gabriel and the City of San Gabriel. Another 2% is in 91007, which is mostly Arcadia. Both returned Pasadena for evictions, small claims and family law, the same as central Temple City, so the court choice rarely changes there. What changes is the name on the mail. Give us the full street address and any community name you see on the lease or tax bill.
Inside the Pasadena Courthouse
Pasadena is where most Temple City paperwork ends up. The court's directory lists:
- Room 102: the Unlawful Detainer Hub and the Small Claims Clerk's Office, (213) 633-6333. Eviction ex parte matters are heard at 1:30 p.m. in Department R on the second floor.
- Room 100: the Family Law Clerk's Office and restraining order filings, (213) 633-6363, with Family Court Services mediation in the same room.
- Family Law Facilitator: (213) 830-0845, for self-represented parties who need help with support forms before they file.
- Criminal Clerk's Office: Room 106, with counter hours of 8:30 to 10:30 a.m. and 1:30 to 3:30 p.m.
- Restraining orders: applications have to be filed before 3:30 p.m. to be heard the same day.
The building opens at 8:00 a.m. and the clerk's offices at 8:30 a.m., Monday through Friday except court holidays.
Papers to serve in Temple City?
Temple City evictions
A landlord with a Temple City rental files a limited eviction at Pasadena's Room 102, unless the property is in the North El Monte part of 91780, which goes to West Covina. After the summons issues, the tenant is served at the unit. Under the Self-Help Guide, a tenant served in person has 10 court days to respond.
From January 1, 2027, posting an eviction summons under CCP § 415.45 depends on a court finding of reasonable diligence, and the statute treats three good-faith attempts on three different days at three different times as showing it. Our AB 747 guide explains the change. For a Temple City unit, send:
- Every tenant and adult occupant your attorney wants served, spelled as on the summons.
- Unit and building details, such as a back house, a duplex side or a gated driveway.
- The Pasadena or West Covina case number, so the proof matches the file.
- Good times to find the tenant, if you know their work hours.
Small claims for Temple City parties
Temple City small claims are filed at the same Room 102 window in Pasadena that handles evictions. The California Courts Self-Help Guide puts the general limit at $12,500 for a person and $6,250 for a business. Lawyers can advise before the hearing but can't appear with a party in court.
The person who files the claim can't serve it. Under CCP § 116.340, a defendant who lives in Los Angeles County has to be served at least 15 days before the hearing, and one who lives outside the county at least 20 days before. The server signs form SC-104 afterward, and the proof is filed with the Pasadena clerk. If the hearing is close, choose Rush and say so in the Letter of Instruction.
Next-door communities that route differently
A defendant who lives one city over is still served wherever they can be found, and the case stays in the courthouse that issued it. Starting a new case for a neighboring property is different, because the locator's answers vary more than the map suggests. Here is what it returned in October 2026:
| Neighboring row | Evictions | Small claims | Family law |
|---|---|---|---|
| San Gabriel (91776) | Pasadena | Pasadena | Pasadena |
| Rosemead and South San Gabriel (91770) | Pasadena | Pasadena | Pasadena |
| El Monte (91731) | West Covina | West Covina | Pomona Courthouse South |
| South El Monte row (91733) | West Covina | Pasadena | Pasadena |
| North El Monte (91780) | West Covina | West Covina | Pasadena |
El Monte's own 91731 row sends unlimited civil to Pomona Courthouse South, while the South El Monte row in 91733 lists Burbank and Glendale for unlimited civil. When an address is near one of these lines, run the exact community before filing.
Family law and restraining orders
Divorce, custody and support cases from Temple City go to Pasadena's Room 100. A family law summons is usually proved on form FL-115, and the petitioner can't serve it personally. A restraining order and its hearing papers go to the restrained person by personal delivery, proved on DV-200 for domestic violence or CH-200 for civil harassment. A recent photo, a vehicle description and a work schedule help the server finish before the hearing date.
Collections are filed in Chatsworth
The court sends limited collection cases under California Rules of Court rule 3.740 to two countywide hubs. Southeast cities route to Norwalk, but every Temple City row we checked routes to Chatsworth, 9425 Penfield Avenue, where the directory puts civil collections in Room 1200 and collections hub motions in Department F43, booked through the Court Reservation System.
From January 1, 2027, a consumer debt case calls for at least one service attempt at the debtor's home when that address is known or can be found with reasonable effort (CCP § 415.20(b)(3)). If you have both a home and a work address for a Temple City debtor, send both, and tell us which is the residence.
Serving the City of Temple City
Temple City City Hall is at 9701 Las Tunas Drive, and the city's main line is 626-285-2171. A public entity is served by delivering the papers to its clerk, secretary, president, presiding officer or other head of its governing body under CCP § 416.50. Name the office in the Letter of Instruction, and note any deadline for a hearing or a claim response.
Probate and smaller civil cases go downtown
Probate for a Temple City estate, and any limited civil case that isn't a collection or an eviction, is filed at the Stanley Mosk Courthouse, 111 North Hill Street in downtown Los Angeles. The building opens at 7:30 a.m. The papers in those cases are still served at Temple City addresses, so mark which documents need filing first.
Companies and hard-to-find people
For a corporation or LLC with a Temple City storefront, serve the agent for service of process listed on the Secretary of State's bizfile Online search, not the person at the register. Our serving corporations page lists the fallbacks when an agent can't be found. If the person you need has moved, skip tracing looks for a current address, and our post on how to find a defendant in California explains what to gather first.
Sending a Temple City request
Attach up to 5 PDFs to a Service Request, choose Rush or Standard, and list every address with unit and gate details. If you need the case filed in Pasadena, Alhambra or Chatsworth first, add it to the same request. Every update comes by email. Call 855-582-5776 or write to Service@ValproAttorneyServices.com. We make no guarantees for service.
Around Temple City
San Gabriel and Arcadia are each 2.4 miles away, El Monte 2.5 and Rosemead 2.7. We also serve Alhambra. The full list is on our Los Angeles County page.