Westminster is one of the few Orange County cities with a courthouse inside its limits. The Stephen K. Tamura West Justice Center sits at 8141 13th Street, about half a mile from the city's center point. It's the wrong building for a lawsuit, though. The court uses it for criminal and traffic cases from nine west county cities, and sends Westminster's civil suits, evictions and small claims to Santa Ana.
Westminster also shares one of its ZIP Codes with Midway City, an unincorporated community that makes up most of 92655. A process server can deliver at either one, but your paperwork should describe the address correctly.
We serve summonses, complaints, subpoenas, restraining orders, family law papers and eviction notices across Westminster and Midway City, and our court runners file in Santa Ana, Orange and Costa Mesa. Start a Service Request with the papers attached, or email Service@ValproAttorneyServices.com.
Which justice center takes a Westminster case
Orange County Superior Court publishes a designation list under Local Rule 365. The version in effect since June 30, 2025 gives Westminster this assignment. Distances are straight-line from Westminster's Census center point.
| Type of case | Where it's heard | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Civil, limited and unlimited | Central Justice Center, 700 Civic Center Drive West, Santa Ana | 7.2 mi |
| Landlord-tenant (unlawful detainer) | Central Justice Center | 7.2 mi |
| Small claims | Central Justice Center | 7.2 mi |
| Civil harassment | Central Justice Center | 7.2 mi |
| Probate, elder and dependent adult abuse orders | Costa Mesa Justice Complex, 3390 Harbor Blvd. | 5.8 mi |
| Family law, domestic violence, juvenile | Lamoreaux Justice Center, 341 The City Drive South, Orange | 6.3 mi |
| Criminal and traffic | West Justice Center, 8141 13th Street, Westminster | 0.5 mi |
Complex civil cases go to the Civil Complex Center at 751 West Santa Ana Boulevard. Felony trials, the list notes, may be assigned to whichever justice center has an open trial courtroom.
The West Justice Center on 13th Street
The court's page for the building lists its departments as criminal and traffic, each with clerk hours of 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., Monday through Friday. A Self-Help Center is open 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Monday through Thursday, closing at 3:00 p.m. on Fridays. The general phone number is (657) 622-5900.
The mailing address table on that page is the clearest evidence of the civil split. Traffic mail goes to 8141 13th Street, Westminster, CA 92683-4593. Civil mail goes to 700 Civic Center Drive West in Santa Ana. The page also lists the cities served: Costa Mesa, Cypress, Fountain Valley, Garden Grove, Huntington Beach, Los Alamitos, Seal Beach, Stanton and Westminster.
Subpoenas and visits to the West Justice Center
Westminster parties will still see the building for misdemeanor and traffic cases, and witnesses get subpoenaed there. The facility guide gives practical details for anyone who has to appear:
- Parking is free, across 13th Street next to the public library and at the corner of 13th Street and All American Way.
- Accessible parking is in the main lot on 13th Street and at that corner, with more marked spaces in the north and west lots near 15th and Jackson.
- No food or drink is allowed inside. Vending machines are available.
- Elevators are at the north end of the building.
- Public telephones are in the Jury Assembly room and on the second floor outside Department W13, and a TTY phone is in the Court Administration office.
For a subpoena to a West Justice Center hearing, send us the subpoena with the department, date and time, and any attachments. If the witness has a work schedule, include it, so we can plan attempts that leave the witness enough notice.
Witnesses who need help to take part can ask for it ahead of time. The guide says interpreters, including American Sign Language, are scheduled on request, and that assistive listening devices and real-time captioning are available for people with hearing loss. Requests go through Judicial Council form MC-410, and the building's ADA coordinator can be reached at (657) 622-7769. A short note with the subpoena pointing the witness to that process gives them time to arrange it before the hearing day.
Traffic matters have one more convenience. The designation list says payments and general traffic questions can be handled at any justice center with a criminal and traffic clerk's office, though a Westminster ticket's trial stays on 13th Street.
92683, 92655 and Midway City
The Census Bureau's 2020 relationship file between ZIP Code areas and places shows two very different ZIP Codes.
92683 is almost entirely Westminster, about 99.9% of its land, with slivers in Garden Grove and Huntington Beach.
92655 is mostly Midway City. About 67.5% of its land is in the Midway City Census-designated place, and about 32.5% in Westminster.
The same file gives Westminster about 10 square miles of land. From the city's side, about 96.7% of it is in 92683 and about 2.9% in 92655, with traces in 92647 and 92841.
Midway City has no city government. North Patrol, according to the Sheriff's page, serves more than 70,000 residents of unincorporated Orange County, from El Modena and Rossmoor to the canyon communities of Modjeska and Silverado, along with the contract city of Villa Park. The page lists Midway City among the unincorporated communities whose police services the department provides, and says dozens of unincorporated county islands lie inside cities including Westminster, Huntington Beach and Fountain Valley. So a Westminster mailing address isn't always inside the city. For service, the server goes to the street address. For a complaint, notice or lease dispute, describe the property as the deed or lease does, and if a city ordinance matters to the case, confirm the property is actually in the city first.
Papers to serve in Westminster?
Civil filings in Santa Ana
Westminster lawsuits are heard at the Central Justice Center, about 7.2 miles east. Its court page gives civil and small claims clerk hours of 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., Monday through Friday.
Most of the filing happens online. The court's e-filing page says represented parties have had to e-file since January 1, 2013, in limited, unlimited and complex civil actions and in probate, citing Local Rules 352 and 601.01, unless the court excuses them. Parties without a lawyer may file on paper, and the court encourages them to try e-filing. Anyone with a fee waiver who e-files avoids the e-filing charges.
A handful of civil papers can't be e-filed. The court lists bench warrants, subpoenaed documents, Labor Commissioner cash or check deposits, bonds and undertakings. If your Westminster case needs one of those filed, we take it to the counter and return the conformed copy with the request.
Evictions from Westminster rentals
A Westminster unlawful detainer is filed and heard in Santa Ana. Once the court issues the summons, upload these to the Service Request:
- Summons and complaint, with the case number.
- The prejudgment claim of right to possession, if you're serving one so occupants you can't name are covered.
- Each adult occupant, spelled exactly as on the summons.
- The unit number, and whether the property is in the city or Midway City.
- The original notice, with the date it was served.
The tenant's deadline to answer depends on the method we use. Personal delivery gives 10 court days. Substituted service, or posting under a court order (CCP § 415.45), gives 10 calendar days plus 10 court days measured from the follow-up mailing. The proof of service we send back states the method, date and time, which your office uses to calendar the default.
Westminster small claims
Small claims cases from Westminster are filed and heard at the Central Justice Center. The deadline to serve is set by the hearing date, not the filing date. Count back from the date on page 1 of the claim, starting with the day before as day 1:
- Day 15 is the last day for personal service when the defendant lives in Orange County.
- Day 20 is the last day when the defendant lives in a different county.
- Weekend or holiday? Use the last court day before it.
- Substituted service must be done 10 days before whichever deadline applies.
Whoever filed the claim can't be the one who delivers it. A business or government defendant must be served through a specific person, and the Judicial Council's guide refers filers to form SC-104C to find out who. Our server signs form SC-104 when it's done.
The court's small claims page offers routes that can shorten the trip to Santa Ana: remote hearing procedures, mediation programs, an online dispute resolution option and small claims advisors. None of them removes the need for proper service, so the claim still has to reach the defendant on time.
Family law in Orange, probate in Costa Mesa
Westminster divorce, custody, support and domestic violence cases are heard at the Lamoreaux Justice Center in Orange. The summons and petition go to the other party and come back on form FL-115. A domestic violence restraining order is proved on form DV-200, and it has to be served before the hearing date on the order, so send it to us as soon as it's signed.
Probate cases, and restraining orders for elder or dependent adult abuse, are heard at the Costa Mesa Justice Complex, about 5.8 miles from Westminster. That building also handles mental health matters. A civil harassment order, by contrast, is heard in Santa Ana with the rest of the civil calendar.
Serving businesses with a Westminster address
For a corporation, LLC or limited partnership, the right person to serve is usually the agent for service of process on file with the Secretary of State. Look up the company, copy the agent's name and address exactly, and include it on the Service Request. A small business may operate under a trade name that differs from its legal name, so check both before the complaint is drafted. Our serving corporations page explains agents, officers and registered agent firms.
What helps a Westminster attempt succeed
Give the server the details the address can't show:
- Full street address with unit or space number.
- City or Midway City, if the ZIP Code is 92655.
- Gate codes or a manager's name for apartment and mobile home communities.
- Usual hours at home or at work.
- A second address, such as a workplace in Garden Grove or Huntington Beach.
- A description, a photo and a vehicle with its plate.
- Earlier attempts and what happened.
- The court date you're working against.
Starting January 1, 2027, reasonable diligence before substituted service is shown by attempting personal delivery on at least three occasions, on three different days, at three different times (CCP § 415.20(b)(2)). Read more in our AB 747 guide. We make no guarantees for service.
Someone who has moved can often be found through skip tracing, and we send the papers back out only when you approve the new address. Get every update by email. Orange County court filing covers the justice centers, document retrieval handles conformed copies, and our proof of service guide shows the forms you'll receive.
Next to Westminster
Garden Grove is 2.7 miles away in a straight line, Fountain Valley 3.8 and Huntington Beach 3.8. Seal Beach is 4.5 miles away. Other Orange County cities start from our Orange County page.