Williams is a small city about 8 miles west of the Colusa County seat, with 5,538 residents at the 2020 Census. It has a City Hall and its own police department, but no courthouse. Every Williams case that belongs in Colusa County is filed at a single counter in the county seat, and most of the questions a Williams filer has come down to whether a document can make that trip electronically.
The answer today is usually yes, but not for everything, and the rules may change in 2027. Below: what still has to be filed on paper, what the proposed rule would change, and what a server needs to know about addresses across ZIP Code 95987. Williams is about 51 miles from our Sacramento office in a straight line, and one Service Request can cover both the service and a filing.
The counter on Oak Street
Colusa Superior Court has one Clerk's Office, in the building it calls the Courthouse Annex, 532 Oak Street, at the corner of 6th and Oak in Colusa. The court lists building hours of 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, free street and lot parking, and a fax number but no direct fax filing. The court's own driving directions start on Interstate 5 at the Highway 20 exit toward Colusa and follow Highway 20 into town.
From the Census center point of Williams, the Annex is about 8.2 miles east in a straight line. The historic courthouse at 547 Market Street, nearby, holds Department 1 and the Self-Help Center. The Sheriff's Civil Unit lists its physical address in the Oak Street building too.
Filing from Williams without the drive
Colusa accepts e-filing through any approved electronic filing service provider, and it's permissive for everyone:
- First and later filings in all civil cases, limited and unlimited, all probate matters, all family law matters including child support and adoption, and juvenile dependency.
- Later filings only in felonies, misdemeanors, criminal and traffic infractions, and juvenile delinquency.
The court's page explains the clock. A document received electronically between 12:00 a.m. and 11:59:59 p.m. on a court day is deemed filed that day; one received on a weekend or holiday is filed the next court day. The same page warns that documents filed on the day of a hearing can't be guaranteed to reach the judge in time.
Two details catch people who are new to it. A document that needs a judge's signature must be submitted as its own lead document, and signed orders go to a pick-up box at the clerk's office unless the filer sends a self-addressed stamped envelope. And anyone who files electronically has consented to electronic service in that case, citing California Rules of Court, rule 2.251(b)(1)(B). E-service handles later papers between parties; it doesn't replace personal service of a summons, a restraining order or anything else the law says must be handed over. Our Colusa County court filing service handles e-filing or a paper filing at Oak Street. General information, not legal advice.
Papers that still go on paper
Colusa's e-filing page lists items that can't be e-filed in any case type:
- Any will, codicil or testamentary trust
- A bond or undertaking
- Subpoenaed documents
- Financial institution, care facility or escrow documents that conservators, guardians or trustees of court-supervised trusts submit under Probate Code § 2620
- California state vital records forms
- Attachments or exhibits that can't be transmitted accurately because of size or type
- Trial exhibits
- Documents lodged provisionally under seal, and documents in sealed cases
- Requests for copies, and requests for administrative records under rule 10.500
- Anything a judicial officer orders filed at the Clerk's Office
The will is the item families most often hold. Under Probate Code § 8200, unless a probate petition has already been filed, the custodian of a will must deliver it to the clerk of the superior court within 30 days after learning of the death, personally or by registered or certified mail, and send a copy to the named executor if their whereabouts are known. A custodian who doesn't comply can be liable for resulting damages. For a Williams family, that means a trip to Oak Street, a certified mailing, or a court runner.
If proposed Rule 1.17 is adopted
The court has posted a draft set of local rules with a planned effective date of January 1, 2027. Its proposed Rule 1.17(B) would require documents in all civil, probate, family law and juvenile dependency cases to be filed and served electronically. Self-represented litigants and non-parties would be exempt, though they could take part voluntarily. Later filings in criminal, traffic and juvenile delinquency cases would remain permissive.
The draft would also move the court's paper-only list into the rule itself as subsection (F), in nearly the same words. A second proposal, Rule 1.18, would require a prepaid, self-addressed envelope for mailed return of conformed copies. Copies sent without one would go to the pick-up box, and anything not collected within 30 days would be destroyed. For a Williams attorney who files by mail today, that's the detail most likely to cost a set of conformed copies. Neither rule was in effect when we read the draft in October 2026.
Papers to serve in Williams?
When the City of Williams is a party
Sometimes the defendant is the city itself, over a sidewalk injury, a contract or a utility dispute. CCP § 416.50 says a summons for a public entity, which includes a city, is served by delivering a copy of the summons and complaint to the clerk, secretary, president, presiding officer or other head of its governing body.
The city's Contact Us page lists City Hall at 810 E Street, Williams, with hours of Monday through Thursday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and closed Fridays. The City Clerk's page gives the same street address and a mailing address of P.O. Box 310. An attempt to serve the city on a Friday is a wasted trip, so plan the delivery for Monday through Thursday.
Before suing, a damages claimant usually has to present a written claim to the city and wait for it to be acted on or deemed rejected (Government Code § 945.4). Under § 911.2, a claim for death or injury to a person or personal property must be presented within six months after it accrues, and most other claims within one year. Check that deadline with counsel first. General information, not legal advice.
ZIP 95987: one city, a lot of farmland
Williams has one ZIP Code area. In the Census Bureau's 2020 ZCTA to place relationship file, 95987 covers about 317 square miles of land, and Williams city accounts for about 4.9 square miles of that. No other city or Census-designated place falls inside the ZIP. Roughly 98% of the land is unincorporated.
A "Williams, CA 95987" address may be a house near City Hall or a farmstead well out from town. For a rural address, send what a stranger would need:
- the county road name and the nearest crossroad, or a parcel number
- a description of the gate, driveway and which building the person lives in
- whether there are dogs, locked yards or more than one residence on the parcel
- the hours the person is usually there, and any workplace
Remote areas are subject to different timelines. A good description often decides whether the first attempt counts.
The Sheriff's Civil Unit
The Colusa County Sheriff's Civil Unit, part of the Support Services Division, serves and enforces civil process that comes with proper instructions and fees, is valid on its face, is issued by a competent authority, and is within Colusa County. Its office hours are 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekdays. Field deputies may serve already-processed requests on any day, including evenings and holidays.
Every request needs an original letter of instruction. The Sheriff's Instructions page says it must identify the person or judgment debtor and the service address, the process to be served, the relevant code section, any property sought, and carry a dated signature from the plaintiff or attorney of record. Levies on real property and sales need more specific instructions.
Not every request waits its turn. The Sheriff's Service Time page says most requests are handled in the order received, but some, restraining orders among them, get priority, and it asks requesters to allow 3 to 4 business days before calling about status. The Civil page limits the Sheriff to process within Colusa County, so if a Williams defendant has moved to Glenn, Yolo or Lake County, a private server can go to the new address on the same request.
The Sheriff's Civil page also notes that registered process servers are available for civil process, and that in many cases, except levies, any adult who isn't a party can serve. Our guide on who can serve papers in California explains the difference.
Free help on Market Street
The court's Self-Help Center and Family Law Facilitator share an office at 547 Market Street in Colusa. It's open Monday through Wednesday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., at (530) 458-0598. The center helps people without lawyers with forms and procedure in custody, support, divorce, paternity, name changes, probate guardianships, domestic violence, civil harassment and workplace violence restraining orders, and small claims. It doesn't give legal advice or represent anyone in court.
For small claims, the clerk will serve the defendant by certified mail for a fee. The other route is personal delivery by an adult who isn't a party, documented on form SC-104.
The 2027 attempt standard
From January 1, 2027, three good-faith attempts at personal delivery, on 3 different days and at 3 different times, show reasonable diligence before substituted service (CCP § 415.20(b)(2), as amended by AB 747). Our AB 747 guide explains the change and the new public register of process servers, and our proof of service guide shows what a server signs.
What to send for a Williams address
Attach up to 5 PDFs to the Service Request, name each party as the papers do, and describe the address in the notes. For a company, look up its agent for service of process on bizfile Online; our serving corporations page covers the rules. If the person has moved, skip tracing can look for a current address. Get status updates by email, or call 855-582-5776, Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. We make no guarantees for service.
Around Williams
Colusa, the county seat, is 7.8 miles east. Willows, in Glenn County, is 25.4 miles north. Live Oak is 27 miles east in Sutter County and Gridley 27.8 miles in Butte County. Clearlake Oaks, over the hills in Lake County, is 29.2 miles west. Every community we serve in the county is on our Colusa County page.