Yreka is a small city with a big job. It had 7,807 residents at the 2020 Census, and it is the seat of a county that runs from Mount Shasta to the Oregon line. The Siskiyou County Superior Court has one courthouse, and it's here, at 411 Fourth Street. So is the Sheriff's main office, where civil process is handled, at 305 Butte Street. A case from Tulelake, Happy Camp or Dunsmuir ends up in Yreka the same way a case from downtown does.
We take Yreka requests from Sacramento, about 223 miles south in a straight line, and the papers are served at the Yreka address. Below is what matters about the court and the Sheriff when the job is in town.
A courthouse with a lunch hour
The court's location page posts a single line of building hours on weekdays: morning until noon, then 1:00 until 5:00. The phone lines run on a different schedule.
| Line | Hours |
|---|---|
| General phone contact | 8 a.m. to noon, 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. |
| Administration | Open until 5 p.m. |
| Traffic | 10 a.m. to noon, 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. |
| Main number | (530) 842-0411 |
The noon closure is easy to forget. A runner who reaches Fourth Street at 12:10 waits until 1:00. For a filing due that day, the morning window is the safer one.
Paper at the window, or e-file
Siskiyou gives filers a real choice. Local Rule 2.23, adopted July 1, 2024 and carried into the rules effective July 1, 2026, lets a filer use an e-filing provider in a civil, probate, family or small claims case, or bring paper to the windows on Fourth Street.
E-filing goes through an electronic filing service provider, and the court's File Online page names Journal Technologies as its e-filing manager. The rule sets a few format requirements worth knowing:
- documents must be text-searchable PDFs with page numbers
- a document of 10 pages or more with several exhibits or sections needs bookmarks
- anything received electronically on a court day, up to 11:59:59 p.m., is deemed filed that day if in proper form; weekend and holiday filings count on the next court day
- provider fees are waived for parties with an active fee waiver and for government entities
Some items still go in on paper: original wills and codicils, bonds, exhibits lodged for hearings, subpoenaed documents and copy requests.
Email and fax are off the table for those four case types. The single exception is a domestic violence or gun violence restraining order request, which may be emailed to the address on the court's site. Criminal cases have their own fax rule, Local Rule 2.24, limited to papers filed after the case starts.
The court has also been moving case files off paper. Its public notice says unlawful detainer cases went paperless on March 30, 2026, after traffic, non-traffic infractions, small claims and child support cases. The same notice says civil e-filing "is encouraged but is not mandatory at this time." Our Siskiyou County court filing service can e-file through a provider or take the papers to the window, and we can serve the same case on one request.
Eviction rules that apply in Yreka
Landlord-tenant cases are handled by the Civil Division, which also takes limited and unlimited civil, probate, juvenile, name change petitions and various writs. For an unlawful detainer, three points are worth knowing before the summons goes out:
- The answer clock. After personal service, the tenant has 10 court days to answer.
- The 60-day rule. Local Rule 5.15 lets the court summarily dismiss the case without prejudice if no proof of service of the summons and complaint is filed within 60 days of filing (CCP § 1167.1).
- Who can file. Local Rule 5.14 lets an individual who owns the property of record bring an unlawful detainer in their own name without a lawyer. A property manager or rental agent that is a corporation or partnership has to appear through an attorney, and so does any corporate landlord.
When the case is won, the writ of possession goes to the Sheriff. The Civil Division wants the original writ, three copies and an instruction letter. Only the attorney of record can sign that letter, or the plaintiff personally when no attorney is involved. Rule 5.14 also says what happens if the clerk files a complaint from someone who wasn't allowed to file it: the clerk will refuse to enter a default or a clerk's judgment, or file anything else for that plaintiff, until an attorney substitutes in. For a property management company, that's a reason to have counsel sign from the start.
The fee is $180, split as $105 for posting and $75 for restoration. The office sets a lockout date and time when it receives the writ, then calls to arrange meeting at the property. General information, not legal advice.
Papers to serve in Yreka?
What the Sheriff's Civil office on Butte Street asks for
The Civil Division serves process in every Siskiyou city and in unincorporated county areas too. You'll find it inside the Sheriff's headquarters on Butte Street, number 305. It keeps shorter days than the court: 9:00 to 4:00 Monday through Thursday, and 9:00 to noon on Fridays. The civil line is (530) 842-8317.
Its page sets out the paperwork:
- an instruction letter with a signature and date from the attorney of record (or a plaintiff without one), giving the person's name and the street location where they should be served
- one copy of each document, front and back, for every person served, plus one for the Sheriff's file
- for a wage levy, an application for an earnings withholding order instead of a letter of instruction
- fees in advance, charged per service
The fee table, effective January 1, 2024, lists $50 for a summons and complaint, claim and order, landlord-tenant notice, notice of hearing or request for order. A bank levy is $50 and a wage levy $45. The page also notes that fees are earned whether or not service succeeds, and it links the Judicial Council's SER-001 instructions form, marked updated September 28, 2026.
Levy money the Sheriff collects is paid out at least once every 30 days under CCP § 706.026, and the office's practice is to disburse at the end of each month. A $15 assessment is collected from the judgment debtor on each disbursement.
A private server is the other route. California lets any non-party adult serve, as our guide on who can serve papers in California explains. Under AB 747, from January 1, 2027, a server who tries personal delivery in good faith on three separate days, each at a different time of day, shows reasonable diligence before leaving papers with someone else (CCP § 415.20(b)(2)). The AB 747 guide explains the change. We make no guarantees for service.
Levies have their own paperwork. The Civil Division wants the original writ of execution plus three copies, front and back, and extra copies when there's more than one levy. A wage levy starts with an application for an earnings withholding order rather than a letter of instruction, and the office keeps those forms on hand at Butte Street. For a property levy, the Sheriff's page says to call the office for the fee rather than listing one, so check before you send the writ.
ZIP 96097 reaches well past town
Yreka has a single ZIP Code area, and most of it isn't Yreka. The Census Bureau's 2020 ZCTA to place relationship file shows 96097 covers about 182 square miles of land. About 5.5% of that, roughly 10 square miles, is inside the city. The other 94.5% is unincorporated county land.
A street address inside the city is a simple job. A 96097 address outside it may be a ranch or a home on a long county road. For those, a Letter of Instruction should include:
- the physical location, or directions from the nearest named road
- a gate, a ranch name or the look of the driveway
- the person's vehicle, and the hours they're usually home
- a workplace in town, if one exists
If the person has left Yreka altogether, skip tracing can look for a newer address. Our post on skip tracing for legal cases describes the process.
Family law and self-help in Yreka
The Family Law Division handles divorce, separation, custody, support, visitation, adoptions and guardianships. All adoptions are filed there. The court has mediators who work with parents on a parenting plan.
The Self-Help Center offers access to a small claims advisor, plus help with family law and other civil matters. The Family Law Facilitator runs child support workshops and clinics. The court lists the facilitator's contact as mail or email only, at 411 4th Street or facilitator@siskiyou.courts.ca.gov.
When a family case starts, the other parent still has to be served with the petition and summons. A server who has the person's work schedule and a recent photo usually needs fewer attempts. The proof of service guide explains what the signed return shows.
Sending a Yreka job
Start with the Service Request and attach up to 5 PDFs. Spell each name the way the papers do, and give a full physical address. Note any hearing date and whether you also want the papers filed at the Fourth Street windows or e-filed. Then choose Rush or Standard.
Status updates come by email. You can reach us at 855-582-5776 on weekdays from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., or email the documents to Service@ValproAttorneyServices.com. For a business defendant, find its agent on bizfile and see serving corporations.
Towns near Yreka
Montague is about 5.2 miles east in a straight line, and Fort Jones about 13.4 miles southwest in Scott Valley. Etna is about 22.9 miles off. Down I-5, Weed is about 25.1 miles and Mount Shasta about 32.3. Every Siskiyou community we serve is on our Siskiyou County page.