Tolleson's city court, the county courts, and who serves papers

Regional courthouse in Avondale that hears many Tolleson justice court cases, carrying papers to court

Plenty of people in Tolleson say they have "a case in Tolleson court." Sometimes that is exactly right. Just as often the papers came from a county court down the road in Avondale, or from a building in downtown Phoenix, and the difference changes who can serve them, how quickly and what the paperwork has to say.

Here is how the courts that touch Tolleson residents actually split up.

Tolleson Municipal Court

The city has its own court at 8350 W. Van Buren St., open weekdays from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. According to the city, it handles criminal and civil traffic cases, criminal misdemeanours (where the maximum penalty is six months in jail and a $2,500 fine), juvenile matters such as curfew and truancy, and city ordinance violations. It also issues protective orders.

What it does not handle is ordinary civil lawsuits. You cannot sue a contractor, a former landlord or a business partner in a municipal court. If your papers say Tolleson Municipal Court, you are almost certainly looking at a criminal or traffic matter, or a protective order, and for criminal cases the state handles getting people into court, not a private process server you hire.

Protective orders are the exception where a private server sometimes comes in. The order has to be served on the other person before it can be enforced. The court will explain the options when the order is issued, and those options are the place to start.

The justice courts in Avondale

Small claims, civil cases under the justice court limit, and residential evictions go to Maricopa County's justice courts. On this side of the valley, the Agua Fria, Country Meadows, Maryvale and White Tank justice courts all share one building: 10420 W. Van Buren St. in Avondale. The county also calls the complex the Southwest Regional Court Center. A Tolleson resident who thinks they are going to "the Avondale court" is usually in the right building, though not always in the right courtroom.

Which precinct handles your case depends on the address involved, and precinct lines do not follow city limits neatly. The county's justice courts site points people to an address lookup on its interactive map. Use it before you file, because filing in the wrong precinct is a slow way to lose a few weeks.

For service, justice court cases have their own rules, the Justice Court Rules of Civil Procedure, which use much the same language as the superior court rules for personal service. A certified private process server or a constable can serve a justice court summons.

Evictions move fastest

If you are a Tolleson landlord, the justice court is where an eviction goes, and the timeline is short. Under A.R.S. 33-1377 the trial date on an eviction summons is set only days out, and the summons has to be served at least two days before that date. The statute also lays out a posting and certified mail option. There is no room for a server who gets to it next week. If you are a landlord, our article on eviction papers for Tolleson landlords goes through the practical side.

Superior Court

Divorce, custody, larger civil claims, probate and anything over the justice court limit go to the Maricopa County Superior Court. The main civil and family courthouses are downtown on Jefferson Street and Jackson Street. The court also runs family cases at regional centres, including the Northwest Regional Center in Surprise, at 14264 W. Tierra Buena Ln. The Avondale complex is listed by the court for adult probation, not for civil or family hearings.

Superior Court cases follow the Arizona Rules of Civil Procedure, or the family law rules for divorce and custody. The service deadline is set by the rules, and it is longer than an eviction's, but not open ended. If the defendant is hard to find, the time to ask a lawyer about alternative service is well before that deadline, not the week it expires.

Why your server will ask which court

A good server will ask which court and what kind of case before quoting you. Here is why it affects you:

An eviction summons and a divorce petition run on completely different clocks.
Each court wants an affidavit or certificate of service in its own form, filed with that court.
Family cases often require extra papers served with the petition, and a server who knows the court will notice if something is missing.
Constables serve for justice courts and sheriff's deputies serve some papers too, so the choice is often about speed and attempts, not legality.

Every private server listed on our Tolleson process servers page is on the Arizona Supreme Court's certified list, which means they can serve papers from any of these courts. If you are new to all this, what service of process is is a good five minute read. The Tolleson town page collects everything else we have on the city.

Before you call anyone, find the court name in the top left corner of the first page, and the case number under it. Those two lines answer most of the questions a server will ask.

See the board: everyone in Tolleson · process servers only.