Palo Alto Courthouse: Address, Hours and Criminal Cases

270 Grant Avenue in Palo Alto is a Santa Clara County Superior Court building, and its criminal calendar covers arrests from Cupertino, Mountain View, Palo Alto, and Sunnyvale. Check your own citation, notice to appear, or release paperwork for the date, time and place; this guide explains the building, not a specific case.

For the county's bail, arraignment, and public defender rules outside this one building, see the firm's Santa Clara County criminal court guide.

Which criminal cases does the Palo Alto Courthouse hear?

Four cities feed the Palo Alto Courthouse's criminal docket, and Santa Clara County runs three other buildings for everywhere else.

The Superior Court's own Criminal Case Records page draws the line precisely: Palo Alto "handles criminal matters for Cupertino, Mountain View, Palo Alto, and Sunnyvale," using six assigned courtrooms the court's Locations page lists as "Criminal; Depts. 84-89." Arrests from San Jose and most of the rest of the county instead go to the Hall of Justice downtown (Depts. 23 to 54), Morgan Hill's South County Courthouse handles its own cluster of cities, and the Family Justice Center Courthouse runs Drug Court on top of family and juvenile matters. None of that substitutes for your own paperwork: the date, time and place on the citation or release form are what matter for your case.

How do you find your case and court date at the Palo Alto Courthouse?

A 2004-or-later case is in Santa Clara's searchable Criminal Case Index; anything older has to be tracked down a slower way.

The index search works from "either the defendant's name and date of birth, or the defendant's name plus the month and year the case was filed." Older filings sit instead on microfiche at the courthouse, retrievable with the same name, date of birth, and filing year, or by mailing the Clerk's Office a written request with those details; expect a fee once a records search runs past ten minutes, per the court's own fee schedule. The county's Public Portal, portal.scscourt.org, separately organizes hearings under a "Criminal - Palo Alto" calendar distinct from the Hall of Justice and South County calendars.

None of these tools say whether a specific person is sitting in county custody right now. That question belongs to the Sheriff's Office, and its Who's In Custody search answers it directly, separate from the case lookup above.

What happens at your first court date, and how is bail decided?

Your first appearance puts the charge and your right to a lawyer into the record, and if you are still in custody, a statutory clock is already running.

The firm's broader answer on what happens at a California arraignment walks through this step for any California courthouse.

Penal Code section 825(a)(1) sets that clock at 48 hours for anyone held in custody: "the defendant shall in all cases be taken before the magistrate without unnecessary delay, and, in any event, within 48 hours after his or her arrest, excluding Sundays and holidays." Two things the statute does not do: it never applies to someone already released on a citation, and it is not itself a charging deadline. If those 48 hours would otherwise run out while the courthouse is closed, section 825(a)(2) pushes the deadline "to include the duration of the next court session on the judicial day immediately following," with one named exception: an arrest on a Wednesday after court closes means appearing "not later than the following Friday, if the Friday is not a court holiday," assuming Wednesday was not a holiday either.

Bail at Palo Alto runs on the same countywide numbers as the rest of Santa Clara. The county's judges adopted the current Criminal Bail Schedule on January 27, 2026, with authority under Penal Code section 1269b(c) to revise it every year, and it stays in force through December 31, 2026. A schedule figure only holds until an actual judge weighs in; from that point, section 1269b(b) makes the judge's own number control. Two cases set the limits on what that number can be. In re Humphrey (2021) requires considering whether the person can pay and whether a nonfinancial condition, such as supervision, could reasonably protect the public and the victim or reasonably assure a return to court, before money bail becomes the only path to release. In re Kowalczyk (April 2026) narrows outright denial in noncapital cases to the offenses California Constitution article I, section 12(b) and (c) name, and requires that any money bail "must generally be set in an amount that is reasonably attainable" for everyone else.

Can you appear remotely for a Palo Alto Courthouse hearing?

The technology for a remote hearing exists at Palo Alto; whether you personally qualify to use it is a separate, statutory question.

Santa Clara's own Remote Hearings page lists a Microsoft Teams conference line and access code for each of Departments 84 through 89, morning and afternoon alike, exactly as it does for the county's other criminal courtrooms. Having the link does not mean every defendant can use it: Penal Code section 977 sets the real rule. A misdemeanor-only defendant can send a lawyer in their place and, with agreement, appear by video for most hearings short of a jury or court trial, though the defendant in a misdemeanor domestic violence case, or in a misdemeanor violation of a protective order, must be present for arraignment and sentencing, and a judge may require a misdemeanor DUI defendant to be present for arraignment, plea or sentencing. Felony defendants have the opposite default: physical presence is required at arraignment, plea, the preliminary hearing, evidentiary portions of trial, and sentencing unless that right is waived, and no waiver reaches a jury trial, a court trial, or felony sentencing outside postconviction relief or another specific legal exception. Confirm with the Criminal Division or your own attorney before assuming a listed Teams link applies to you.

What should you expect when you get to the courthouse?

Palo Alto's own doors are open weekdays, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., and an outside drop box extends well past that.

Reach the Criminal Division by phone at (650) 462-3810, staffed Monday through Thursday from 8:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. and Friday until noon, or by email at sscriminfo@scscourt.org. Mail does not go to the Palo Alto street address at all; the court's mailing address for filings is 191 North First Street, San Jose, CA 95113. The drop box outside the building takes filings around the clock, with one explicit catch printed on the court's own instructions: "no cash please."

What extra steps apply to a DUI case at the Palo Alto Courthouse?

A DUI from Cupertino, Mountain View, Palo Alto, or Sunnyvale is a criminal case heard here like any other, and it also starts a separate DMV license process.

That DMV process starts administratively, apart from whatever happens at the courthouse, once a qualifying test result comes back or the driver refuses a chemical test. Vehicle Code section 13558(b) gives you 10 days from receiving the suspension notice to request a hearing before the suspension actually takes effect; if the DMV mailed the notice, the DMV counts 14 days from the notice date. Section 14101(b) then cuts off that right entirely if the window closes unused, though the DMV retains, without being required to use, discretion to accept a late request anyway. The underlying DUI charge itself is covered in more depth on the firm's Palo Alto DUI lawyer page.

Who prosecutes and who defends a Palo Alto Courthouse case?

Three offices serve Palo Alto Courthouse cases at or near 270 Grant Avenue: the District Attorney's branch, the Public Defender's office and the Alternate Defender's office.

Prosecution and defense offices for Palo Alto Courthouse cases, from each office's own website.

The District Attorney's branch here runs 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. with an hour closed for lunch at midday. The Public Defender's own staff directory lists the Alternate Defender's Palo Alto office at the courthouse's street address, 270 Grant Avenue. Appointment follows the same statewide floor either way: ask at arraignment if you cannot afford a lawyer, and Penal Code section 987(a) requires the court to appoint one once you ask and show you cannot pay for your own. See the firm's public defender versus a private attorney answer for how appointed and retained counsel actually differ.

Does Santa Clara County have collaborative or treatment courts?

Several specialty calendars exist across Santa Clara County for qualifying defendants, though Palo Alto itself is not necessarily the building that hears them.

Santa Clara's own Collaborative Courts page, which describes the county as "a pioneer and state leader" in this area going back to the early 1990s, lists a Drug Treatment Court, a Mental Health Treatment Court, statutory Mental Health Diversion, a Veterans Treatment Court, and several more. Drug Treatment Court specifically sits at the Family Justice Center Courthouse in San Jose, not at Palo Alto, so a referral to one of these calendars may mean a different building entirely. Your attorney can confirm both eligibility and location before you plan around it.

What if you miss a court date at the Palo Alto Courthouse?

A missed date rarely stays a minor problem: it tends to produce either a warrant, a forfeited bond, or both.

After a bail or own recognizance release, Penal Code section 978.5(a) lets a judge issue a bench warrant once someone fails to appear as required, but does not require one. Release on a signed citation without bail works differently: under Penal Code section 853.8 the magistrate "shall issue" a warrant within 20 days of the failure to appear. Separately, Penal Code section 853.7 makes willfully breaking a written promise to appear its own misdemeanor, independent of how the original case resolves, and Penal Code section 1305(a)(1) requires the court to declare bail forfeited in open court once a defendant misses a required date without a sufficient excuse. Whether the date already passed or is still coming, contact your attorney before it becomes a bigger problem than it needs to be.

Talk to a lawyer about your Palo Alto Courthouse case

Once a judge takes up a case at the Palo Alto Courthouse, the judge decides bail and the conditions of release, so talk to a lawyer before that hearing. The Law Offices of David S. Chesley offers a free, confidential consultation, available 24 hours a day, with payment plans and service in Spanish. Call (800) 755-5174, or request a free consultation online. See also the firm's Palo Alto criminal defense page.

Frequently asked questions

Does the Palo Alto Courthouse hear cases from San Jose?

No. The court assigns Palo Alto to criminal matters from Cupertino, Mountain View, Palo Alto, and Sunnyvale specifically; San Jose arrests are generally routed to the Hall of Justice downtown instead.

How much is bail at the Palo Alto Courthouse?

Santa Clara's Criminal Bail Schedule, adopted January 27, 2026 and running through the end of that year, sets amounts by offense. An appearing judge can depart from it, and state law requires money bail to generally be set in an amount that is reasonably attainable for that person.

Can I appear by Zoom or Teams at the Palo Alto Courthouse?

Links exist for every Palo Alto criminal department, but Penal Code section 977 decides who may use one: a felony defendant must be physically present at arraignment, plea, the preliminary hearing, the evidence portions of trial and sentencing unless they waive that right, and even a waiver does not allow a remote jury or court trial, or remote felony sentencing outside postconviction relief or another exception in law.

Do I need a lawyer at my first Palo Alto Courthouse appearance?

Yes, as a right you can exercise. At your first appearance, Penal Code section 858(a) requires the judge to tell you of your right to a lawyer at every stage, and Penal Code section 987(a) requires appointment of a lawyer once you ask and cannot afford one.

What happens if I miss my Palo Alto Courthouse court date?

A judge may issue a bench warrant under Penal Code section 978.5(a), and after a signed citation without bail Penal Code section 853.8 says the magistrate shall issue one within 20 days. A willful no-show after promising to appear is also its own misdemeanor under Penal Code section 853.7. Reach your attorney immediately either way.

How long do I have to request a DMV hearing after a Palo Alto DUI arrest?

Ten days from the day you receive the suspension notice, under Vehicle Code section 13558(b); if the DMV mailed the notice, the DMV counts 14 days from the notice date. Miss that window and the right to a pre-suspension hearing is gone.