Legal Question in Appeals and Writs in California

In order to proceed in a civil court you must first exhaust your administrative remedies, if you fail to exhaust your administrative remedies the court may refuse to consider your complaint. Most administrative agencies will advise you at the end of your right to seek review in a civil court. In most instances you are limited to an administrative writ to review the administrative record. Depending on the nature of the action you may be given the opportunity to present new evidence in the writ proceedings.

To answer your question more directly, the venue rule for filing a petition for an administrative writ against a public entity, requires you to file in the county where that agency's office handled the underlying administrative matter. Additionally, each county has special rules governing assignment of the matter to one of its various courthouses.