Small Claims

Small Claims suits are for amounts up to $20,000.  Court employees are able to answer general questions, but cannot give legal advice.  We suggest that you contact an attorney if you need legal information that is not on the court website.   The court's Finding Legal Help web page provides information about the ways you can get legal help, including the Self-Help Center, reduced-fee attorneys, limited legal help and free legal clinics.  

Jurisdiction

A small claims case must be filed in the justice court where the defendant resides or where the claim arose (where the incident took place). 

Parties

The party filing the claim is the plaintiff. The party responding to the claim is the defendant.

Court Filing Fees

Claims that are $2,000  or less              $  60.00

Claims that are $2,000.01 – $7,500     $100.00

Claims that are $7,500.01 - $20,000    $185.00

Satisfying the Claim

When the judgment is paid in full, the judgment creditor must file a Satisfaction of Judgment with the court.  If the debtor has paid the judgment and all accumulated fees, costs and interest, the creditor is required to file an acknowledgment of satisfaction in the court that entered the original judgment and serve a copy on the debtor. This tells the court that the case is finished. If the creditor files an acknowledgment, the court will record it without further proceedings. 

If the creditor does not file an acknowledgement of satisfaction, the debtor can file a motion for an order declaring that the judgment is satisfied. The debtor must file the motion in the court that entered the original judgment and serve a copy on the creditor. As part of the motion, the debtor must provide proof, such as receipts, statements or canceled checks, that the judgment has been paid. Because the motion is filed by the debtor, the court must give the creditor an opportunity to respond.

The Satisfaction of Judgment page of utcourts.gov has information as well as the forms. 

Use this link for more information on how to collect a judgment: How to Collect a Judgment