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Small Claims Procedures
- The Plaintiff legibly Completes a Statement of Claim form, and submits an original and one copy per defendant of the claim and any supporting documents to the Court along with the appropriate fees. The Plaintiff should also keep a copy of the claim for their records. (The court charges a fee for copies.) Complete, full names and current home address for the Plaintiff and Defendant are required. (List and identifying any work addresses for the defendant if possible.) A daytime telephone number for the Plaintiff is requested whenever possible. The claim must plainly state the amount of money the claim is for, the basis of the claim, and the date the claim arose.
- The court clerk notarizes the Statement of Claim, assigns it a case number, and prepares the Plaintiffs receipt. The clerk directs the Plaintiff to contact the court after some interval to check the status of their case. Plaintiffs should always have their case number ready when calling the Court.
NOTE: All Plaintiffs must either appear at the court in person with appropriate identification to have their claims notarized or they must have the claim notarized by a certified notary prior to it being filed with the court.
- The clerk prepares a citation which, together with a copy of the Statement of Claim, is served on the Defendant by the Constables Office. The citation notifies the Defendant that the law requires an answer or response to be delivered in person or in writing to the court no later than the Monday following ten (10) days from the date the citation was served.
- Upon verification that the defendant has been served, the Court sets a tentative date and time for the case to be heard. Notices of the official trial date and time, however, are not mailed out until after either the Defendant has answered or the answer date has passed.
- If the Defendant does not file a response by their answer date they become subject to a Default Judgment given without the defendant being heard in his own defense. The Plaintiff may win by simply making an appearance before the Court on any one of its Small Claims Court settings and asking for a Default Judgment. If, however, the Defendant fails to file an answer by the answer date but files an answer before a Default Judgment is requested, the answer is considered to be timely filed and the case will be heard on its scheduled date.
- If the Defendant answers in time, the court will notify both parties by mail of their court date and time.
NOTE: Keep in mind that as a plaintiff, you have the burden of proof, to show by the weight of the evidence that the defendant you are suing is the proximate cause of damages in the capacity which the defendant was sued. All damages and evidence necessary to meet your burden (i.e. receipts, invoices, cancelled checks, witnesses, etc.) should be present at time of trial. Expert witnesses should be obtained in matters of a technical nature. |
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Justice of the Peace Precinct 4 
