To file a small claims case in Madison County, Indiana, take a completed Notice of Claim to the Circuit Court clerk at 16 E 9th Street in Anderson, pay $87 if you file electronically or $97 on paper, and arrange for the defendant to be served. Your claim cannot exceed $10,000, and the court will schedule an informal hearing within a matter of weeks.1Indiana Office of Court Services. Small Claims Manual 2026
What You Can File and Where
The small claims docket handles civil disputes where you’re seeking $10,000 or less in money or property value.2Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 33-28-3-4 – Jurisdiction of Small Claims Docket If your claim runs higher, you can waive the excess to fit within the limit, but that waiver is permanent. The docket also covers landlord-tenant possessory actions where back rent is $10,000 or less, and emergency landlord-tenant matters under IC 32-31-6.
Some disputes don’t belong here at all. Defamation claims and requests for court orders like injunctions or specific performance have to be filed in a different court.
Venue matters just as much as the dollar limit. Indiana Small Claims Rule 12 lets you file in the county where the transaction or event happened, where an obligation was supposed to be performed, or where the defendant lives or works when you file.3Indiana Court Rules. Indiana Small Claims Rule 12 – Venue Landlord-tenant cases go to the county where the rental property is located. If none of those ties reach Madison County, the court can dismiss your case for improper venue.
Check Your Deadline Before You File
Indiana’s statutes of limitations vary by claim type, and a case filed after the window closes gets dismissed no matter how strong the facts are.
- Two years for personal injury, personal property damage, wrongful death, trespass, professional malpractice, and employment claims.4Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code Title 34 – Civil Law and Procedure – Section: IC 34-11-2-4
- Four years for breach of a contract for the sale of goods under Indiana’s Uniform Commercial Code.
- Six years for oral contracts, unpaid accounts, fraud, and injuries to real property.5Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 34-11-2-7 – Six Year Limitation
- Ten years for causes of action not covered by a more specific statute, which generally includes written contracts outside sales of goods.6Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code Title 34 – Civil Law and Procedure – Section: IC 34-11-1-2
The clock starts when the incident happens or when you discover (or reasonably should have discovered) the harm. A broken verbal agreement gives you six years; a written lease dispute could give you ten. The frequent assumption that everything has to be filed within two years costs people real claims.
Filling Out and Filing the Notice of Claim
The Notice of Claim is the single form you need. It doubles as your statement of the dispute and the summons that notifies the defendant. The Madison County Circuit Court clerk provides the form at no charge.1Indiana Office of Court Services. Small Claims Manual 2026
On the form, you identify yourself and the defendant, describe what happened in plain language, and state the amount you want. Get the defendant’s legal name right; a suit against the wrong entity (say, a trade name instead of the actual business) can be dismissed or made uncollectable later.
Fees
Total filing fees are $97 on paper, or $87 through Indiana’s electronic filing system, because e-filed cases skip the $10 per-defendant service fee.7Indiana Office of Court Services. Indiana Trial Court Fee Manual Sheriff service, if you choose it, adds another $28. Save receipts. If you win, the prevailing party can recover these costs as part of the judgment.
Serving the Defendant
After you file, the defendant has to be officially notified before the case can go forward. Indiana Small Claims Rule 3 gives you three options: certified mail with return receipt requested, personal delivery to the defendant, or leaving a copy at the defendant’s home and mailing an additional copy by first-class mail.8Indiana Court Rules. Indiana Small Claims Rule 3 – Manner of Service
Certified mail is the cheapest and most common route. Sheriff service is worth the extra cost when a defendant is ducking mail or refusing to sign for it. Once service is complete, the court schedules a hearing, typically within a few weeks depending on the docket.
What Happens at the Hearing
Small claims hearings in Indiana are deliberately informal. The court isn’t bound by the usual rules of procedure or evidence except for those covering privileged communications and settlement offers.9Indiana Court Rules. Indiana Small Claims Rules – Rule 8 Informality of Hearing The judge runs it more like a structured conversation than a trial. You don’t need to make formal objections or lay evidentiary foundations.
The plaintiff presents first: what happened, what you’re owed, and the documents that back it up. Receipts, contracts, photographs, text messages, and witness testimony all fit. The defendant then gives their side. The judge asks questions throughout.
As the plaintiff, you have to prove your case by a preponderance of the evidence, meaning your version is more likely true than not.1Indiana Office of Court Services. Small Claims Manual 2026 Filing in small claims means giving up any right to a jury; the judge alone decides.
Bring organized copies of everything, and enough sets for the judge and the other side. The cases that go well are the ones where a party can quickly hand over the receipt or point to the signed agreement. Rambling accounts without documentation rarely win.
If You Win: The Judgment and Collecting It
The judge usually rules the same day, though sometimes the court takes the case under advisement and mails the ruling later. A judgment for the plaintiff specifies the amount owed plus court costs.1Indiana Office of Court Services. Small Claims Manual 2026 The court can order full payment or installments if the defendant shows hardship.
Unpaid judgments accrue interest at 8% per year from the date of the decision until paid. If the underlying dispute involved a contract with its own interest rate, the judgment carries that rate, capped at 8%.
The court will not collect the money for you. If the defendant doesn’t pay voluntarily, you have two main tools.
Proceedings Supplemental
You file a motion asking the court to bring the defendant back in to answer questions under oath about income, bank accounts, and assets. Skipping the hearing can trigger a bench warrant. Based on the answers, the judge can order wage garnishment, directing the defendant’s employer to withhold money from each paycheck and send it to the court.
Indiana caps garnishment at 25% of disposable weekly earnings, or the amount by which weekly take-home pay exceeds 30 times the federal minimum wage, whichever is less.10Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 24-4.5-5-105 – Limitation on Garnishment Social Security, unemployment, and public assistance can’t be garnished at all.
Judgment Liens
Record your judgment with the county recorder and it becomes a lien on any real estate the defendant owns in that county for ten years from the date the judgment was entered.11Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 34-55-9-2 – Liens Upon Real Estate and Chattels Real The defendant can’t sell or refinance without clearing your lien. If the defendant owns property in another county, record it there too.
The ten-year window sounds generous, but proceedings supplemental take time and a defendant’s finances can shift. Start collection promptly.
If You Lose or Want to Appeal
Either party can appeal to the Indiana Court of Appeals, and because Madison County hears small claims cases in the Circuit Court, the appeal skips any intermediate trial court.1Indiana Office of Court Services. Small Claims Manual 2026 The appeal is not a rehearing; the appellate court reviews the record for legal errors and doesn’t take new evidence.
You have 30 days from the entry of judgment to act. The appellate process involves written briefs and strict procedural rules that don’t resemble the informal hearing you just left, and the Indiana Small Claims Manual recommends consulting an attorney quickly if you’re considering it. Miss the 30-day deadline and the appeal is over before it starts.