referencesource/small-claims-court-dollar-limits-by-state

Small Claims Court Dollar Limits by State

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• —Last verified: 2026-08-26
• —Stale after: 2027-08-26 (past this date, prefer the canonical copy — it re-verifies on a cadence this snapshot does not)
• —Records: 25

Every state sets its own maximum dollar amount a plaintiff may sue for in small claims court, and the limit for an individual often differs from the limit for a business entity. Filing above the limit forces a case into a higher (and much more expensive) court. This table gives, for each state, the small claims dollar limit for individuals, the limit for business/corporate plaintiffs where it differs, and the court name that hears the case, so someone deciding where to file knows the ceiling before they start.

Provenance — what every record carries

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Licence position

unknown

Facts are not copyrightable; what this dataset takes from each source is a fact plus a short attributed quote linking back to the page that states it.

Sources

• —https://www.azleg.gov/ars/22/00503.htm
• —https://selfhelp.courts.ca.gov/small-claims-or-limited-civil
• —https://courts.delaware.gov/jpcourt/jurisdiction.aspx
• —https://www.courts.state.hi.us/self-help/smallclaims/smallclaims
• —https://www.iowacourts.gov/for-the-public/representing-yourself/small-claims/
• —https://www.ksrevisor.gov/statutes/chapters/ch61/0610270003.html
• —http://www.mainelegislature.org/legis/statutes/14/title14sec7482.html
• —https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatuteText?article=gcj&section=4-405
• —https://malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartIII/TitleI/Chapter218/Section21
• —https://revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/491A.01
• —https://revisor.mo.gov/main/OneSection.aspx?section=482.305
• —https://archive.legmt.gov/bills/mca/title0250/chapter0350/part0050/section0020/0250-0350-0050-0020.html
• —https://nebraskalegislature.gov/laws/statutes.php?statute=25-2802
• —https://www.leg.state.nv.us/NRS/NRS-073.html
• —https://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/rsa/html/LI/503/503-1.htm
• —https://www.ncleg.gov/EnactedLegislation/Statutes/HTML/BySection/Chapter7A/GS7A-210.html
• —https://www.ndcourts.gov/legal-self-help/small-claims
• —https://codes.ohio.gov/ohio-revised-code/section-1925.02
• —https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/bills_laws/ors/ors046.html
• —https://www.scstatehouse.gov/code/t22c003.php
• —https://legislature.vermont.gov/statutes/section/12/187/05531
• —https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title16.1/chapter6/section16.1-122.2/
• —https://app.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=12.40.010
• —https://code.wvlegislature.gov/50-2-1/
• —https://www.wicourts.gov/services/public/selfhelp/smallclaims.htm

Fields

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