Filings Climb In Springdale Small Claims Court

STAFF PHOTO SAMANTHA BAKER • @NWASAMANTHA Complaints for small claims court are stored in boxes Friday at Springdale District Court.
STAFF PHOTO SAMANTHA BAKER • @NWASAMANTHA Complaints for small claims court are stored in boxes Friday at Springdale District Court.

— Small claims have become big business for Springdale District Court, at the expense of Rogers.

Filings in the Springdale court are up 183.5 percent since the start of the year, from 97 in the first three months of 2013 compared with 275 for the same months in 2014. Revenue from court filings are also up for the time period, from $5,615 to $13,750, a climb of 144.9 percent.

By The Numbers

Small Claims Court

Number of cases filed and the fees collected in the four largest cities in Northwest Arkansas over the last five years. Totals for 2013 are not yet available.

Category * 2012 * 2011 * 2010 * 2009 * 2008

Bentonville

Filings * 142 * 192 * 228 * 229 * 203

Fees * $6,915 * $9550 * $11,589 * $11,555 * $8,959

Fayetteville

Filings * 169 * 189 * 200 * 190 * 293

Fees * $8,200 * $9,050 * $9,950 * $9,150 * $14,000

Rogers

Filings * 1,440 * 1,367 * 973 * 1,169 * 876

Fees * $72,000 * $68,350 * $48,650 * $58,450 * $43,800

Springdale

Filings * 161 * 352 * 572 * 583 * 471

Fees * $8,050 * $13,400 * $31,700 * $29,150 * $23,500

Source: Arkansas Administrative Office Of The Courts

"It's been growing a little over the last few years," said Jeff Harper, Springdale District Court judge. "In the past, we've had small claims once a month. We've gone to twice a month and may have to add another (session)."

Springdale's previous high for small claims filings was 583 in 2009. This year's filings are almost halfway to that total after only three months.

Small claims courts are designed to allow individuals to settle certain disputes under relaxed rules of procedure and without attorneys, according to descriptions of courts provided by the Arkansas Administrative Office of the Courts. The monetary limit in small claims is $5,000 in damages, according to the document.

Harper said the increase occurred when an automobile finance company, Jorja Trading, starting filing its claims in the Springdale court instead of Rogers. Jorja Trading is connected to the AAF used car lots, according to its website. AAF has car lots in Bentonville, Fayetteville, Rogers, Siloam Springs and Springdale.

Filings in Rogers dropped drastically at the start of the year, said Connie Watson, clerk for Rogers District Court.

"It fell when Jorja Trading took their filings to Springdale," Watson said.

Management at Jorja Trading declined to speak about their small claims court filings.

Rogers had 1,140 filings in small claims court in 2012, the last year numbers are available through the Administrative Office of the Courts. That was more than double the total of Bentonville, Fayetteville and Springdale added together.

Small claims filings in the Bentonville District Court have changed little over the last few years, said Jennifer Jones, court clerk.

"We've had bigger years, but the difference in the last two years was only 10," Jones said.

Fayetteville's small claims filings ranged from 293 to 169 between 2012 and 2008, with the low coming in 2012, according to the Administrative Office of the Court.

Springdale had the largest number of filings, except for Rogers, among the largest district courts in Northwest Arkansas, before Jorja moved theirs to Springdale.

Mary Hackney, the deputy court clerk who handles small claims filings, became a full-time employee in 2013 so she could help the other clerks, Harper said. The plan didn't work, said Sue Bowman, chief deputy court clerk.

"All she has time to do is small claims," Bowman said.

Among those who use small claims the most are landlords, trying to recover damages on property, and renters, trying to recover deposits, Hackney said.

Nationally, civil caseloads started to fall in 2010, according to the National Center for State Courts, although the clearance rate of civil cases is down. Small claims cases are civil cases.

The Springdale City Council approved Tuesday rearranging the district court budget to allot more money to small claims.

Alderman Jeff Watson asked, at the meeting, if the court had any problem collecting fees for small claims. The fees are collected when the case is filed, Harper said.

A filing costs $65, plus the cost of notifying the defendant either though certified mail or by a process server.

The Springdale court will start directed judgment next month, Harper said. That means if a defendant does not file a reply with the required 20 days, the person filing the claim would win automatically, if they have proven a debt exists.

"We're hoping that will help us clear cases faster," Bowman said.

NW News on 04/14/2014

Upcoming Events