By Drew Strobel, Esq., GRIFFITH LAW GROUP LLC
- Small Claims Courts becoming “courts of record” in 2018.
Beginning July 1, 2018, the Marion County Small Claims Courts will become courts of record. A court of record is a trial court in which a court reporter or clerk takes down a record of proceedings. In the past, the Marion County Small Claims Courts have not been courts of record. Thus, when a party appealed a judgment or requested a jury trial in Small Claims Court, the case was transferred to a circuit or superior court (which are courts of record) and tried de novo (starting new). Once the new change goes into effect, appeals will now be taken to the Indiana Court of Appeals in the same manner as a judgment from a circuit or superior court. Appellate procedure is complex and will cause challenges for many pro se litigants.