Wyoming Small Claims Court: The $6,000 Limit, a $10 Filing Fee, and Service 3 to 12 Days Before Your Hearing

Wyoming small claims cases are heard in circuit court and can ask for up to $6,000, not counting costs [1]. Filing costs $10 [2][3], there’s no jury [4], and the hearing is informal [5]. The tricky part is service: the other side has to get the papers in a short window before your court date [4].

What small claims can handle

Small claims is for money: civil cases in circuit court where the amount claimed, exclusive of costs, is $6,000 or less [1]. If your claim is bigger, the Wyoming Judicial Branch says you have to either give up your right to the extra money or file in another court [4].

People, businesses, government bodies and other organizations can all bring or defend a small claims case with or without a lawyer [8]. If one side shows up with a lawyer, the other side is entitled to a continuance to get one too [8].

Where to file

Under the small claims rules, you can sue in the county where the defendant has an address or where the claim, or some part of it, arose [9]. The Judicial Branch’s small claims page tells filers that the defendant must be located in the county where they file [4], so check with the clerk if your claim arose in a different county from where the defendant lives.

How to file

1. Ask for payment first. The Small Claims Affidavit has you swear that you made a demand for payment and it was refused [2][10].
2. Fill out the Small Claims Affidavit and the Summons. The forms are at any circuit court office and on the Judicial Branch website, which also has a guided form-filling tool [4]. The affidavit lists what you’re owed (principal, any interest, attorney fees, the filing fee and service fees), why the defendant owes it and the defendant’s contact information, and it’s signed under oath before the clerk or a notary [10]. Take copies of invoices, receipts or agreements that back up your claim when you file [10].
3. Pay the $10 filing fee [3][4]. You can file by mail, but you still have to show up for the hearing [4].
4. Pick a court date. The clerk sets the hearing and gives you the available dates. The Judicial Branch says most cases are set within about a month, and some courts hear small claims only on certain days of the week [4].

Serving the other side

The defendant has to be served in person, and the Judicial Branch says that under Wyoming court rules it has to happen in a nine-day window, 3 to 12 days before the hearing [4]. If service misses that window, the hearing can’t go forward on that date; you can ask the clerk for an alias summons with a new date, but you pay for each attempt [4].

Most people use the sheriff, available in every county, or a private process server where there is one [4]. The service fee is separate from the filing fee and is paid for each defendant [4]. Call the court before your date to check whether the defendant was served [4].

If you’re the defendant

You don’t have to file an answer [6]. Come to the hearing with the witnesses, papers and evidence that support your side [2]. If you don’t appear, the plaintiff is sworn in and testifies, and that usually results in a default judgment for the amount claimed, up to $6,000 plus court costs [4]. Court costs include the $10 filing fee and the service fees [4].

The hearing

It’s a simple, informal hearing in front of a judge, with no jury [4][5]. The plaintiff goes first and has to show why each part of the claim is owed; then the defendant tells their side [4]. Strict rules of evidence don’t apply, and the judge can consider reliable hearsay and the kind of evidence sensible people rely on in serious business [11].

If the plaintiff doesn’t show up, the case is dismissed [4]. The judge may rule on the spot or take the case under advisement and mail the decision [4].

After the judgment

Money judgments in Wyoming earn 10% interest a year from the date they’re entered, unless the contract behind them set a different agreed rate [12]. The Judicial Branch’s guide to small claims judgments explains that the winner can use garnishment, liens or seizure to collect if the other side doesn’t pay [7]. Execution on a circuit court judgment can be issued any time within five years of the judgment or of the last execution [13]. Each time you’re paid, you have to record the payment on the court’s judgment docket within 15 days, and record the satisfaction once it’s paid in full [14].

Appeals

Either side has 30 days to appeal by filing a Notice of Appeal and paying the fees at the circuit court that issued the judgment [7]. Small claims appeals go to district court under the Wyoming Rules of Appellate Procedure, and they’re decided only on questions of law, not on whether the evidence was enough [15].

Where to get help

• Legal Aid of Wyoming hotline: 1-877-432-9955, for people with limited income and assets [7].
• Wyoming Free Legal Answers: a website where income-eligible people can ask a volunteer lawyer questions [7].
• Wyoming State Bar: 307-632-9061 for a referral to a lawyer who charges for services [7].