Small Claims & Counties

[130munch]

I'm just curious because this is unclear to me. I'm being sued - does the plaintiff have to file the small claims court case in the county I live in?

They filed in Cook county, meaning I have to travel to downtown Chicago to defend myself. I don't live in Cook county and live pretty far from Chicago.

 

[mightymoose]

The case should be filed wherever the dispute occurred. You would have to give more info about what is going on to determine if the correct court has been used.

 

[jharris352]

Venue depends upon State law. Here in Georgia there is a Constitutional Amendment that requires that you be sued in the county where you reside.

Generally, venue is proper where the defendant resides or where the Plaintiff resides, or where the event occurred. I'll do a little research to see what is true in your state.

 

[130munch]

Thanks - I did some research & according to the Cook County website & I believe the suit should have been filed at the Rolling Meadows Courthouse since the service took place in Arlington Heights.

What, if anything, should I do about that?

 

[Michael Wechsler]

The answer is... it depends.

From my experience, venue for many SMALL claims court cases is in the county of the defendant, at least it is in many courts here on the east coast. The service has nothing to do with the jurisdiction of the court in this instance. Looking at the Cook County rules I found the following via the rather poor Cook County web site:

http://www.illinoislegalaid.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=home.dsp_content&contentID=3563

The Illinois law on civil venue says all cases must be filed either "in the county of residence of any defendant who is joined in good faith," or "in the county in which the transaction or some part thereof occurred."

This means that the only way they can drag you into the Cook County small claims court is if some part of the transaction occurred in Cook County. Did it? If the plaintiff thinks that his residence there means that the transaction occurred there, the plaintiff would be mistaken. There is always a question mark regarding how to challenge jurisdiction but the rules are lax in small claims court. If the court doesn't have jurisdiction you may want to call up the court and find out how to handle the issue. It may be as simple as sending the court and the plaintiff written notice (use a certified method) stating that you aren't showing up because the court has no jurisdiction to hear the case and the plaintiff is now on notice of this fact.

Let us know what you find out... I'm curious to hear! Good luck.