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Claims of less than $12,500 (or up to $6,250 for a business); forms on the California Courts Website, among them the Plaintiff's Claim and Order to Defendant, Form SC-100 and the Proof of Service Form, SC-104; the general procedure (filing, service by anyone over 18 years of age except the plaintiff or by mail through the court, the hearing and the judge's decision, which can be appealed); the Small Claims Department in the Civil Division at the Main Courthouse, window hours 8:00 AM – 3:00 PM and a drop box from 3:00 PM to 4:00 PM; cases set on the calendar at 9:00 AM on Fridays at the Main Courthouse in Department 44 or Department 45.
California > Fifth Appellate District > Madera County > Superior Court of California, County of Madera
Civil Claims Involving Less Than $12,500 Small Claims involve one party or individual (the plaintiff) seeking damages from another party or individual (the defendant) with a value less than $12,500 (or up to $6,250 if you are a business). If you have a claim for more than this amount, you may sue in the Civil Division or sue in the Small Claims Court and give up your right to the amount over $12,500. Informal rules are followed in the courtroom and the process moves quite quickly. More information can be found at the Small Claims section of the California Self-Help website. Fees Current fees assessed through this department can be found on the Schedule of Fees. Forms Forms typically used in this department can be found on the California Courts Website. These include the: Plaintiff's Claim and Order to Defendant, Form SC-100 And could include a number of other forms listed on the small claims form section of the California Courts Small Claims Self-Help website Local Procedures A Small Claims case usually follows these general procedures: The Plaintiff files a Small Claims form with the court, typically the Plaintiff's Claim and Order to Defendant form SC-100 The defendant is served with the papers which give notice they are being sued and the date of the hearing. This service can be conducted by almost anyone over 18 years of age except the plaintiff (a sheriff, a process server, a friend or relative, etc), and can be done by mail through the court. The person who serves the claim upon the defendant must complete a Proof of Service Form, SC-104 The hearing date is set The hearing is held and evidence is heard, after which the judge issues a ruling/decision. The decision of the judge can be appealed by either party and for various reasons More information can be found at the Small Claims section of the California Self-Help website. Location The Small Claims Department is in the Civil Division at the Main Courthouse located at: Madera Superior Court Civil Division 200 South "G" Street Madera, CA 93637 HOURS Normal window hours are 8:00 AM – 3:00 PM. The busiest hours are from 8:00 AM to 10:00 AM and from 2:00 PM to 3:00 PM. A drop box will be available from 3:00 PM to 4:00 PM for filings. Note that cash payments cannot be placed in the available drop box at any time. Cases are set on the calendar at 9:00 AM on Fridays at the Main Courthouse in Department 44 or Department 45.
Civil Claims Involving Less Than $12,500 Small Claims involve one party or individual (the plaintiff) seeking damages from another party or individual (the defendant) with a value less than $12,500 (or up to $6,250 if you are a business). If you have a claim for more than this amount, you may sue in the Civil Division or sue in the Small Claims Court and give up your right to the amount over $12,5
Reviewer note: Composed 2026-10-15 (California T4 Madera build 2026-10-15) from BenchPath custody ca/t4/ca-madera/pages/divisions__small-claims-court.html (the page as fetched 2026-10-15; 630747 bytes, sha256 378819a17c724fc075862ebf7a4448e6c22751a70973a8841ba96810dcd027bd) with the Orange HTML composer (compose-site.py, the Judicial Council theme's area): the article's content sections (section.jcc-section), news bodies (div.jcc-news-full) and title banners (div.jcc-hero; the first banner's heading, the page title, is chrome) - the site header, menus, breadcrumb and footer lie outside them; each block starts a line and each table cell is set on its own line; chrome removed: 1 item (the page title, “Small Claims Court”); proof (the multiset of non-space characters equals the containers' text less chrome and scripts) passes.
6 verbatim requirements on divisional requirements in GIUSEPPINA MIRANDA's division.
4 verbatim requirements on divisional requirements in HILARY CREARY's division.