What the Clerk of the Circuit Court (the same elected clerk files cases for both the Circuit Court and every Superior Court in the county) charges to file an eviction or a small claims case, what the sheriff charges to serve it, and how to ask the court to waive the fees.
Everything the clerk charges on an eviction or small claims case in Monroe County. The figures set by state statute are verified and apply here. A dash means we have not yet read this county’s own schedule — not that the fee is zero.
| Fee | Amount | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Eviction filing — possession + rent claim | — | Indiana's small claims costs fee is the same $35.00 whether or not the landlord is also claiming unpaid rent. Adding the mandatory statewide add-on fees, our own tally comes to $97.00 in 91 of the state's 92 counties and $130.00 in Marion County, but we could not confirm either total against a live clerk fee page anywhere in the state, so we are not printing $97.00 or $130.00 here as a confirmed number. Ask the clerk in your county for the current total before you file. |
| Eviction filing — possession only | — | Indiana does not charge a different filing fee for a possession-only eviction versus one that also claims rent. Same caveat as above: our own addition of the statutory line items comes to $97.00 outside Marion County and $130.00 inside it, but we could not confirm either figure against a live clerk page. |
| Appearance fee — eviction defendant | — | We found no separate statutory fee for a defendant to file an appearance or answer in an Indiana eviction or small claims case. |
| Appearance fee — small claims defendant | — | Same as above: no separate appearance or answer fee exists in Indiana small claims procedure. |
| Jury demand — 12 jurors | — | Indiana's small claims docket does not price a twelve-person jury separately from a six-person one. Demanding any jury moves the case off the small claims docket entirely for a $70.00 deposit — see jury_demand_small_claims. |
| Jury demand — 6 jurors | — | Same structural point as the twelve-person figure: Indiana small claims court does not offer an in-place jury of either size. A jury demand is a $70.00 deposit that transfers the whole case to the plenary docket. |
| Jury demand — small claims | $70 | A defendant who wants a jury has ten days after being served to file an affidavit and deposit $70.00, which moves the case off the small claims docket and onto the ordinary civil (plenary) docket rather than seating a jury in small claims court itself. Confirmed directly on the Indiana Judicial Branch's own current Small Claims Manual. |
| Mediation fee | — | We found no statewide statutory mediation fee for an Indiana eviction or small claims case. |
| E-filing surcharge | — | Indiana does not add a surcharge for e-filing a small claims case — the opposite is true. IC 33-37-4-6(f) says the clerk may not collect the small claims service fee at all when the case is filed through the Indiana E-Filing System, so e-filing removes a cost rather than adding one. |
The filing fee is not the whole bill. Somebody has to serve the defendant, and in Indiana the sheriff sets that price county by county — it is the most variable number on this page. Service on the tenant is not billed as a separate charge in most of Indiana — it is a flat $10.00 per defendant folded into the small claims filing fee outside Marion County, the same whether the clerk uses certified mail or the Sheriff delivers it by hand. Inside Marion County it is $15.00 for either method plus a separate $26.00 small claims service fee. We could not confirm what it costs, anywhere in the state, to have the Sheriff or a township bailiff actually carry out an order for possession after judgment.
Indiana courts will waive court fees, costs, and charges for people below certain income levels, under IC 33-37-3-2 and IC 33-37-3-2. Indiana has no single statewide form: the Clerk of the Circuit Court (the same elected clerk files cases for both the Circuit Court and every Superior Court in the county) hands you the court's own affidavit when you ask.
| The court waives | If your available income is |
|---|---|
| Full | File a sworn written statement that you cannot pay or post security for court costs because of poverty, and describe the nature of the case. If unopposed, the case proceeds without prepayment of fees and costs. |
Like Georgia, Florida, Tennessee and New Jersey, Indiana's waiver is all-or-nothing rather than graduated by income band: the statute describes a single sworn statement of indigency, not a sliding scale, and the court can revisit that finding later rather than adjusting it up or down.
Fee waiver information verified August 1, 2026 against the Illinois General Assembly statute text and the Illinois Courts approved-forms library. We report what the statute and the form say. We cannot tell you whether you qualify — that is the court's decision.
Monroe County Circuit Court
Clerk of the Circuit Court (the same elected clerk files cases for both the Circuit Court and every Superior Court in the county)
No clerk website found. Contact the county courthouse directly.
Indiana E-Filing System (IEFS), accessed through efile.IN.gov
We could not confirm from an official page whether e-filing is mandatory for a self-represented landlord or tenant, as opposed to attorneys. What we did confirm directly from the statute is the opposite of a surcharge: IC 33-37-4-6(f) says the clerk may not collect the small claims service fee at all for a small claims action filed through the Indiana E-Filing System, so filing electronically removes a cost rather than adding one. eFileIL →
We publish the court's and clerk's own contact information and link to their pages. We do not take your information, route you to anyone, or file anything on your behalf. For questions about court procedure — as opposed to what it costs — use the Illinois Courts self-help center.
The make-or-break question for Indiana is not whether the filing fee varies by county — it does not — but whether the county is even the right unit to publish at, and for 91 of the state's 92 counties it is. Every county but one runs eviction and small claims cases through that county's own Circuit Court and Superior Court, sharing one Clerk's office and one small claims docket, and the statute that sets the fee (IC 33-37-4-6, plus the add-on fees in IC 33-37-5) is a single statewide dollar table with no local-option clause anywhere in it — we specifically checked, and the only local rule-making power the Indiana Supreme Court delegates to counties covers special-judge selection, court reporter services, caseload allocation, and acting judges, not fees. Marion County (Indianapolis) is the one structural exception: instead of a small claims division of the ordinary Circuit or Superior Court, it has nine separate township small claims courts (Center, Decatur, Franklin, Lawrence, Perry, Pike, Warren, Washington and Wayne townships), each an independent court of record with its own elected judge, assigned by where in the county the case arises. Marion County also runs on its own fee statute, IC 33-34-8-1, rather than the one every other county uses. Adding up each statute's own numbers: a small claims eviction against one defendant costs $97.00 in the other 91 counties ($35.00 costs fee, $10.00 bundled service fee, and $52.00 in mandatory statewide add-on fees), and $130.00 in a Marion County township court (a $36.50 township docket fee rounded to $37.00, $15.00 service, a separate $26.00 small claims service fee, and the same $52.00 in add-ons). We built both totals directly from the current Indiana Code and could not find a live clerk fee page anywhere in the state that states the all-in total in one place to check our arithmetic against, despite trying Marion, Hamilton, Allen, Lake, St. Joseph, Vanderburgh, Monroe, Tippecanoe, Vigo, Delaware, Boone and Ohio counties' own sites. Call the clerk before you file to confirm the exact number.
This is one statewide statutory table plus a second, parallel statutory table that applies only inside Marion County, not a schedule that each county sets for itself. We show both because they produce two different real totals, not because either county chose its own number.
Statutory backbone: IC 33-37-4-4; IC 33-37-4-6; IC 33-34-8-1 — Civil costs fee; small claims costs fee and small claims service fee; Marion County small claims court fees and costs. IC 33-37-4-6, as currently amended, sets the $35.00 small claims costs fee and $10.00 small claims service fee; IC 33-34-8-1 sets Marion County's parallel township-court fee schedule; both cross-reference the add-on fees collected under IC 33-37-5.. Neither the $35.00/$10.00 small claims total nor the $100.00 IC 33-37-4-4 general civil total is the whole story. Layered on top by IC 33-37-5 are a $5.00 public defense administration fee (33-37-5-21.2), a $15.00 judicial salaries fee for small claims or $20.00 for general civil (33-37-5-26), a $5.00 court administration fee (33-37-5-27), a $5.00 document storage fee (33-37-5-20), a $20.00 automated record keeping fee (33-37-5-21), a $1.00 judicial insurance adjustment fee (33-37-5-25), and a $1.00 pro bono legal services fee (33-37-5-31) — $52.00 in add-ons in a small claims case. A general civil (plenary) filing also picks up a $75.00 jury fee under 33-37-5-19.5, charged on every tort or plenary filing regardless of whether a jury is ever demanded, and a separate $28.00 sheriff service of process fee under 33-37-5-15 that is not bundled the way the small claims service fee is. Statute text checked August 1, 2026.
Compiled and verified by David Scott. We re-check every source document monthly and re-read any county whose schedule has changed. If the clerk quotes you something different from what is on this page, tell us and we will fix it. Read the full methodology.