Every fee read off the clerk's own schedule and dated Updated July 2026

Ohio Court Filing Fees by County

Ohio varies more than any other state here, and it varies for a different reason. In Illinois and Georgia the county sets the fee; in Ohio the individual court does, by its own local rule, with no statutory cap over it at all (R.C. 1901.26 for municipal courts, R.C. 1907.24 for county courts). Across the courts we have checked, filing an eviction runs from $108 to $193 and small claims from $37 to $133 — every court a different number, with none of the shared schedules that make half of Illinois's counties identical to each other.

88 of 88 counties live, 7 with figures we could verify Checked July 31, 2026

The statewide numbers

Legal aid filing fee (regular civil)
$26
Same in every county
Legal aid filing fee (small claims)
$11
Same in every county
Jury demand
Varies
Set by each court — see below
And the number that is not the same anywhere $130 – $173

The eviction filing fee. That spread is the reason this site exists at the county level rather than the state level.

Every Ohio county we have verified

Sorted alphabetically. A dash means we have not been able to verify that figure from a source document yet — we are not filling gaps with estimates. 88 of 88 counties are live so far.

County Eviction (poss. + rent) Eviction (poss. only) Small claims ≤ $6,000 Service fee Status
Adams County Not published
Allen County Not published
Ashland County Not published
Ashtabula County Not published
Athens County Not published
Auglaize County Not published
Belmont County Not published
Brown County Not published
Butler County Not published
Carroll County Not published
Champaign County Not published
Clark County $136 $136 $75 $50 Verified
Clermont County Verified
Clinton County Not published
Columbiana County Not published
Coshocton County Not published
Crawford County Not published
Cuyahoga County Not published
Darke County Not published
Defiance County Not published
Delaware County $173 $143 $93 $20 Verified
Erie County Not published
Fairfield County $140 $140 $90 Varies Verified
Fayette County Not published
Franklin County $145 $108 $86 $25 Verified
Fulton County Not published
Gallia County Not published
Geauga County Not published
Greene County Not published
Guernsey County Not published
Hamilton County $130 $130 $39 $30 Verified
Hancock County Not published
Hardin County Not published
Harrison County Not published
Henry County Not published
Highland County Not published
Hocking County Not published
Holmes County Not published
Huron County Not published
Jackson County Not published
Jefferson County Not published
Knox County Not published
Lake County Not published
Lawrence County Not published
Licking County Not published
Logan County Not published
Lorain County Not published
Lucas County Not published
Madison County Not published
Mahoning County Not published
Marion County Not published
Medina County Not published
Meigs County Not published
Mercer County Not published
Miami County Not published
Monroe County Not published
Montgomery County Not published
Morgan County Not published
Morrow County Not published
Muskingum County Not published
Noble County Not published
Ottawa County Not published
Paulding County Not published
Perry County Not published
Pickaway County Not published
Pike County Not published
Portage County $167 $155 $101 $22 Verified
Preble County Not published
Putnam County Not published
Richland County Not published
Ross County Not published
Sandusky County Not published
Scioto County Not published
Seneca County Not published
Shelby County Not published
Stark County Not published
Summit County Not published
Trumbull County Not published
Tuscarawas County Not published
Union County Not published
Van Wert County Not published
Vinton County Not published
Warren County Not published
Washington County Not published
Wayne County $95 Verified
Williams County Not published
Wood County Not published
Wyandot County Not published

Coverage is deliberately incomplete rather than deliberately padded. We publish a county page when we have read a source document, not before. How we decide what to publish →

How Ohio court filing fees are actually set

Ohio varies more than any other state here, and it varies for a different reason. In Illinois and Georgia the county sets the fee; in Ohio the individual court does, by its own local rule, with no statutory cap over it at all (R.C. 1901.26 for municipal courts, R.C. 1907.24 for county courts). Across the courts we have checked, filing an eviction runs from $108 to $193 and small claims from $37 to $133 — every court a different number, with none of the shared schedules that make half of Illinois's counties identical to each other.

One thing we could not verify. Not applicable. Ohio fees are set by each court's local rule, not by a statewide schedule.

Ohio does not have county filing fees, and this is the one state on the site where that matters. Evictions are heard in municipal courts and county courts — roughly ninety of them across eighty-eight counties — and each court sets its own fee by its own rule. Where a county is served by a single court, a county page is an honest answer and that is what you are looking at. Where a county has several courts, one page could not tell the truth: Cuyahoga County has fourteen municipal courts plus Cleveland's separate housing division, Montgomery has five plus two county court areas, Butler has six. We have not published pages for those counties, because which court you file in depends on the property's address, and a single county-wide number would be a guess dressed up as a fact.

The jury figure is the one number on Ohio pages you should not compare across courts. It is a deposit against what a jury actually costs, not a fee, and it runs from $10 to $800 depending on how each court estimates that. Unused portions may come back to you.

One thing we could not resolve, and it affects every figure here. R.C. 1901.26 requires a $26 legal aid fee on every new civil case ($11 in small claims). Every court's schedule shows a single lump number with no breakdown, so we cannot tell whether that $26 is already inside the advertised filing fee or added at the counter. If it is added, every Ohio figure on this site is $26 low. Ask the clerk whether the number they quote includes the legal aid fee — and if you find out, we would like to know.

Ohio's documentation problem is staleness and fragmentation rather than absence. Almost every court publishes its fees as readable text — no scans, unlike Illinois — but half print no effective date at all, and Cleveland's housing division was still serving a schedule dated 2016 when we checked.

Fee waivers in Ohio

One statewide form covers every county: Affidavit of indigency (poverty affidavit), “Affidavit of Indigency,” under R.C. 2323.311 and R.C. 1901.26(B) (municipal courts); R.C. 1907.24 (county courts). Depending on income the court waives all, three quarters, half, or a quarter of the fees.

Common questions

Is there one filing fee for the whole state of Ohio?
No. Ohio varies more than any other state here, and it varies for a different reason. In Illinois and Georgia the county sets the fee; in Ohio the individual court does, by its own local rule, with no statutory cap over it at all (R.C. 1901.26 for municipal courts, R.C. 1907.24 for county courts). Across the courts we have checked, filing an eviction runs from $108 to $193 and small claims from $37 to $133 — every court a different number, with none of the shared schedules that make half of Illinois's counties identical to each other.
How much do eviction filing fees vary between Ohio counties?
Across the 6 counties we have verified so far, the eviction filing fee runs from $130 to $173 — 6 distinct amounts. Bailiff service fees vary even more.
Which Ohio court fees are the same everywhere?
Legal aid filing fee (regular civil): $26. Collected in every new civil case in every Ohio municipal and county court, for the support of legal aid societies. Whether it is inside the filing fee your court advertises or added on top of it is the one thing about Ohio fees we could not confirm — ask when you pay.

Legal aid filing fee (small claims): $11. The small claims version of the same statutory fee.

Jury demand: it varies by court. Ohio does not have a jury fee in the sense Illinois or Texas does. What each court charges is a jury cost DEPOSIT, set by its own rule against its own estimate of what a jury will actually cost, and the spread is enormous: $10 in Franklin County and Hamilton County, $350 in Akron, $400 in Toledo, $800 in Dayton. Because these are deposits against actual cost rather than fixed charges, they cannot meaningfully be compared court to court, and unused portions may be refundable. Ask your court.

Everything else on this page is set locally and differs from court to court, which is the whole reason for a page per county.
What is the small claims limit in Ohio?
Ohio's small claims limit is $6,000 (R.C. 1925.02) — the lowest of the states on this site, and less than half of Georgia's. It is fixed by statute and identical in every court.
Do I have to e-file in Ohio?
Ohio has no statewide e-filing system for evictions. Some municipal courts run their own portal, most do not, and a self-represented filer generally files over the counter.
Founder & Editor, County Court Fees

David Scott compiles court filing fees directly from clerk, constable and sheriff fee schedules, records the source document and the date each figure was checked, and re-verifies every county on a fixed schedule. See how the data is sourced, or read the editorial policy.

Not legal advice. This page reports published fee amounts. It cannot tell you whether to file or what to do in your situation — for that, talk to a lawyer or your local legal aid office.