General Assembly Raised Bill No. 7197
January Session, 2017 LCO No. 4395
*04395_______JUD*
Referred to Committee on JUDICIARY
Introduced by:
(JUD)
General Assembly
Raised Bill No. 7197
January Session, 2017
LCO No. 4395
*04395_______JUD*
Referred to Committee on JUDICIARY
Introduced by:
(JUD)
AN ACT INCREASING THE JURISDICTIONAL MONETARY LIMIT IN SMALL CLAIMS ACTIONS.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:
Section 1. Section 51-15 of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2017):
(a) In accordance with the provisions of section 51-14, the judges of the Superior Court shall make such orders and rules as they deem necessary or advisable concerning the commencement of process and procedure in flowage petitions, paternity proceedings, replevin, summary process, habeas corpus, mandamus, prohibition, ne exeat, quo warranto, forcible entry and detainer, peaceable entry and forcible detainer, for paying rewards, and for the hearing and determination of small claims, including suitable forms of procedure in such cases, exclusive of fees.
(b) The judges of the Superior Court shall adopt orders and rules for the hearing and determination of small claims that shall include: (1) Provisions for the institution of small claims actions by attorneys-at-law on suitable forms to be served by a proper officer or indifferent person upon the defendant in the same manner as complaints are served in civil actions; (2) notice by mail; (3) provisions for the early hearing of actions and rules for hearings in accordance with sections 51-193t and 52-549a, and the elimination of any and all fees or costs, except a fee for small claims procedure as prescribed in section 52-259; (4) modification of any or all existing rules of pleading, practice and evidence; and (5) a stay of the entry of judgment or of the issuance of execution and an alternative procedure according to the usual rules of practice. Such orders and rules shall permit the institution of a small claims action against a nonresident defendant who owns real or personal property in this state and against an out-of-state corporation.
(c) Upon the taking effect of such orders and rules, all provisions of statute, both public and private, and the provisions of any orders or rules adopted by the judges of the Superior Court prior to July 1, 1957, inconsistent with or superseded by them, shall be deemed to be repealed, to the extent necessary to render the orders and rules effective.
(d) The procedure for the hearing and determination of small claims as the same may be prescribed, from time to time, by the judges of the Superior Court shall be used in all small claims sessions of the court. The small claims procedure shall be applicable to all actions, except actions of libel and slander, claiming money damages not in excess of [five thousand] seven thousand five hundred dollars, and to no other actions. If an action is brought in the small claims session by a tenant pursuant to subsection (g) of section 47a-21 to reclaim any part of a security deposit which may be due, the judicial authority hearing the action may award to the tenant the damages authorized by subsection (d) of said section and, if authorized by the rental agreement or any provision of the general statutes, costs, notwithstanding that the amount of such damages and costs, in the aggregate, exceeds the jurisdictional monetary limit established by this subsection. If a motion is filed to transfer a small claims matter to the regular docket in the court, the moving party shall pay the fee prescribed by section 52-259. The Attorney General or an assistant attorney general, or the head of any state agency or his or her authorized representative, while acting in his or her official capacity shall not be required to pay any small claims court fee. There shall be no charge for copies of service on defendants in small claims matters.
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following sections:
Section 1 October 1, 2017 51-15
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following sections:
Section 1
October 1, 2017
51-15
Statement of Purpose:
To increase the jurisdictional monetary limit in small claims cases from five thousand dollars to seven thousand five hundred dollars.
[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline, except that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is not underlined.]