An Act concerning small claims procedure; relating to
corporate representation; amending
K.S.A. 61-2703, 61-2707 and 61-2713 and repealing the
existing sections.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Kansas:
Section 1. K.S.A. 61-2703 is hereby
amended to read as follows: 61-
2703. As used in this act:
(a) ``Small claim'' means a claim for the
recovery of money or personal
property, where the amount claimed or the value of the property
sought
does not exceed $1,800, exclusive of interest, costs and any
damages
awarded pursuant to K.S.A. 60-2610 and amendments thereto. In
actions
of replevin, the verified petition fixing the value of the property
shall be
determinative of the value of the property for jurisdictional
purposes. A
small claim shall not include:
(1) An assigned claim;
(2) a claim based on an obligation or
indebtedness allegedly owed to
a person other than the person filing the claim, where the person
filing
the claim is not a full-time, salaried employeefull-time employee or officer
of the person to whom the obligation or indebtedness is allegedly
owed;
or
(3) a claim obtained through
subrogation.
(b) ``Person'' means an individual,
partnership, limited liability com- pany, corporation, fiduciary, joint venture, society,
organization or other
association of persons.
Sec. 2. K.S.A. 61-2707 is hereby
amended to read as follows: 61-
2707. (a) The trial of all actions shall be byto the court, and except as provided in K.S.A. 61-2714, and amendments thereto, no party
in any
such action shall be represented by an attorney prior to judgment.
A party may appear by a full-time employee or officer or any person in a
repre- sentative capacity so long as such person is not an
attorney. Discovery
methods or proceedings shall not be allowed nor shall the taking of
dep-
ositions for any purpose be permitted. No order of attachment or
gar-
nishment shall be issued in any action commenced under this act
prior
to judgment in such action.
(b) When entering judgment in the action,
the judge shall include as
a part of the judgment form or order a requirement that, unless
the
judgment has been paid, the judgment debtor shall submit to the
clerk
of the district court, within 30 days after receipt of the form
therefor, a
verified statement describing the location and nature of property
and
assets which the person owns, including the person's place of
employ-
ment, account numbers and names of financial institutions holding
assets
of such person and a description of real property owned by such
person.
The office of judicial administration shall develop the form to be
used in
submitting information to the clerk under this subsection. The
court shall
also include as a part of the judgment form or order a requirement
that,
within 15 days of the date judgment is entered, unless judgment has
been
paid, the judgment creditor shall mail a copy of the judgment form
or
order to the judgment debtor, together with the form for providing
the
information required to be submitted under this subsection, and
that the
judgment creditor shall file with the court proof of the mailing
thereof.
When the form containing the required information is submitted to
the
clerk as required by this subsection, the clerk shall note in the
record of
the proceeding that it was received and then shall mail the form to
the
judgment creditor. No copy of such form shall be retained in the
court
records nor shall it be made available to other persons. Upon
motion of
the judgment creditor, the court may punish for contempt any
person
failing to submit information as required by this subsection.
(c) Any judgment entered under this act
on a claim which is not a
small claim, as defined in K.S.A. 61-2703 and amendments thereto,
or
which has been filed with the court in contravention of the
limitation
prescribed by K.S.A. 61-2704 and amendments thereto on the
number
of claims which may be filed by any person, shall be void and
unenfor-
ceable.
Sec. 3. K.S.A. 61-2713 is hereby
amended to read as follows: 61-
2713. (a) The petition shall be in substantially the following
form:
In the District Court of ________ County,
Kansas.
________________
Plaintiff
vs.
No. ________
________________
Defendant
PETITION PURSUANT TO CHAPTER 61 OF THE KANSAS STATUTES ANNO-
TATED
Statement of claim:
I, ________, having read the instruction
below, hereby assert the following claim
against ________, defendant:
Demand for judgment:
Based on the claim stated above, judgment is
demanded against defendant as follows:
1. Payment of $________, plus interest,
costs and any damages awarded under
K.S.A. 60-2610 and amendments thereto.
2. Recovery of the following described
personal property, plus costs: ________.
This property has an estimated value of $________.
Instructions to plaintiff:
1. State the claim you have against the
defendant in the space provided. Be clear and
concise.
2. Your total claim against defendant may
not exceed $1,800, not including interest,
costs and any damages awarded under K.S.A. 60-2610 and amendments
thereto. If you are
seeking the recovery of personal property, the value of that
property shall be based on your
estimate of its value under oath.
3. You must be present in person at the
hearing in order to avoid default judgment
against you on any claim defendant may have which arises out of the
transaction or occur-
rence which is the subject to your claim against the defendant.
4. You must make demand for judgment in
one or both of the spaces provided above.
5. Except as provided by law,
neither you nor the defendant is permitted to appear with
an attorney at the hearing.
6. You may not file more than 10 small
claims under the small claims procedure act in
this court during any calendar year.
7. After completing this form, you must
subscribe to the following oath:
I, ________, hereby swear that, to the best of
my knowledge and belief, the foregoing
claim asserted against the defendant (including the estimate of
value of any property sought
to be recovered) is a just and true statement, exclusive of any
valid claim or defense which
defendant may have.
[Signature] ____________
Plaintiff
Subscribed and sworn to before me this ______
day of ________, 19__.
[Signature] ____________________
Judge
(clerk or notary)
(b) The summons shall be in substantially
the following form:
In the District Court of ________ County,
Kansas.
________________
Plaintiff
vs.
No. ________
________________
Defendant
SUMMONS
(Small Claims Procedure)
To the above-named defendant:
You are hereby notified that the above-named
plaintiff has filed a claim against you under
the small claims procedure of this court. The statement of
plaintiff's claim and demand for
judgment against you are set forth in the petition which is served
upon you with this sum-
mons.
A trial will be held on this matter at __
o'clock __m. on the ______ day of
________, 19__, at ____________________.
(Place
of hearing and address)
You must be present in person at the trial or
a judgment by default will be entered against
you. Except as otherwise provided by law, neither you nor
the plaintiff is permitted to appear
with an attorney.
If your defense is supported by witnesses,
books, receipts or other papers, you should
bring them with you at the time of the hearing. If you wish to have
witnesses summoned,
see the judge or clerk of the court at once for assistance.
If you admit the claim, but desire additional
time to satisfy plaintiff's demands, you must
be present at the trial and explain the circumstances to the
court.
If you have a claim against the plaintiff,
which arises out of the transaction or occurrence
which is the subject of plaintiff's claim and your claim does not
exceed $1,800, you must
complete the form for ``Defendant's Claim,'' which accompanies this
summons, and return
it to the judge or clerk of the court on or before the time set for
the trial. If your claim
against plaintiff exceeds $1,800, you may complete and return the
form for ``Defendant's
Claim'' on or before the time set for trial.
RETURN ON SERVICE OF SUMMONS
I hereby certify that I have served this
summons:
(1) Personal service. By
delivering a copy of the summons and a copy of the petition to
each of the following defendants on the dates indicated:
____________, 19__ ____________, 19__
(2) Residence service. By leaving
a copy of the summons and a copy of the petition at
the usual place of residence of each of the following defendants on
the dates indicated:
____________, 19__ ________________, 19__
(3) No service. The following
defendants were not found in this county:
Dated: ________.
________________________
(Signature
and Title of Officer)
(c) The defendant's claim shall be in
substantially the following form:
In the District Court of ________ County,
Kansas.
________________
Plaintiff
v.
No. ________
________________
Defendant
DEFENDANT'S CLAIM
Instructions:
1. As stated in the summons, if you have
a claim against the plaintiff which arises out
of the transaction or occurrence which is the subject of
plaintiff's claim and your claim does
not exceed $1,800, you must state your claim in the space provided
below. If your claim
against the plaintiff exceeds $1,800, you may state your claim in
the space provided below.
In determining whether or not your claim against the plaintiff
exceeds $1,800, do not include
interest, costs and any damages under K.S.A. 60-2610 and amendments
thereto, but do
include the value of any personal property sought to be recovered
as determined by your
estimate of its value under oath.
2. Be clear and concise in stating your
claim.
3. If the value of your claim exceeds
$1,800 (not including interest, costs and any dam-
ages awarded under K.S.A. 60-2610 and amendments thereto, but
including the value of
any personal property sought to be recovered, as determined by your
estimate of its value
under oath), the court must decide whether you may pursue your
entire claim or only that
portion not exceeding $1,800.
4. If your claim exceeds $1,800 and the
court determines that you may not pursue the
entire claim at the hearing, you have three alternatives: (1) Make
no demand for judgment
and reserve the right to pursue your entire claim in a court of
competent jurisdiction; (2)
make demand for judgment of that portion of your claim which does
not exceed $1,800 and
reserve the right to bring an action in a court of competent
jurisdiction for any amount in
excess thereof; or (3) make demand for judgment of that portion of
your claim which does
not exceed $1,800 and waive your right to recover any excess.
5. When completed, this form must be
filed with the judge or the clerk of the court on
or before the time stated in the summons for the trial.
Statement of claim:
I,
, having read the instructions above, assert the following claim
against
________, plaintiff:
Demand for judgment:
Based on the claim stated above, judgment is
demanded against plaintiff as follows:
1. Payment of $________, plus interest,
costs and any damages awarded under
K.S.A. 60-2610 and amendments thereto.
2. Recovery of the following described
personal property, plus costs:
This property has an estimated value of $______.
I, ________, hereby swear that, to the best of
my knowledge and belief, the above
claim asserted against the plaintiff (including the estimate of
value of any property sought
to be recovered) is a just and true statement.
[Signature] ____________
Plaintiff
Subscribed and sworn to before me this ______
day of ________, 19__.
[Signature] ____________________
Judge
(clerk or notary)
Sec. 4. K.S.A. 61-2703, 61-2707 and
61-2713 are hereby repealed.
Sec. 5. This act shall take effect and be in force
from and after its
publication in the statute book.