Kentucky: Small Claims Court Dollar Limits
The short answer
Kentucky's Small Claims Division, part of the District Court, has the lowest ceiling in this survey: $2,500, the same for an individual or a business. Attorneys are allowed but not required for anyone. You can't file more than 25 claims a year, though a business gets its own 25-claim allowance per qualifying location. Either side can appeal within 10 days to Circuit Court, but it's a review of the record, not a new trial: no new evidence is allowed. One rule you won't see in most states: anyone in the business of lending money at interest, or any collection agency, is barred from using the small claims division at all.
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This is the general rule in Kentucky. Ezel applies current Kentucky law to your specific facts and answers with citations to the statutes.
| Governing law | KRS §§ 24A.200-24A.360 (Small Claims, within Ch. 24A, District Court); § 24A.230 sets jurisdiction |
|---|---|
| Dollar limit | $2,500, exclusive of interest and costs (KRS § 24A.230(1)) |
| Limit for businesses/entities | Same $2,500 limit as an individual: no separate lower or higher figure by plaintiff type |
| Court name and where to file | The Small Claims Division of the District Court in the county (KRS § 24A.220) |
| Can you bring a lawyer? | Permitted but not required for any party (KRS § 24A.240(1)) |
| Limit on how many claims you can file | 25 claims per calendar year per party statewide; a business gets its own 25-claim allowance for each established location that's been in trade or commerce at least 6 months (KRS § 24A.250(1)) |
| Can you appeal? | Either party may appeal within 10 days of judgment to Circuit Court (KRS § 24A.340); the appeal is a review of the case file and any electronically recorded proceedings, not a new trial: no new evidence may be submitted |
| What you can sue for | Money or personal property claims up to $2,500, plus rescinding/disaffirming a contract for goods or services up to that same amount (KRS § 24A.230(1)-(2)); libel, slander, alienation of affections, malicious prosecution, and abuse of process are excluded, as are assigned claims and class actions (§ 24A.230(1), § 24A.240(2)); no prejudgment attachment, garnishment, replevin, or other provisional remedy may be filed in the division (§ 24A.230(3)); anyone in the business of lending money at interest, or any collection agency or agent, is barred from using the division to pursue that business (§ 24A.240(3)) |
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Requirements one by one
Governing law
Kentucky's small claims scheme is set out in KRS Chapter 24A, the chapter governing District Court generally, in a block of sections captioned "Small Claims" (§§ 24A.200 through 24A.360). Section 24A.220 establishes the Small Claims Division within each District Court; § 24A.230 is the jurisdiction section that sets the dollar figure and what kinds of claims qualify.
Dollar limit
$2,500, "exclusive of interest and costs," per § 24A.230(1). That's the same figure whether the plaintiff is an individual or a business, and it hasn't changed since the small claims division's dollar limit was last raised. A claim between $2,500 and $5,000 goes to the regular civil docket of the same District Court instead; above $5,000, it belongs in Circuit Court.
Limit for businesses/entities
No separate figure. Section 24A.230 draws no distinction based on who's suing, and § 24A.240(1)'s optional-attorney rule applies to any party, entity or individual alike. What DOES change for a business is the annual filing cap, see below.
Court name and where to file
The forum is the Small Claims Division of the District Court, not a separately named court, but a division inside the same District Court that also handles other civil matters, established under § 24A.220. You'd file with the Office of Circuit Court Clerk in the county where the case belongs (the clerk's office serves both District and Circuit Court filings in Kentucky).
Can you bring a lawyer?
Yes, and it's a clean, simple rule: "The appearance of an attorney-at-law on behalf of any party is permitted but not required" (§ 24A.240(1)). No entity-specific carve-out exists, a corporation doesn't need a lawyer here any more than an individual does.
Limit on how many claims you can file
25 claims per calendar year per party, statewide, under § 24A.250(1). What makes Kentucky's version distinctive is the business allowance: rather than one shared 25-claim cap for an entire company, "any business engaged in trade or commerce shall be entitled to the maximum number of claims allowed under this section for each established location in the district that has been engaged in trade or commerce for at least six (6) months", so a business with several qualifying locations effectively gets a multiple of 25. Anyone filing has to sign an affidavit at filing confirming they haven't exceeded the cap; a claim that violates it gets dismissed without prejudice at the plaintiff's cost. City, county, and urban-county governments are exempt from the cap entirely.
Can you appeal?
Yes, symmetrically, but as a record review rather than a fresh trial. Section 24A.340 gives "any party aggrieved by the judgment of the small claims division" the right to "appeal within ten (10) days of the judgment to the Circuit Court in the judicial circuit where such division is located." The statute itself doesn't spell out the standard of review, but the Kentucky Administrative Office of the Courts' own Small Claims Handbook makes it explicit: "New evidence or information cannot be filed or presented to the Circuit Court judge if the case is appealed. The Circuit Court judge will only review the court case file and any electronically recorded proceedings in the Small Claims Division to determine if the law was applied correctly." That's meaningfully different from a trial-de-novo state, you're stuck with whatever record the small claims hearing produced.
What you can sue for
Mostly money or personal property claims up to $2,500, plus one specific contract remedy: § 24A.230(2) lets a plaintiff use the division to "disaffirm, avoid, or rescind a contract or agreement for the purchase of goods or services" up to that same $2,500 figure. Several categories are excluded outright: libel, slander, alienation of affections, malicious prosecution, and abuse of process claims (§ 24A.230(1)); assigned claims and class actions (§ 24A.240(2)); and any prejudgment attachment, garnishment, replevin, or other provisional remedy (§ 24A.230(3)). The sharpest exclusion is aimed at repeat commercial filers rather than claim type: § 24A.240(3) bars "any person, firm, partnership, association, or corporation engaged, either primarily or secondarily, in the business of lending money at interest, nor any collection agency or collection agent" from bringing an action in the division "in furtherance of their business" at all.
What trips people up
The appeal isn't a do-over. Because Circuit Court only reviews the existing record, showing up unprepared to the small claims hearing, skipping evidence you meant to bring, or not explaining your case fully, can't be fixed later on appeal.
Money lenders and collection agencies can't use this forum for their own business, a genuinely unusual, business-model-specific bar not found in most states' small claims statutes. If you're a debt buyer or collection agency, the small claims division isn't available to you regardless of the amount.
The multi-location filing allowance is easy to misunderstand. It doesn't multiply a company's total cap without limit, each qualifying location needs its own 6-month trade-or-commerce history before it gets its own 25-claim allowance.
Kentucky's $2,500 ceiling is well below the regular District Court's own general civil jurisdiction. A claim just over the small claims limit doesn't need to go all the way to Circuit Court, it can still be filed on the regular civil docket of the same District Court, up to that court's own $5,000 general limit.
Common questions
Can I sue for more than $2,500 and just accept the smaller amount? The statute caps the division's jurisdiction at $2,500; a claimant wanting more needs to file on the regular District Court civil docket or in Circuit Court instead.
Does hiring a lawyer change how my case is handled? Not procedurally, the informal hearing format under § 24A.330 applies regardless of whether either side has an attorney.
What if I want a jury trial? Filing in the small claims division waives that right for the plaintiff automatically; a defendant who wants one can request removal to the regular District Court docket at least 7 days before the hearing (KRS § 24A.320).
Statutes and sources
- KRS § 24A.230(1), "The small claims division shall have jurisdiction, concurrent with that of the District Court, in all civil actions, other than libel, slander, alienation of affections, malicious prosecution and abuse of process actions, when the amount of money or damages or the value of the personal property claimed does not exceed two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500) exclusive of interest and costs.", https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=39856, accessed 2026-07-09
- KRS § 24A.230(2)-(3), "(2) The division may also be used in civil matters when the plaintiff seeks to disaffirm, avoid, or rescind a contract or agreement for the purchase of goods or services not in excess of two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500) ... (3) The division shall have authority to grant appropriate relief, except no prejudgment actions for attachment, garnishment, replevin or other provisional remedy may be filed in the division.", https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=39856, accessed 2026-07-09
- KRS § 24A.240, "(1) The appearance of an attorney-at-law on behalf of any party is permitted but not required. (2) No party may file an assigned claim or a class action in the division. (3) No person, firm, partnership, association, or corporation engaged ... in the business of lending money at interest, nor any collection agency or collection agent, may bring an action in the division in furtherance of their business.", https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=20712, accessed 2026-07-09
- KRS § 24A.250(1), "No party shall file more than twenty-five (25) claims in any one (1) calendar year in the small claims division of any District Court in the Commonwealth. Any business engaged in trade or commerce shall be entitled to the maximum number of claims allowed under this section for each established location in the district that has been engaged in trade or commerce for at least six (6) months.", https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=20713, accessed 2026-07-09
- KRS § 24A.340, "Any party aggrieved by the judgment of the small claims division may appeal within ten (10) days of the judgment to the Circuit Court in the judicial circuit where such division is located.", https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=20722, accessed 2026-07-09
- KRS § 24A.330, "The hearing and disposition of all matters in the small claims division shall be informal.", https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/chapter.aspx?id=37154, accessed 2026-07-09
- Kentucky Small Claims Handbook (AOC/Attorney General), "New evidence or information cannot be filed or presented to the Circuit Court judge if the case is appealed. The Circuit Court judge will only review the court case file and any electronically recorded proceedings in the Small Claims Division to determine if the law was applied correctly.", https://www.kycourts.gov/Legal-Help/Documents/P-6_Small_Claims_Handbook.pdf, accessed 2026-07-09
Source links
Every statute quoted above, linked, with the date we checked it.
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