Quinisha Williams, Appellant-Defendant/Counterclaim-Plaintiff v. Dawn M. Boyd, Appellee-Plaintiff/Counterclaim-Defendant (2026)

MEMORANDUM DECISION

[1] Quinisha Williams appeals the Whitley Small Claims Court's judgment for Dawn Boyd on Boyd's complaint for breach of contract. Williams presents three issues for our review. However, we address only the following dispositive issue: whether the court erred when it held a bench trial without ruling on Williams's timely request for a jury trial.

[2] We reverse and remand with instructions.

Facts and Procedural History

[3] In May 2023, Williams hired Boyd, an attorney, to file a notice of relocation in Williams's dissolution proceeding. Williams was planning to move to Alabama with her children. In the course of pursuing the relocation, which was unsuccessful in the trial court,¹ Williams incurred $5,458 in attorney's fees. Williams had paid Boyd a $2,000 retainer, but Williams did not pay any of the additional attorney's fees.

[4] On June 30, 2025, Boyd filed a claim with the Small Claims Court for the unpaid attorney's fees. Williams received notice of the claim on July 11, and, on July 21, she filed a request for a jury trial, answer, and counterclaim. According to the Chronological Case Summary (“CCS”), Williams called the court on August 1 to inquire about her jury trial request. An “administrative event” dated August 4 on the CCS states as follows: “[Williams] files Answer and Demand for Jury Trial. Court notes that [Williams] must comply with Small Claims Rule 4(C) and pay the required fee to the Clerk to transfer the matter to the plenary docket.” Appellant's App. Vol. 2, pp. 7-8.

[5] The court did not rule on Williams's jury trial request, and she did not pay the transfer fee. Following a bench trial, the court entered judgment for Boyd in the amount of $3,458 plus court costs and interest. This appeal ensued.

Discussion and Decision

[6] Williams argues that the court erred when it held a bench trial without ruling on her timely request for a jury trial. Williams points out, correctly, that the trial court could not have found that she had waived her right to a jury trial by nonpayment of the transfer fee because she was not required to pay the transfer fee until after her request had been granted.

[7] Initially, we note that Boyd has not filed an appellee's brief. When the appellee fails to file a brief on appeal, we may reverse the trial court's decision if the appellant makes a prima facie showing of reversible error. McGill v. McGill, 801 N.E.2d 1249, 1251 (Ind. Ct. App. 2004). In this context, prima facie error is defined as “at first sight, on first appearance, or on the face of it.” Orlich v. Orlich, 859 N.E.2d 671, 673 (Ind. Ct. App. 2006). This rule was established to make clear that it is not the burden of the court on appeal to rebut apparently valid arguments advanced for reversing the trial court's judgment. See McGill, 801 N.E.2d at 1251.

[8] The Small Claims Court did not rule on Williams's jury trial request, but stated that Williams had to “comply with Small Claims Rule 4(C) and pay the required fee to the Clerk to transfer the matter to the plenary docket.” Appellant's App. Vol. 2, pp. 7-8. Indeed, the notice of claim Williams received stated: “You have 10 days from receipt of this notice to file an affidavit requesting a jury trial and to pay the costs to transfer the case. Otherwise, you waive your right to trial by jury.” Id. at 11 (emphasis added). However, as Williams correctly points out in her brief on appeal, the Small Claims Manual clearly states that the transfer fee is not due until ten days after a jury trial request has been granted.

[9] This Court recently addressed the apparent confusion regarding the timing of the payment of the transfer fee after a party requests a jury trial in small claims court. In Davidson v. Hammond, the trial court found that the defendant had waived her jury trial request because she had not paid the transfer fee. 269 N.E.3d 1219, 1221-22 (Ind. Ct. App. 2025). We examined the applicable small claims rules and held that the trial court had erred. As we explained:

[w]hen a defendant is sued on a circuit court's small claims docket, Indiana Code section 33-28-3-7(b) (2004) states that the defendant may demand a jury trial no later than ten (10) days after receiving service of the plaintiff's notice of claim. The notice of claim must inform defendant of the right to a jury trial and the ten-day notice period. I.C. § 33-28-3-7(c).[]

Indiana Small Claims Rule 2(B)(10) elaborates upon the information a plaintiff must provide to the defendant in the notice of claim. The notice must include:

Notice of the defendant's right to a jury trial and that such right is waived unless a jury trial is requested within ten (10) days after receipt of the notice of claim; that once a jury trial request has been granted, it may not be withdrawn without the consent of the other party or parties; and within ten (10) days after the jury trial request has been granted, the party requesting a jury trial shall pay the clerk the additional amount required by statute to transfer the claim to the plenary docket or, in the Marion Small Claims Court, the filing fee necessary to file a case in the appropriate court of the county; otherwise, the party requesting a jury trial shall be deemed to have waived the request[.]

Id. The rule plainly states that a defendant's obligation to pay the additional amount required to transfer the case to the plenary docket does not take effect until after the trial court grants the defendant's request for a jury trial.

Indiana Small Claims Rule 4(C) also addresses requests for jury trials:

Notwithstanding any statute to the contrary, a defendant may request a jury trial by submitting a written request to the court within ten (10) days after receipt of the notice of claim. No statement of facts supporting the request or verification of the request is required. The party requesting a jury trial shall pay the clerk the additional amount required by statute to transfer the claim to the plenary docket or, in the Marion Small Claims Court, the filing fee necessary to file a case in the appropriate court of the county. Unless filed within ten (10) days after receipt of the notice of claim the right to a jury trial is waived. Once a jury trial request has been granted, it may not be withdrawn without the consent of the other party or parties.

([E]mphasis added). Rule 4(C), like Rule 2(B)(10), demonstrates that a small claims court must [first] rule on a defendant's request for a jury trial. Further, Rule 4(C) does not state that failure to file the additional fee within a set time will waive a right to a jury trial. Instead, the rule provides that failure to timely file a jury trial request will result in waiver.

Next, Indiana Small Claims Rule 13 requires the Judicial Conference of Indiana to create a small claims manual and distribute it to small claims courts, who “shall make it available to every litigant and to such other persons or organizations as the court may deem appropriate.”[] The Small Claims Manual states as follows regarding jury trial requests:

If the Defendant wants a jury trial it must be requested no later than ten days after the Defendant is served with the Notice of Claim. The defendant demands a jury trial by filing an affidavit in compliance with Ind. Code 33-28-3-7 or Ind. Code 33-29-2-7 and paying a seventy-dollar ($70.00) fee. The affidavit must state that there is a question of fact in the case which requires a jury trial, must explain this fact (or facts), and must state that the request for a jury trial is made in good faith. The transfer fee must be paid within ten (10) days after the jury trial request has been granted; otherwise the party requesting the jury trial has waived the request. If a jury trial request has been granted, it may not be withdrawn without the consent of the other party or parties.

Indiana Office of Court Services, Small Claims Manual (2025), p. 20, https://www.in.gov/courts/files/small-claims-manual.pdf (last visited Sept. 17, 2025) (emphasis added). The Manual, like the Small Claims Rules, demonstrates that the trial court must rule on a defendant's jury trial request before the defendant has to pay the fee to transfer the case to the plenary docket.

Id. at 1221-22.

[10] Here, on July 23, Boyd filed with the court a return receipt indicating that Williams was served with notice of Boyd's complaint on July 11.² Williams then timely filed her request for a jury trial on July 21. The court erred when it noted on the CCS that Williams was required to pay a transfer fee when the court had not yet granted her request for a jury trial. And the court erred when it failed to rule on Williams's request to exercise her right to a jury trial. Accordingly, we must reverse. See id. at 1222.

[11] We remand for further proceedings consistent with this opinion, specifically: (1) vacating the judgment; and (2) issuing a ruling on Williams's request for a jury trial. If the court grants Williams's jury trial request, she must pay the transfer fee within ten days of the date of that order.

[12] Reversed and remanded with instructions.

FOOTNOTES

1.   This Court ultimately reversed the trial court's denial of Mother's motion to relocate. Williams v. Cardona-Feliciano, 245 N.E.3d 626 (Ind. Ct. App. 2024).

2.   Williams did not provide us with a copy of the return receipt, but it is indicated as filed on the CCS in her appendix on appeal, and we obtained a copy of the return receipt through the Odyssey case management system.

Mathias, Judge.

May, J., and Felix, J., concur.