Enter the people’s court — for citizens trying to resolve everyday disputes simply and cheaply.

No attorneys. No juries. No legal jargon. No legal pretensions. And no formal rules of evidence.

Just judgments — with decisions that carry the same weight as your average multi-million dollar medical malpractice suit.

The case before Buchanan County Associate Circuit Judge Ronald Taylor on this Wednesday morning was a man suing his ex-lover for old clothes.

She wouldn’t give up his garments — so he sued, for the maximum allowed: $3,000.

It didn’t take much, just a trip to the Buchanan County Courthouse, a $30 filing fee, an additional fee for the Buchanan County Sheriff’s Department to serve court papers and a 30-day waiting period.

Wednesday morning came, and neither slighted lover showed up.

Mr. Taylor moved on. The small claims docket begins at 9 a.m., and court ended 10 minutes later. There were no other cases.

Mr. Taylor is nothing like the average television judge. (For the record, he hasn’t owned a TV for 15 years.) He’s not about ratings — just fair results, served fast with a side of unbiased judgment.

At his twice-weekly small-claims hearings, Mr. Taylor admits he’d much rather hear more substantial criminal cases with attorneys who know how to speak “legalese.”

But, he adds, small claims is a way for the average person to get their complaint off their chest without the expense of an attorney.

“It’s for modest amounts of money, but it does have a value in that people get in front of the judge, and hopefully we’ll resolve something in a peaceful manner that might not be as peacefully resolved if they were doing it outside the courthouse,” Mr. Taylor said, adding small claims cases are less than 1 percent of his weekly caseload.

“We don’t get more than two or three a week, and only maybe one or two out of three really has any merit.”

For the uninitiated, the average person’s experience with small claims court may surround the melodrama of Judge Wapner or Judge Judy.

And Associate Circuit Court Judge Keith Marquart says that’s just fine — less work for him.

Over the years, the TV judge shows often have called to take cases off his hands.

“In fact, many cases from Buchanan County have been heard on ‘Judge Judy’ or ‘Judge Joe Brown.’ We get requests from them to let them hear our cases fairly regularly,” Mr. Marquart said.

Mr. Marquart has noticed litigants more prepped and prepared in his courtroom because of their afternoon viewing habits.

“To a certain extent, the TV judge shows have helped us because (they see) people come to court with their documents, their pictures — and everybody understands that,” he said.

And while the cases on television are actual small claims court cases, the TV courtroom is not a court of law, but rather arbitration.

All parties sign a contract agreeing to the results of arbitration by the television judge. The judgments are paid by advertising. “Taking your case on national TV does have an advantage in that there is a fund from the advertisers to pay the judgment. We don’t have that luxury in real court,” Mr. Marquart said.

And therein lies the main challenge in small claims court: Can you collect the money if you win?

“It’s not the court’s responsibility to collect the money. It’s the individual’s, but they can use the authority of the court to collect it by attachment or sale of property or garnishment of wages,” Mr. Marquart said.

The typical case before Mr. Taylor and Mr. Marquart each week revolve around day-to-day life matters: a soured cohabitating couple who must now divvy up their shared possessions and bills, the clunker vehicle with dealer warranty that has suddenly fallen into disrepair, the shoddy work of a home repair contractor, the helping friend who makes a cash loan to a bum friend or relative, and, occasionally, the unrequited male suitor who wants the cost of his engagement ring.

In all those cases, Mr. Marquart advises, the single most important consideration before filing is “whether the person has a bank account, whether they have a car that they can attach and sell, whether they have a job that they can garnish wages.”

The Buchanan County Sheriff’s Department will serve garnishment papers for a $30 fee. That can then reflect on the losing parties’ credit record — and, for example, prevent them from receiving a home mortgage until resolved.

“A lot of times in small claims, you’re dealing with very small amounts, and many times, you’re dealing with people who are not particularly collectable against,” Mr. Taylor said.

Winning judgments in small claims court also can be hampered by the defendant’s ability to appeal the judge’s decision within 10 days and request a new trial before a new judge or before a jury. The fee for appeal is typically higher than the small claims court fee.

As for Mr. Taylor, he said his real courtroom (like Judge Judy’s sham production set) often becomes a forum to mediate between warring parties — and that’s fine.

“Some of them turn out to be much like mediation once people get to telling their stories and find out they’re not as far apart as they really thought they were,” he said. “But they don’t bother to talk until they get to court.”

Ahmad Safi can be reached at ahmadsafi@npgco.com.