Massachusetts received the fifth worst overall score of the 47 jurisdictions with small claims courts, in a nationwide “Small Claims Report Card” recently compiled by HALT ­ An Organization of Americans for Legal Reform.

The state’s dollar limit of $2,000 in small claims court is also the fifth worst in the country, according to the report. However, Massachusetts was one of the least expensive places to bring a small claims case, with an average filing fee of $19, including service of process. The state received a grade of “F” in “mediation” for failing to offer that option in any of the 10 counties HALT surveyed.

“Massachusetts’ small claims dollar limit is so low that it restricts access to small claims courts to the most trivial of cases,” said Thomas M. Gordon, HALT’s associate counsel and director of the Small Claims Court Reform Project. “Everyday, people have disputes over amounts that are 10 times greater than those allowed in Massachusetts’ small claims courts, but have no means of resolving them without the prohibitive cost of hiring an attorney.”

Data for the survey was collected over four months in late 2001 by a telephone survey of a sampling of small claims courts in the four largest counties in each state and six other randomly selected counties in each state.

Half of a state’s grade came from the amount and type of relief its small claims courts offered and half came from the ease of access to the court.