A. Any judgment creditor may obtain a continuing lien on earnings. For the purposes of this section, “earnings” means any form of payment to an individual including, but not limited to, salary, wages, commission, or other compensation, but does not include reimbursements for travel expenses for state employees.

B. A continuing earnings garnishment shall be commenced by filing the affidavit provided for by Section 1172 of this title.

C. The summons required by this section shall be on a form prescribed by the Administrative Office of the Courts.

D. The summons required by this section shall be served upon each of the garnishees, together with a copy of the judgment creditor’s affidavit, a garnishee’s answer form, notice of garnishment and request for hearing, and claim for exemptions, in the manner provided for in Section 2004 of this title and shall be returned with proof of service within ten (10) days of its date.

E. The garnishee’s answer shall be on a form prescribed by the Administrative Office of the Courts.

F. Within seven (7) days after the end of each pay period, or, if the judgment debtor does not have regular pay periods or is not paid by the garnishee within thirty (30) days from the date of the garnishment summons, and after any payment by the garnishee to the judgment debtor, the garnishee shall file an answer with the court clerk, and pay the amount withheld to the judgment creditor’s attorney or to the judgment creditor, if there is no attorney, together with a copy of the answer which shall state:

1. Whether the garnishee was the employer of the defendant named in the notice, was indebted to the defendant, or was under any liability to the defendant in any manner or upon any account for earnings, specifying the beginning and ending dates of the pay period, if applicable, existing at the time of the service of the affidavit and summons, the total amounts earned in the entire pay period, and all of the facts and circumstances necessary to a complete understanding of any indebtedness or liability. When the garnishee shall be in doubt respecting the liability or indebtedness, the garnishee may set forth all of the facts and circumstances concerning the same, and submit the question to the court;

2. If the garnishee shall claim any setoff, defense, other indebtedness, liability, lien, or claim to the property, the facts and circumstances in the affidavit;

3. At the garnishee’s option, any claim of exemption from execution on the part of the defendant or other objection known to the garnishee against the right of the judgment creditor to apply the indebtedness or property disclosed;

4. If the garnishee shall disclose any indebtedness or the possession of any property to which the defendant or any other person makes claim, at the garnishee’s option, the names and addresses of other claimants and, so far as known, the nature of their claims; and

5. That the garnishee has mailed or hand-delivered a copy of the notice of garnishment and exemptions, application for hearing, and the manner and date of compliance.

G. The garnishment summons served on the garnishee under this section is a lien on the defendant’s property due at the time of service or the effective date of the summons, to the extent the property is not exempt from garnishment. This lien attaches to subsequent nonexempt earnings until one of the following occurs:

1. The judgment against the defendant is vacated, modified, or satisfied in full;

2. The summons is dismissed; or

3. One hundred eighty (180) days from the effective date of the summons have elapsed; provided, an affidavit and summons shall continue in effect and shall apply to a pay period beginning before the end of the one-hundred-eighty-day period even if the conclusion extends beyond the end of the period.

H. 1. A garnishment lien under this section has priority over any subsequent garnishment lien or garnishment summons served on the garnishee during the period it is in effect, regardless of whether the amounts withheld by the garnishee are reduced by the court or by agreement of the parties.

2.a.When a garnishment summons is served under this section on a garnishee while a previous garnishment lien is still in effect, the garnishee shall answer the subsequent garnishment lien or garnishment summons by stating that the garnishee is presently holding defendant’s property under a previous garnishment lien or garnishment summons, and by giving the date when all previous garnishment liens or garnishment summons are expected to end.

b.The subsequent summons is not effective if a summons or lien on the same cause of action is pending at the time of service unless the subsequent summons in the same cause of action is served after the one-hundred-fiftieth day of the previous garnishment lien.

I. 1. When a postjudgment wage garnishment under Section 1173 of this title or a continuing earnings garnishment under this section is issued against a defendant already subject to an income assignment for child support, the garnishee shall determine the maximum percentage of the defendant’s disposable earnings according to the provisions of Section 1171.2 of this title and then deduct from that percentage the actual percentage of the defendant’s disposable earnings actually withheld under the income assignment. The resulting percentage shall be the amount to be withheld by the garnishee, not to exceed twenty-five percent (25%).

2. For any involuntary legal or equitable procedures through which the earnings of any individual are required to be withheld for the payment of any debt which has statutory priority over this section, the amount withheld pursuant to a garnishment under this section shall be reduced by the actual sums withheld pursuant to such other involuntary process.

J. A continuing earnings garnishment may be suspended or modified for a specific period of time within the effective period of the garnishment by the judgment creditor upon agreement with the judgment debtor, which agreement shall be in writing and filed by the judgment creditor with the clerk of the court in which the judgment was entered, and a copy of which shall be mailed by first-class mail, postage prepaid by the judgment creditor to the garnishee.

K. Any garnishment issued against a debtor already subject to a continuing or noncontinuing earnings garnishment shall take effect immediately upon the conclusion of the prior garnishment, and shall be effective for its full one-hundred-eighty-day period of time or as otherwise provided in subsection G of this section.

Added by Laws 1989, c. 236, § 3, eff. July 1, 1989. Amended by Laws 1990, c. 248, § 4, emerg. eff. May 21, 1990; Laws 1995, c. 338, § 6, eff. Nov. 1, 1995; Laws 1999, c. 293, § 15, eff. Nov. 1, 1999; Laws 2004, c. 450, § 5, eff. Nov. 1, 2004; Laws 2011, c. 187, § 6, eff. Nov. 1, 2011.