Under the act, clerks of circuit courts are authorized to collect a surcharge of up to ten dollars when processing garnishments and money from the surcharge is to be used to maintain and improve case processing and record preservation (488.305).

Upon receipt of a garnishment application, the clerk shall issue the writ and return the garnishment to the garnishor to direct service upon the garnishee. Service to the garnishee shall be made by the sheriff, but if the sheriff fails to obtain service then the garnishor may request the court to appoint a special process server or the garnishor may obtain service by certified mail (525.020).

A copy of the summons and writ shall also be served to the judgment debtor. Regardless of whether the judgment debtor is served according to Supreme Court Rule or by mail as provided in the act, the judgment debtor shall be served no later than five days after notice of service upon the garnishee. The judgment debtor may file and serve the garnishor with a request to claim exemptions within twenty days after being served with the garnishment. If a request for court review is not timely filed by the garnishor, the garnishee shall release from the garnishment the funds claimed as exempt by the judgment debtor. A hearing required by the court shall be held not later than thirty days after the filing of the request for court review (525.025).

The act adds language which provides that in the case of a continuous wage garnishment notice of garnishment served as provided by law shall have the effect of attaching all personal property until the judgment is paid in full or the employment relationship is terminated.

Garnishments which would otherwise have equal priority shall have priority according to the date of service, and when wages have been attached by more than one writ of garnishment then the employer must inform the inferior garnishor of the other garnishments (525.040).

When applicable, a garnishee may discharge himself by paying the money or giving the property owed to the defendant to the attorney for the party on whose behalf the order of garnishment was issued. Additionally, the court may order the delivery of the defendant's property possessed by the garnishee to the attorney for the party on whose behalf the order of garnishment was issued (525.070, 525.080).

The act allows the garnishee to deduct up to twenty dollars, or a fee previously agreed upon between the garnishee and judgment debtor when the garnishee is a financial institution, for expenses in answering interrogatories and withholding the funds. The garnishee may also file a motion with the court to obtain additional costs incurred in answering the interrogatories (525.230).

The act modifies provisions relating to the issuance of a writ of sequestration. Under current law, the wages of state government employees are not subject to direct garnishment, and instead must be collected under a process called sequestration. This act provides that sovereign immunity shall be waived for the purposes of garnishing the pay of employees who work for the state or a political subdivision, and that the government employer shall have the same duties as a private employer when served with a garnishment order. The act repeals language requiring a writ of sequestration when the judgment debtor is a government employee, and provides that all garnishments against such employees shall proceed in the same manner as any other garnishment proceedings (525.310).

These provisions are substantially similar to provisions contained in the truly agreed to and finally passed versions of SB 621 (2014) and SB 672 (2014), and HB 1231 (2014), and similar to provisions contained in HB 204 (2013) and SS/SCS/HCS/HB 374 & 434 (2013).

JESSICA BAKER