Louisiana Revised Statutes 13:3921 – Judgment fixing portion subject to seizure; payment to creditor and processing fee
Terms Used In Louisiana Revised Statutes 13:3921
- Attachment: A procedure by which a person's property is seized to pay judgments levied by the court.
- Garnishment: Generally, garnishment is a court proceeding in which a creditor asks a court to order a third party who owes money to the debtor or otherwise holds assets belonging to the debtor to turn over to the creditor any of the debtor
- Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
A. In every case in which the wage, salary, tips reported to the employer, or other income of a laborer, wage earner, artisan, mechanic, engineer, fireman, carpenter, bricklayer, secretary, bookkeeper, clerk, employee on a commission basis, or employee of any nature and kind whatever, whether skilled or unskilled, shall be garnished either under attachment or fieri facias or as otherwise provided by law, a judgment shall be rendered by the court of competent jurisdiction in which the garnishment proceedings may be pending fixing the portion of such wage, salary, commission, or other compensation as may be exempt, as provided by law, and providing for the payment to the sheriff, marshal, or constable for processing prior to payment to the seizing creditor of whatever sum for which judgment may be obtained, out of the portion of such compensation which is not exempt.
B. Prior to releasing or terminating any garnishment under this Part because of amounts due under the garnishment have been paid or because the amount due as reflected in the statement furnished pursuant to La. Rev. Stat. 13:3923 has been reached, the garnishee or the sheriff, marshal, or constable shall make a reasonable effort to contact the seizing creditor, and obtain the current balance due.
C. The court shall also provide in the judgment for a processing fee of three dollars to be deducted by the employer from the nonexempt income of the employee for each pay period during which the judgment of garnishment is in effect. The processing fee shall be for the costs of the employer in complying with the judgment of garnishment.
D. In garnishment proceedings in which the employee is a state officer or employee, the processing fee provided by Subsection C of this Section shall be paid into the state treasury and, in accordance with La. Const. Art. VII, § 9 , shall be credited to the Bond Security and Redemption Fund.
Acts 1987, No. 777, §1; Acts 1992, No. 984, §4; Acts 2018, No. 261, §1; Acts 2022, No. 265, §2.