MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2005 Regular Session
To: Judiciary, Division A
By: Senator(s) Tollison
AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 85-3-1, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO CLARIFY THAT CASH ON DEPOSIT MAY BE SELECTED BY A DEBTOR FOR EXEMPTION FROM EXECUTION ON THE SAME BASIS AS CASH, SUBJECT TO THE CUMULATIVE VALUE LIMITATION; TO AMEND SECTION 85-3-4, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO PROVIDE THAT EXEMPT DISPOSABLE EARNINGS REMAIN EXEMPT FOR 30 DAYS AFTER DEPOSIT; TO AMEND SECTIONS 11-35-23 AND 11-35-25, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO CLARIFY FUNDS EXEMPTED UNDER FEDERAL LAW; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:
SECTION 1. Section 85-3-1, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
85-3-1. There shall be exempt from seizure under execution or attachment:
(a) Tangible or intangible personal property of the following kinds selected by the debtor, not exceeding Ten Thousand Dollars ($10,000.00) in cumulative value:
(i) Household goods, wearing apparel, books, animals or crops;
(ii) Motor vehicles;
(iii) Implements, professional books or tools of the trade;
(iv) Cash on hand;
(v) Intangible property involving the right to receive money or credit, including, but not limited to, bank and other accounts, stocks and bonds, earned income credits, child care credits, child credits, or tax refunds;
(vi) Professionally prescribed health aids;
(vii) Any item of tangible personal property worth less than Two Hundred Dollars ($200.00).
Household goods, as used in this paragraph (a), means clothing, furniture, appliances, one (1) radio and one (1) television, one (1) firearm, one (1) lawnmower, linens, china, crockery, kitchenware, and personal effects (including wedding rings) of the debtor and his dependents; however, works of art, electronic entertainment equipment (except one (1) television and one (1) radio), jewelry (other than wedding rings), and items acquired as antiques are not included within the scope of the term "household goods." This paragraph (a) shall not apply to distress warrants issued for collection of taxes due the state or to wages described in Section 85-3-4.
(b) (i) The proceeds of insurance on property, real and personal, exempt from execution or attachment, and the proceeds of the sale of such property.
(ii) Income from disability insurance.
(c) All property, real, personal and mixed, for the collection or enforcement of any order or judgment, in whole or in part, issued by any court for civil or criminal contempt of said court; expressly excepted herefrom are such orders or judgments for the payment of alimony, separate maintenance and child support actions.
(d) All property in this state, real, personal and mixed, for the satisfaction of a judgment or claim in favor of another state or political subdivision of another state for failure to pay that state's or that political subdivision's income tax on benefits received from a pension or other retirement plan. As used in this paragraph (d), "pension or other retirement plan" includes:
(i) An annuity, pension, or profit-sharing or stock bonus or similar plan established to provide retirement benefits for an officer or employee of a public or private employer or for a self-employed individual;
(ii) An annuity, pension, or military retirement pay plan or other retirement plan administered by the United States; and
(iii) An individual retirement account.
(e) One (1) mobile home, trailer, manufactured housing, or similar type dwelling owned and occupied as the primary residence by the debtor, not exceeding a value of Twenty Thousand Dollars ($20,000.00); in determining this value, existing encumbrances on said dwelling, including taxes and all other liens, shall first be deducted from the actual value of said dwelling. A debtor is not entitled to the exemption of a mobile home as personal property who claims a homestead exemption under Section 85-3-21, and the exemption shall not apply to collection of delinquent taxes under Sections 27-41-101 through 27-41-109.
(f) Assets held in, or monies payable to the participant or beneficiary from, whether vested or not, (i) a pension, profit-sharing, stock bonus or similar plan or contract established to provide retirement benefits for the participant or beneficiary and qualified under Section 401(a), 403(a), or 403(b) of the Internal Revenue Code (or corresponding provisions of any successor law), including a retirement plan for self-employed individuals qualified under one of such enumerated sections, (ii) an eligible deferred compensation plan described in Section 457(b) of the Internal Revenue Code (or corresponding provisions of any successor law), or (iii) an individual retirement account or an individual retirement annuity within the meaning of Section 408 of the Internal Revenue Code (or corresponding provisions of any successor law), including a simplified employee pension plan.
(g) Nothing in this section shall in any way affect the rights or remedies of the holder or owner of a statutory lien or voluntary security interest.
SECTION 2. Section 85-3-4, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
85-3-4. (1) The wages, salaries or other compensation of laborers or employees, residents of this state, shall be exempt from seizure under attachment, execution or garnishment for a period of thirty (30) days from the date of service of any writ of attachment, execution or garnishment.
(2) After the passage of the period of thirty (30) days described in subsection (1) of this section, the maximum part of the aggregate disposable earnings (as defined by Section 1672(b) of Title 15, United States Code Annotated) of an individual that may be levied by attachment, execution or garnishment shall be:
(a) In the case of earnings for any workweek, the lesser amount of either,
(i) Twenty-five percent (25%) of his disposable earnings for that week, or
(ii) The amount by which his disposable earnings for that week exceed thirty (30) times the federal minimum hourly wage (prescribed by section 206 (a)(1) of Title 29, United States Code Annotated) in effect at the time the earnings are payable; or
(b) In the case of earnings for any period other than a week, the amount by which his disposable earnings exceed the following "multiple" of the federal minimum hourly wage which is equivalent in effect to that set forth in subparagraph (a)(ii) of this subsection (2): The number of workweeks, or fractions thereof multiplied by thirty (30) multiplied by the applicable federal minimum wage.
(3) (a) The restrictions of subsection (1) and (2) of this section do not apply in the case of:
(i) Any order for the support of any person issued by a court of competent jurisdiction or in accordance with an administrative procedure, which is established by state law, which affords substantial due process, and which is subject to judicial review.
(ii) Any debt due for any state or local tax.
(b) Except as provided in subparagraph (b)(iii) of this subsection (3), the maximum part of the aggregate disposable earnings of an individual for any workweek which is subject to garnishment to enforce any order for the support of any person shall not exceed:
(i) Where such individual is supporting his spouse or dependent child (other than a spouse or child with respect to whose support such order is used), fifty percent (50%) of such individual's disposable earnings for that week; and
(ii) Where such individual is not supporting such a spouse or dependent child described in subparagraph (b)(i) of this subsection (3), sixty percent (60%) of such individual's disposable earnings for that week;
(iii) With respect to the disposable earnings of any individual for that workweek, the fifty percent (50%) specified in subparagraph (b)(i) of this subsection (3) shall be deemed to be fifty-five percent (55%) and the sixty percent (60%) specified in subparagraph (b)(ii) of this subsection (3) shall be deemed to be sixty-five percent (65%), if and to the extent that such earnings are subject to garnishment to enforce a support order with respect to a period which is prior to the period of twelve (12) weeks which ends with the beginning of such workweek.
(4) The exempt disposable earnings described in this section remain exempt for thirty (30) days after deposit in any financial institution.
SECTION 3. Section 85-3-17, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
85-3-17. (1) The proceeds of any judgment or settlement not exceeding Ten Thousand Dollars ($10,000.00) recovered by any person on account of personal injuries sustained, shall inure to the party or parties in whose favor such judgment may be rendered or settlement made, free from all liabilities for the debts of the person injured.
(2) Proceeds not exceeding Ten Thousand Dollars ($10,000.00) attributable to any chose in action based on personal injuries sustained shall inure to the party or parties in whose favor an eventual judgment may be rendered or settlement made, free from all liabilities for the debts of the person injured.
SECTION 4. Section 11-35-23, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
11-35-23. (1) Except for wages, salary or other compensation or funds exempt from garnishment, execution or attachment by virtue of state or federal law and identifiable through the use of first-in, first-out accounting, including, but not limited to, individuals' directly deposited Social Security and Veterans Administration payments, all property in the hands of the garnishee belonging to the defendant at the time of the service of the writ of garnishment shall be bound by and subject to the lien of the judgment, decree or attachment on which the writ shall have been issued. If the garnishee shall surrender such property to the sheriff or other officer serving the writ, the officer shall receive the same and, in case the garnishment issued on a judgment or decree, shall make sale thereof as if levied on by virtue of an execution, and return the money arising therefrom to satisfy the judgment; and if the garnishment issued on an attachment, the officer shall dispose of the property as if it were levied upon by a writ of attachment. And any indebtedness of the garnishee to the defendant, except for wages, salary or other compensation or funds exempt from garnishment, execution or attachment by virtue of state or federal law and identifiable through the use of first-in, first-out accounting, including, but not limited to, individuals' directly deposited Social Security and Veterans Administration payments, shall be bound from the time of the service of the writ of garnishment, and be appropriable to the satisfaction of the judgment or decree, or liable to be condemned in the attachment. Service of writ of garnishment as provided in Section 11-35-11 and this section shall be effective to bind non-exempt funds in the hands of the garnishee.
(2) The court issuing any writ of garnishment shall show thereon the amount of the claim of the plaintiff and the court costs in the proceedings and should at any time during the pendency of said proceedings in the court a judgment be rendered for a different amount, then the court shall notify the garnishee of the correct amount due by the defendant under said writ.
(3) (a) Except for judgments, liens, attachments, fees or charges owed to the state or its political subdivisions; wages, salary or other compensation in the hands of the garnishee belonging to the defendant at the time of the service of the writ of garnishment shall not be bound by nor subject to the lien of the judgment, decree or attachment on which the writ shall have been issued when the writ of garnishment is issued on a judgment based upon a claim or debt that is less than One Hundred Dollars ($100.00), excluding court costs.
(b) If the garnishee be indebted or shall become indebted to the defendant for wages, salary or other compensation during the first thirty (30) days after service of a proper writ of garnishment, the garnishee shall pay over to the employee all of such indebtedness, and thereafter, the garnishee shall retain and the writ shall bind the nonexempt percentage of disposable earnings, as provided by Section 85-3-4, for such period of time as is necessary to accumulate a sum equal to the amount shown on the writ as due the court, even if such period of time extends beyond the return day of the writ. Unless the court otherwise authorizes the garnishee to make earlier payments or releases, the garnishee shall retain all sums collected pursuant to the writ and make only one (1) payment into court at such time as the total amount shown due on the writ has been accumulated, provided that, at least one (1) payment per year shall be made to the court of the amount that has been withheld during the preceding year. Should the employment of the defendant for any reason be terminated with the garnishee, then the garnishee shall not later than fifteen (15) days after the termination of such employment, report such termination to the court and pay into the court all sums as have been withheld from the defendant's disposable earnings. If the plaintiff in garnishment contest the answer of the garnishee, as now provided by law in such cases, and proves to the court the deficiency or untruth of the garnishee's answer, then the court shall render judgment against the garnishee for such amount as would have been subject to the writ had the said sum not been released to the defendant; provided, however, any garnishee who files a timely and complete answer shall not be liable for any error made in good faith in determining or withholding the amount of wages, salary or other compensation of a defendant which are subject to the writ.
(4) Wages, salaries or other compensation as used in this section shall mean wages, salaries, commissions, bonuses or other compensation paid for employment purposes only.
(5) The circuit clerk may, in his or her discretion, spread on the minutes of the county or circuit court, as the case may be, an instruction that all garnishment defendants shall send all garnishment monies to the attorney of record or in the case where there is more than one (1) attorney of record, then to the first-named attorney of record, and not to the clerk. The payment schedule shall be the same as subsection (3)(b) of this section.
(6) All payments made pursuant to a garnishment issued out of the justice court shall be made directly to the plaintiff or to the plaintiff's attorney as indicated by the plaintiff in his or her suggestion for writ of garnishment. The employer shall notify the court and the plaintiff or the plaintiff's attorney when a judgment is satisfied or when the employee is no longer employed by the employer.
SECTION 5. Section 11-35-25, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
11-35-25. (1) Every person duly summoned as a garnishee shall answer on oath as to the following particulars, viz.:
(a) Whether he be indebted to the defendant or were so indebted at the time of the service of the writ on him, or have at any time since been so indebted; and, if so indebted, in what sum, whether due or not, and when due or to become due, and how the debt is evidenced, and what interest it bears;
(b) What non-exempt effects of the defendant he has or had at the time of the service of the writ on him, or has had since, in his possession or under his control;
(c) Whether he knows or believes that any other person is indebted to the defendant; and, if so, whom, and in what amount, and where he resides; and
(d) Whether he knows or believes that any other person has effects of the defendant in his possession or under his control; and, if so, whom, and where he resides.
(2) In addition to answering as to the particulars in subsection (1) of this section, each person duly summoned as a garnishee in any case in which he be indebted to the defendant for wages, salary or other compensation shall answer on oath as to whether the defendant is an employee of the garnishee and, if so, the time interval between pay periods of the defendant including any specific day of a week or month on which such defendant is regularly paid.
SECTION 6. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2005.