Question 1

How does a judgment creditor obtain an order of garnishment in Kansas, and what does the clerk charge?

Accepted Answer

File a Request for Garnishment with the district court. Section 60-731(a) of the Kansas Statutes Annotated lets you do it any time after 14 days following judgment and says in terms that there is no requirement that an execution first be issued and returned unsatisfied, and no bond is required for a post-judgment order. Subsection (b) requires the request to designate whether the order attaches earnings or other property, and allows a master request covering more than one case, which is how high-volume collection files are run in Kansas. Section 60-729(b) sets the fee at $7.50 per order, paid to the clerk of the district court, and subsection (d) provides that the fee is the only cost assessed in the case for the services of the clerk and the sheriff. A poverty affidavit may be filed in lieu of the fee. Subsection (e) allowed the supreme court to add up to $12.50 per fee for non-judicial personnel costs, but only on and after July 1, 2019, through June 30, 2025, so confirm the figure the clerk is collecting today before you budget on $7.50 flat.

Question 2

How much of a paycheck can a Kansas order of garnishment reach?

Accepted Answer

Section 60-2310(b) caps it at the lesser of 25 percent of the debtor's aggregate disposable earnings for that workweek, the amount by which those earnings exceed 30 times the federal minimum hourly wage, or the amount of the plaintiff's claim as found in the order for garnishment. Be clear with yourself about where those numbers come from. The first two are the federal Consumer Credit Protection Act floor restated inside the Kansas statute, and Section 60-2310(a)(4) defines federal minimum hourly wage by cross-reference to the federal Fair Labor Standards Act, so Kansas legislates no percentage of its own and does not beat the floor. The third prong is Kansas's own and it is the one that quietly trims an overstated request. Disposable earnings under subsection (a)(2) are what is left after amounts required by law to be withheld. Support, chapter XIII bankruptcy orders and state or federal tax debt are exceptions that escape subsection (b) entirely under subsection (e), not the general rule.

Question 3

Which Kansas garnishment forms does a creditor file, and why are there two of everything?

Accepted Answer

Because Kansas runs the procedure twice. Article 7 of chapter 60 governs garnishment in an ordinary district court civil action and article 35 of chapter 61 governs it in a limited action, in near-identical language, and the Judicial Council publishes a complete form set for each. The creditor's papers are the Request for Garnishment and the Order of Garnishment, each in a To Attach Earnings and a nonearnings version; the garnishee gets the Answer of Garnishee plus Instructions to Garnishee and the Written Explanation of the garnishee's computation; and the file is closed out with an Order to Pay Money and a Release of Garnishment. None of them carries a number, so title plus chapter is the identifier. Sections 60-734(a), 60-736(a) and 60-737(a) require substantial compliance with the Judicial Council forms, and Section 60-743 states that those forms are sufficient under the act. Confirm the current revision on the Judicial Council's own form pages before filing.

Question 4

How long does a Kansas garnishee have to answer, and what has to be in the answer?

Accepted Answer

Fourteen days following the date the initial order of garnishment is served, under Section 60-737(b), and the answer is supported by unsworn declaration rather than sworn before a notary. Two features of it matter to you. First, the garnishee must designate the name and case number of every judgment creditor who has a garnishment order in effect against the same debtor and the amount due each, so the answer is where you learn who else is already in the file. Second, only one answer is ever required per debtor, and once the garnishee has distributed it no further answer is required, which means the ongoing paper trail is the Written Explanation of computations the employer keeps with its payroll records rather than a fresh answer each period. On the non-earnings track Section 60-736(b) sets the same 14-day clock from service.

Question 5

Does one Kansas order of garnishment keep capturing future paychecks, or does it have to be re-served?

Accepted Answer

One order runs continuously. Section 60-734(c) attaches the nonexempt portion of the debtor's earnings for all pay periods which end while the order is in effect and keeps it in effect until the judgment is paid or the garnishment is released, whichever is sooner, with no day count and no renewal filing. Two things end it early. You must file a release with the clerk on satisfaction, and you must file one forthwith if the garnishee tells you the debtor was never employed there or has left. More dangerous for a creditor who stops answering mail: Section 60-734(f) lets the garnishee request the unsatisfied balance in writing, and if nothing comes back within seven days the garnishee may serve notice that it will stop withholding 14 days later, after which, absent a timely written objection and the balance, it has no further duty to withhold. The same subsection requires you to keep a running accounting of proceeds, interest, credits and the unsatisfied balance and to produce it on the court's request. Separately, the debtor may ask for a hearing within 14 days of the notice you send under Section 60-735, and the court sets it 7 to 14 days after the request, which is the most common reason a first payment slips.

Question 6

Can a Kansas creditor run more than one garnishment against the same debtor at a time?

Accepted Answer

Not on earnings. Section 60-2310(b) provides that no one creditor may issue more than one garnishment against the earnings of the same judgment debtor during any one 30-day period, while still requiring the court to allow amendments or corrections of party names or addresses at any time and still requiring the employer to withhold from every pay period ending inside that 30 days. Read the scope carefully: the limit binds each creditor, not the employee, so another creditor is not blocked by that sentence. On deposit accounts Section 60-733(g) allows two garnishments per party per 30-day period on the same claim against the same debtor, and a judge may order an exception where the party certifies in person or by attorney that the garnishment is not for the purpose of harassment of the debtor and states facts showing reason to believe the garnishee holds non-exempt property or credits.

Question 7

Which Kansas creditor gets paid first when several orders are in effect against one paycheck?

Accepted Answer

Article 7 answers that question by not asking it. There is no sequence rule, no first-served-wins section and no sharing formula in the whole article; the word priority appears twice in it and both hits are inside Section 60-737(c). The allocation is pushed onto the garnishee instead. The answer designates each judgment creditor with an order in effect and the amount due each, and under Section 60-740, if no reply to the answer arrives within 14 days of the date the garnishee completed it, the garnishee pays each designated creditor the amount shown and keeps paying as it withholds, with any creditor overpaid obliged to return the excess for pro-rata distribution to the others. Where other liens have priority over garnishments by law, Section 60-737(c) keeps your garnishment in effect but withholds nothing under it until those liens are released or satisfied, or until the amounts withheld under all of them drop below the exempt figure.

Question 8

What happens if a Kansas employer or bank ignores the order of garnishment?

Accepted Answer

Two different motions with two different consequences. Under Section 60-741, a garnishee that fails to answer within the time and manner the order specifies can have judgment entered against it for the amount of your judgment or claim against the debtor, or such other amount as the court deems reasonable and proper, plus your expenses and attorney fees, with its liability capped at the judgment ultimately rendered if your claim is not yet reduced to judgment. Under Section 60-742, a garnishee that fails or refuses to pay or deliver after payment is due can be held in contempt and fined, or have judgment entered against it, again with expenses and fees. Do not expect that leverage against a cooperative garnishee: Section 60-739(c) provides that a garnishee acting in good faith under article 7 is not liable to either party and is not assessed any penalty.

Kansas Writ of Garnishment

Find out where you stand in Kansas

Introduction

Key Things to Know

Key decisions before you file

Customize your Writ of Garnishment Template with DocDraft

Kansas Requirements for Writ of Garnishment

Pick the Chapter, Then the Form Set

Request for Garnishment: Earnings or Other Property

Fourteen Days After Judgment, $7.50 to the Clerk

Ceiling: the Federal Floor Plus a Claim Cap

One Earnings Garnishment per Creditor per 30 Days

Answer in 14 Days, and Only Once

Continuing Until Paid, Unless the Garnishee Ends It

Garnishee Fees, Bank Rules and the Assignment Forfeiture

Frequently Asked Questions