Senate Bill No. 781
(By Senators Helmick, Sharpe, Plymale, Chafin, Prezioso
Edgell, Love, Bailey, Bowman, McCabe, Unger, Sypolt,
Fanning, Facemyer, Boley, Sprouse and Guills)
____________
[Originating in the Committee on Finance;
reported February 21, 2008.]
____________
A BILL to amend and reenact §38-5A-4 and §38-5A-5 of the Code of
West Virginia, 1931, as amended; and to amend and reenact §38-
5B-4 of said code, all relating to service of suggestee
execution and notice.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §38-5A-4 and §38-5A-5 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931,
as amended, be amended and reenacted; and that §38-5B-4 of said
code be amended and reenacted, all to read as follows:
ARTICLE 5A. SUGGESTIONS OF SALARY AND WAGES OF PERSONS ENGAGED IN
PRIVATE EMPLOYMENT.
§
38-5A-4. Notice to judgment debtor; time for service on
suggestee; fee.
A certified copy of an execution issued under this article
against salary or wages shall be served upon the judgment debtor.
Such service shall be made by the court or the clerk of the court who issued the execution by mailing the copy to the judgment debtor
or his or her agent authorized to accept service of process by
certified mail, return receipt requested. The day and hour of such
mailing shall be clearly noted on the face of the original
execution and the clerk of the court or the officer to whom it is
delivered for collection shall not make service upon the suggestee
until the expiration of five days from that time. The fee for
service of notice under this section shall be one dollar and an
additional allowance for postage, certification fee, or other
expenses incurred in effecting service.
§38-5A-5. Service of suggestee execution upon suggestee; payments
in satisfaction of execution; action for failure or
refusal to pay; payments to be made every ninety
days
.
(a) Service of a suggestee execution against salary or wages
may be made by the clerk of the circuit court or the magistrate
court clerk, as the case may be, by sending a copy of the suggestee
execution to the suggestee by certified mail, return receipt
requested, with delivery restricted to the addressee as provided by
subdivision (1), section (d) of rule four of the Rules of Civil
Procedure for trial courts of record. If the registered mail is
unclaimed or otherwise is not accepted or is refused by the
suggestee, then service of the suggestee execution shall be made in
the same manner as a summons commencing an action is served, in accordance with the Rules of Civil Procedure for trial courts of
record: Provided, That if the suggestee is located in a county
other than the county where the suggestee execution issues, the
clerk may mail the suggestee execution by first class mail to the
sheriff of the other county for such service. If the service is
made on a corporation, limited liability company or other person or
entity through the Secretary of State, it shall be submitted along
with the fee required by section two, article one, chapter
fifty-nine of this code.
(b) If the suggestee served with the execution is indebted or
will in the future become indebted to the judgment debtor for
salary or wages then during the time the execution remains a lien
on any indebtedness for salary and wages the suggestee is required
to pay over to the officer serving the same or to the judgment
creditor the percentage of the indebtedness required by section
three of this article until the execution is wholly satisfied. The
suggestee shall deduct the amounts paid from the amounts payable to
the judgment debtor as salary or wages and the deduction of these
amounts is a bar to any further action by the judgment creditor
against the wages or salary of the judgment debtor.
(c) Once every ninety days during the life of such execution
and any renewal execution, the suggestee upon whom the execution or
any renewal execution is served shall pay over to the officer who
served the same or to the judgment creditor the full amount of money held or retained pursuant to such execution or renewal
execution during the preceding ninety days.
If the suggestee upon whom the execution is served fails or
refuses to pay over to the officer serving the execution or to the
judgment creditor the required percentage of the indebtedness, as
aforesaid, he or she shall be liable to an action therefor by the
judgment creditor named in the execution and the amount recovered
in the action shall be applied in satisfaction of the execution.
ARTICLE 5B. SUGGESTION OF THE STATE AND POLITICAL SUBDIVISIONS;
GARNISHMENT AND SUGGESTION OF PUBLIC OFFICERS.
§38-5B-4. Notice to judgment debtor of execution against salary or
wages; time for service on officer of suggestee
.
A certified copy of an execution issued under this article
against salary or wages shall be served by the clerk of the court
who issued the execution upon the judgment debtor or his or her
agent authorized to accept service of process, by certified mail,
return receipt requested, and delivery restricted to the addressee
requested. The day and hour of mailing shall be clearly noted on
the face of the original execution and the officer to whom it is
delivered for collection shall not make service upon the proper
officer until the expiration of five days from that time.