Rule 90.02.Request for Issuance of Writ of Garnishment.

Garnishment starts with paperwork, not a court hearing. Rule 90.02 lets the clerk of the court that entered the judgment issue a writ of garnishment on request, without a judge signing off case by case, as long as the garnishor’s written request covers the ground the rule requires.

That request must confirm that a judgment exists and remains unpaid, state the judgment balance and how much is still owed, and say that the garnishor knows or has good reason to believe the garnishee owes the debtor money, must make periodic payments to the debtor, or holds property belonging to the debtor. The garnishor also has to pick a return date — 30, 60, 90, 120, 150, or 180 days after filing — or ask instead for a continuous wage garnishment, which runs with no return date at all. Finally, the request states whether the garnishee’s payments should go to the court or straight to the garnishor’s attorney.

Once the clerk processes the request and issues the writ, the clerk hands it back to the garnishor, who is then responsible for arranging service on the garnishee under Rule 90.03. That division of labor — the clerk issues the writ, the garnishor gets it served — keeps the mechanical steps of garnishment moving without tying up judicial time on routine filings.