§ 25-1031.Garnishee; final judgment; when rendered; effect; discharge by delivery of property; costs.

Garnishment liability is derivative — it depends on how the main case against the defendant turns out. Section 25-1031 enforces that sequencing directly: no final judgment can be entered against the garnishee until the action against the defendant has been determined. A court cannot make the garnishee pay before it knows whether the plaintiff has a valid claim against the defendant in the first place.

The section then covers both outcomes. If the defendant wins the underlying action, the garnishee is discharged and recovers costs — the garnishee should not be left holding costs, or liability, tied to a claim that failed. If the plaintiff wins against the defendant, the path to the garnishee’s discharge runs through compliance: the garnishee has to deliver up all the defendant’s property, money, and credits in the garnishee’s possession, and pay everything the garnishee owes, as the court orders. Once that happens, the garnishee is discharged, and the costs of the garnishment proceeding come out of the property and money surrendered, or however else the court thinks is right.

This section is the payoff point for everything that came before it — the answer, the bond options, the trial on liability. It ties the garnishee’s fate to the outcome of the case against the defendant and spells out exactly what the garnishee has to do to walk away clean.