None of the procedures for the enforcement of money judgments are applicable to a judgment against the state. All procedures for the enforcement of money judgments against other judgment debtors are applicable to the state, its officers, agencies and subdivisions, as a garnishee, except where otherwise prescribed by law, and except that an order in such a procedure shall only provide for the payment of moneys not claimed by the state, and no judgment shall be entered against the state, or any officer, department, board or commission thereof, in such a procedure. This section shall not be deemed to grant any court jurisdiction to hear and determine claims or actions against the state not otherwise given by law to such court.
§ 5207.Enforcement involving the state.
Article 52. Enforcement of Money Judgments · Last amended 1963 · Last verified July 21, 2026
In one sentenceSays that a money judgment cannot be enforced against the state itself through Article 52's collection machinery, while still letting creditors use those same procedures against the state when it holds a debtor's money or property as garnishee.
Full Text of CPLR 5207
Plain-English Summary
CPLR 5207 draws a firm line: none of Article 52's collection tools, executions, restraining notices, turnover proceedings, can be used to enforce a money judgment against the State of New York as a debtor. A litigant with a judgment against the state has to look elsewhere, typically the Court of Claims and its own payment procedures, to collect.
The state does not get the same immunity when it is holding someone else's money. If the state, one of its agencies, or a subdivision owes money to, or holds property belonging to, a private judgment debtor, a creditor can still serve a restraining notice or bring a turnover proceeding treating the state as garnishee. The catch is that any resulting order can only reach money the state does not claim as its own, and no judgment can be entered against the state or its departments in that proceeding.
The section closes with a jurisdictional reminder: none of this expands which courts can hear claims against the state; that is still governed by whatever law already gives a court jurisdiction over the state.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I use a restraining notice to collect a judgment against New York State?
No. CPLR 5207 exempts the state itself from all of Article 52's enforcement procedures as a judgment debtor.
Can the state be served as a garnishee holding a debtor's money?
Yes. The state, its agencies, and its subdivisions can be treated as garnishees when they hold money or property belonging to a private judgment debtor.
Can a court enter a judgment against a state agency in a garnishee proceeding?
No. CPLR 5207 bars entering any judgment against the state or its departments, boards, or commissions in an enforcement proceeding, even when they are acting as garnishee.
Does CPLR 5207 give courts new power to hear claims against the state?
No. The section says it does not grant any court jurisdiction over claims against the state beyond what other law already provides.
How do I collect a money judgment against New York State?
Article 52's enforcement tools do not apply to judgments against the state itself, so a creditor has to pursue whatever separate payment procedure governs that judgment, typically through the Court of Claims.
Advisory Committee Notes
(See also Advisory Committee Notes preceding § 5201, under subheading “Enforcement against state, etc.”). The provision in this section that an execution shall not be issued against the state states the substance of former § 659. The remainder of this section, to the extent that it concerns supplementary proceedings, is derived from former § 811. The section insures that there will be no encroachment on the jurisdiction of the Court of Claims and that enforcement procedures where the state is the judgment debtor cannot be utilized against the state.
Amendment History
Add, L 1962, ch 308, eff Sept 1, 1963.
Source & verification. Provision text, History, and Advisory
Committee Notes are reproduced verbatim from the Consolidated Laws of New York.
Last verified July 21, 2026.
· Official source
Also known as: can you garnish New York Statejudgment against the state of New York enforcementCPLR 5207 state as garnisheecollecting a judgment against a state agency New York