§ 34.005.Levy on Property of Surety

An ordering rule reflecting who owes the debt.

If the face of a writ of execution or the endorsement of the clerk shows that one of the persons against whom it is issued is surety for another, the officer must first levy on the principal’s property that is subject to execution and is located in the county in which the judgment is rendered.

The condition is documentary, and it matters. The suretyship must appear on the face of the writ or the clerk’s endorsement — an officer is not required to investigate the relationship between judgment debtors.

So a surety who wants this protection must see that the record shows the status, which is a point for whoever prepares the judgment and the writ.

The rule follows the substance of suretyship. A surety answers for another’s debt, and the principal is the one who should pay it. Levying on the surety first would place the loss on the wrong person and generate a second round of litigation between them.

Subsection (b) deals with the shortfall. Where property of the principal cannot be found that, in the opinion of the officer, is sufficient to satisfy the execution, the officer shall levy first on the principal’s property that can be found and then on as much of the surety’s property as is necessary.

The order survives insufficiency. The principal’s property is exhausted first even where it will not cover the judgment.

"In the opinion of the officer" is the practical standard, which spares the officer from valuing assets precisely before deciding how to proceed.

The geographic limit — the county in which the judgment is rendered — narrows the duty, so the officer is not required to search the state for the principal’s assets.