Unless otherwise exempted, the wages and salaries of all employees of this Commonwealth, other than State officers, shall be subject to garnishment or execution upon any judgment rendered against them. Whenever the salary or wages of such employees as above mentioned shall be garnished under this section, the process shall be such as is usual in other cases of garnishment and shall be served on the judgment debtor and on the officer or supervisor who is head of the department, agency, or institution where the employee is employed, or other officer through whom the judgment debtor's salary or wages is paid, provided that process shall not be served upon the State Treasurer or the State Comptroller except as to employees of their respective departments, and upon such service the officer or supervisor shall, on or before the return day of process, transmit to the clerk of the court issuing the process a certificate showing the amount due from the Commonwealth to such judgment debtor, up to the return day of the process, which amount the officer or supervisor shall hold subject to order of the court issuing the process. Such certificate shall be evidence of all facts therein stated, unless the court direct that the deposition of the officer or supervisor, or such other officer through whom the judgment debtor's salary or wages be paid, be taken, in which event the deposition of the officer or supervisor shall be taken in his office and returned to the clerk of the court in which the garnishment is, just as other depositions are returned, and in no such case shall the officer or supervisor be required to leave his office to testify. In all proceedings under this section, if the judgment be for the plaintiff, the amount found to be due the judgment debtor by the Commonwealth shall be paid as directed by the court.
§ 8.01-522.Wages and salaries of State employees.
Chapter 18. Executions and Other Means of Recovery · Article 7. Garnishment · Last amended 1977 · Last verified July 16, 2026
In one sentenceMakes the wages and salaries of Commonwealth employees, other than state officers, subject to garnishment, sets a special service procedure through the employing department head or paying officer while shielding the State Treasurer and Comptroller except for their own department’s employees, and lets that officer certify the amount due or give a deposition without leaving the office.
Full Text of § 8.01-522
Plain-English Summary
Government wages are not automatically off-limits to creditors in Virginia. Section 8.01-522 confirms that state employees’ wages and salaries, with state officers themselves carved out, can be garnished or executed on just like private-sector wages, unless some other exemption applies.
The mechanics route around the state’s central financial offices in most cases. Service goes to the judgment debtor and to the head of the department, agency, or institution where the employee works, or whoever else pays the wages, while the State Treasurer and State Comptroller are off the hook for service except when it is their own department’s employee being garnished.
Once served, that officer or supervisor has until the summons’s return day to send the clerk a certificate stating how much the Commonwealth owes the employee up to that point, and to hold that amount subject to the court’s order. The certificate is treated as evidence of everything it states, unless the court wants more and orders a deposition instead, in which case the officer testifies in the officer’s own office rather than traveling to the courthouse.
If the creditor wins, the court directs how the Commonwealth pays out the amount found due.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are state employees’ wages subject to garnishment in Virginia?
Yes, unless otherwise exempted, though state officers themselves are excluded from this section.
Who must be served when garnishing a state employee’s wages?
The judgment debtor and the officer or supervisor heading the department, agency, or institution where the employee works, or whoever pays the wages.
Are the State Treasurer and State Comptroller normally served?
No, except as to employees of their own respective departments.
What must the served officer or supervisor provide?
A certificate, by the return day, showing the amount due the debtor from the Commonwealth, held subject to the court’s order.
What happens if the court wants more than the certificate?
It may order the officer’s or supervisor’s deposition, taken in the officer’s own office rather than requiring courthouse testimony.
Amendment History
Code 1950, § 8-449.1; 1958, c. 430; 1973, c. 236; 1977, c. 617.
Source & verification. Section text and amendment history are
reproduced verbatim from the Code of Virginia, published by the
Code of Virginia, Virginia Division of Legislative Automated Systems. Last verified July 16, 2026.
· Official source
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