§ 8.01-523.Service upon federal government.

Garnishing money the federal government owes a judgment debtor raises a jurisdictional wrinkle — the government cannot be served the way a private employer would be. Section 8.01-523 sets the specific channel Virginia law uses.

The default target is the managing employee of whichever federal agency the suggestion claims is liable. For a member of the armed forces, though, service goes instead to the chief fiscal officer of the military post where the debtor was last assigned, recognizing that pay for servicemembers runs through the military’s own fiscal chain rather than a typical civilian agency office.

If neither of those routes works, because the managing employee or fiscal officer cannot be reached, the statute does not leave the creditor stuck. It falls back to federal practice, allowing service on a United States attorney or other federal agent the way Rule 4(d)(4) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure describes, keeping current with however that federal rule is amended over time.