812.42.Garnishment of earnings of public officers and employees.

Garnishing a public employee’s wages works largely the same as garnishing anyone else’s, but section 812.42 makes a few adjustments for the government’s role as garnishee. The section does not reach money owed to an officer or employee as reimbursement for expenses incurred in the discharge of duties, and actions under this section are subject to rules adopted under section 16.53 (1) (d) 4.

Service works differently depending on who the garnishee is. The creditor serves the earnings garnishment forms required under section 812.35 on the department of administration if the state is the garnishee, on the city treasurer if the garnishee is a first-class city, and on the secretary or clerk if the garnishee is any other political subdivision.

Once in effect, a garnishment against public earnings does not expire on the usual 13-week clock. Notwithstanding sections 812.35 and 812.40, it remains valid and effective until the judgment is satisfied, unless a court terminates it sooner — the same open-ended approach section 812.405 takes for restitution garnishments. And the fee structure differs too: beyond the usual $15 garnishee fee, the garnishee receives an additional $3 for each payment delivered to the creditor after the first, deducted from the money going to the creditor and credited to the state’s or the governmental subdivision’s own funds, with the creditor paying the initial fee to the secretary of administration or the applicable subdivision.