An Act to amend the Code of Law for the District of Columbia by modifying the provisions relating to the attachment and garnishment of wages, salaries, and commissions of judgment debtors, and for other purposes
PL 86-130 (H.R.836), enacted 08/04/1959

73 S T A T . ] 
PUBLIC LAW 86-130-AUG. 4, 1959 
275 
Public Law 86-130 
AN ACT 
To amend the code of law for the District of Columbia by modifying the pro-
visions relating to the attachment and garnishment of wages, salaries, and 
commissions of judgment debtors, and for other purposes. 
August 4, 1959 
[H. R. 836] 
Be it enacted hy the Senate and House of Representatives 
of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled^ That the Act en-
titled "An Act to establish a code of law for the District of Columbia", 
approved March 3, 1901, as amended, is amended by inserting after 
section 1104 thereof a new section as follows: 
"SEC. 1104A. 
ATTACHMENT OF WAGES.— (a) Notwithstanding any 
other provision of this chapter, where an attachment is levied upon 
wages due a judgment debtor from an employer-garnishee, such attach-
ment shall become a lien and a continuing levy upon the gross wages 
due or to become due to the judgment debtor for the amount specified 
in the attachment to the extent of (1) 10 per centum of so much of 
the gross wages as does not exceed $200 due or to become due to the 
judgment debtor from the employer-garnishee for the pay period or 
periods ending in any calendar month, plus (2) 20 per centum of so 
much of the gross wages as exceeds $200 but does not exceed $500 due 
or to become due to the judgment debtor from the employer-garnishee 
for the pay period or periods ending in any calendar month, plus (3) 
50 per centum of so much of the gross wages as exceeds $500 due or to 
become due to the judgment debtor from the employer-garnishee for 
the pay period or periods ending in any calendar month. 
Such levy 
shall be a continuing levy until the judgment, interest, and costs thereof 
are fully satisfied and paid, and in no event shall moneys be withheld, 
by the employer-garnishee from the judgment debtor, in amounts 
greater than those prescribed by this section. 
Only one attachment 
upon the wages of a judgment debtor shall be satisfied at one time. 
Where more than one attachment is issued upon the wages of the same 
judgment debtor and served upon the same employer-garnishee, the 
attachment first delivered to the marshal shall have priority, and all 
subsequent attachments shall be satisfied in the order of priority set 
forth in section 452 of this Act. 
"(b) It shall be the duty and responsibility of any employer upon 
whom an attachment is served, and who at such time is indebted for 
wages to an employee who is the judgment debtor named in such 
attachment, or who becomes so indebted to such judgment debtor in 
the future and while such attachment remains a lien upon such indebt-
edness, to withhold and pay to the judgment creditor, or his legal 
representative, within fifteen days after the close of the last pay 
period of the judgment debtor ending in each calendar month, that 
percentage of the gross wages payable to the judgment debtor for 
the pay period or periods ending in such calendar month to which the 
judgment creditor is entitled under the terms of this section until 
such attachment is wholly satisfied: Provided^ That upon written notice 
of any court proceeding attacking such attachment or the judgment 
on which it is based, the employer shall make no further payments 
to the judgment creditor or his legal representative until receipt of 
an order of court terminating such proceedings. Any payments made 
by an employer-garnishee in conformity with this subsection shall be 
a discharge of the liability of the employer to the judgment debtor to 
the extent of such payment. 
Under this subsection the employer-
garnishee shall not withhold or pay over more than 10 per centum 
of the gross wages payable to the judgment debtor for any pay period 
ending in any calendar month until the total amount of gross wages 
D. 
ment 
sion. 
31 
D. 
218. 
C. g 
l a w 
Stat. 
C. < 
Percent 
tations. 
a m i sh-
r s, revi-
1362. 
Code 15-
age limi" 
D. C. Code 16-
308. 
E m p l o 
ments to 
creditors. 
yer pay-
iudgment 
276 
PUBLIC LAW 86-13(HAUG. 4, 1959 
[73 STAT. 
paid or payable to the judgment debtor for all pay periods ending 
in such calendar month equals $200, nor more than 20 per centum of 
the gross wages in excess of $200 payable to the judgment debtor for 
any pay period ending in any calendar month until the total amount 
of gross wages paid or payable to the judgment debtor for all pay 
periods ending in such calendar month equals $500. 
cef ti* "^ ° f «
• e- 
" (c) It shall be the duty and responsibility of the judgment creditor 
(1) to file with the clerk of the court, every three months after the 
serving of an attachment, a receipt showing the amount received 
and the balance due under the attachment as of the date of filing, 
and (2) to file a final receipt with the court, furnish a copy thereof 
to the employer-gamishee, and to obtain a vacation of the attachment 
within twenty days after the attachment has been satisfied. 
If the 
judgment creditor fails to file any of the receipts prescribed in this 
subsection, any interested party may move the courf to compel the 
defaulting judgment creditor to appear in court and make an account-
ing forthwith. 
The court may, in its discretion, enter judgment for 
any damages, including a reasonable attorney's fee, suffered by, and 
tax costs in favor of, the party filing the motion to compel the 
accounting. 
Penalty. 
"(d) If the employer-garnishee fails to pay to the judgment 
creditor the percentages prescribed in this section of the wages which 
become payable to the judgment debtor for any pay period, judgment 
shall be entered against him for an amount equal to the percentages 
with respect to which such failure occure. 
^Lapse of attach- 
«^g^ jf ^ judgment dcbtor resigns or is dismissed from his 
employment while an attachment upon his wages is wholly or partly 
unsatisfied, such attachment shall lapse and no further deduction 
shall be made thereon unless the judgment debtor is reinstated or 
reemployed within ninety days after such resignation or dismissal. 
«*wages." 
a^l^ For purposes of this scctiou, the term'wages'mcans— 
"(1) wages, salary, commissions, or other remuneration for 
services performed by an employee for his employer, including 
any such remuneration measured partly or wholly by percentages 
or share of profits, or by other sums based upon work done or 
results produced, whether or not the employee is given a draw-
ing account, and 
"(2) any drawing account made available to an employee by 
his employer. 
The term wages shall not include any amount paid or payable to an 
employee who is not a resident of the District of Columbia as remu-
neration for services performed within the District of Columbia, if 
the period for which the employee is engaged by the employer to 
perform such services within the District of Columbia is less than 
fifteen consecutive days' duration; and any such amount shall be 
subject to attachment without regard to this section, 
tio^sf''*"* *^"'"°' 
"(s) The per centum limitations prescribed by subsection (a) of 
No'nappiicabii- tliis section shall not apply in the case of execution upon a judgment, 
"^* 
order, or decree of any court of the District of Columbia for the 
payment of any sum for the support or maintenance of a person's 
wife, or former wife, or children, and any such execution, judgment, 
order, or decree shall, in the discretion of the court, have priority 
over any other execution which is subject to the provisions of this 
section. In the case of execution upon such a judgment, order, or 
L i m i t 
a t i o n 
period. 
73 S T A T . ] 
PUBLIC LAW 86-130-AUG. 4, 1959 
277 
decree for the payment of such sum for support or maintenance, the 
limitation shall be 50 per centum of the j^ross wages due or to become 
due to any such person for the pay period or periods ending in any 
calendar month. 
"(h) No attachment issued by the municipal court for the District 
of Columbia upon a judgment of such court duly docketed in the 
United States District Court for the District of Columbia, and levied 
within six years from the date of such judgment upon the wages due or 
to become due to the judgment debtor from the employer-garnishee, 
shall lapse or become invalid prior to complete satisfaction solely by 
reason of the expiration of the period of limitation set forth in section 
4(c) of the Act of April f, 1942 (56 Stat. 193; D.C. Code 11-755). 
" (i) Where the judgment debtor claims or is proved to be rendering mint^s.^^"'^"* ^^^ 
services to or employed by a relative or other person or by a corpora-
tion owned or controlled by a relative or other person, without salary 
or compensation, or at a salary or compensation so inadequate as to 
satisfy the court that such salary or compensation is merely colorable 
and designed to defraud or impede the creditors of such debtor, 
the court may direct such employer-garnishee to make payments on 
account of the judgment, in installments, based upon a reasonable value 
of the services rendered by such judgment debtor under his said 
employment or upon said debtor's then earning ability. 
" (J) Where an attachment levied under section 1104A is based upon 
a judgment obtained by default or consent without a trial upon the 
merits, the court, upon motion of any interested person, may quash 
such attachment upon satisfactory proof that such judgment was 
obtained without just cause and solely for the purpose of preventing 
or delaying the satisfaction of just claims." 
SEC. 2. Subsection (b) of section 1089 of the Act entitled "An Act 
to establish a code of law for the District of Columbia", approved 
March 3,1901, as amended (D.C. Code 15-304), is amended by adding 
at the end thereof the following: "This subsection shall not apply with 
respect to an attachment upon wages to which section 1104A of this 
Act applies." 
SEC. 3. Section 1098 of such Act, as amended (D.C. Code 15-
312), is amended by striking out "If" and inserting in lieu thereof 
"Subject to the provisions of section 1104A of this Act, if". 
SEC. 4. Section 1107 of such Act, as amended (D.C. Code 15-403), 
^s stat. sis. 
is amended— 
(a) by striking out "earnings, salary" each place it appears in 
subsections (a) and (b) and inserting in lieu thereof "earnings 
(other than wages, as defined in section 1104A)"; and 
(b) by striking out "salaries" in the proviso in subsection (a). 
SEC. 5. (a) Section 456 of such Act, as amended (D.C. Code 16-312), 
ss stat. sig. 
is amended by adding at the end thereof as follows: 
"(c) Any attachment issued under section 445 of this Act solely ^J^ 
on the ground that the defendant is not a resident of the District of 
Columbia and levied upon wages as defined in section 1104A(f) shall 
be subject to the provisions of section 1104A of this Act, except that 
the employer-garnishee shall pay over the wages withheld pursuant 
to such section only pursuant to the order of the court which has 
jurisdiction of the case. In applying the provisions of such section 
to any such attachment, the term 'judgment debtor' as used in such 
section shall be considered to refer to the defendant in the case in 
which such attachment is issued; and the term 'judgment creditor' 
shall be considered to refer to the plaintiff in such case." 
(b) Subsection (b) of such section 456 is amended by striking out 
"Wages" and inserting in lieu thereof "earnings". 
31 stat. 1360. 
31 Stat. 1361. 
C. Code 16-
278 
PUBLIC LAW 86-131-AUG. 4, 1959 
[73 S T AT 
Applicability. 
Separability. 
Rules of proce-
dure. 
SEC. 6. The amendments made by this Act shall apply only with 
respect to attachments upon wages (as defined in section 1104A(f) of 
this Act) which are issued oli or after sixty days from the date of 
the enactment of this Act. 
SEC. 7. If any section, subdivision, or clause of section 1104A shall 
lie held to be invalid, the remainder of the Act shall not be affected 
thereby. 
SEC. 8. The judges of the municipal court for the District of 
Columbia and of the United States District Court for the District 
of Columbia shall establish such rules of procedure for their respective 
courts as may be necessaiy to effectuate the purposes of this Act. 
Approved August 4, 1959. 
August 4, 1959 
[H. R. 3063 
Public Law 86-131 
AN ACT 
To amend the Federal Crop Insurance Act. 
61 Stat. 718; 67 
Stat. 575. 
Be it enacted hy the Senate and Hoiise of Representatives 
of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled^ That section 508(a) 
of the Federal Crop Insurance Act (7 U.S.C. 1508(a)), as amended, 
is amended by amending the eleventh sentence thereof to read as 
follows: "Insurance shall not be provided on any agricultural com-
modity in any county in which the Board determines that the income 
from such commodity constitutes an unimportant part of the total 
agricultural income of the county, except that insurance may be pro-
vided for producers on farms situated in a local producing area bor-
dering on a county with a crop-insurance program." 
Approved August 4, 1959. 
August 4, 1959 
[H. R. 4538] 
Public Law 86-132 
AN ACT 
Authorizing El Paso County, Texas, to construct, maintain, and oi)erate a bridge 
across the Rio Grande at or near the city of EI Paso, Texas. 
Bridge. 
R i o 
G r a n d 
River. 
34 Stat. 84. 
33 u s e 491 note. 
Toll charges. 
Be it enacted hy the Senate and House of Representatives 
of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled. That El Paso County, 
Texas, is authorized to construct, maintain, and operate a bridge and 
approaches thereto across the Rio Grande, so far as the United States 
lias jurisdiction over such river, at a point suitable to the interests of 
navigation, at or near the city of El Paso, Texas, but east of the tract 
of land belonging to the Republic of Mexico known as "Cordova 
Island", in accordance with the provisions of the Act entitled "An Act 
to regulate the construction of bridges over navigable waters", 
approved March 23, 1906, and subject to (1) the conditions and limi-
tations contained in this Act, (2) the approval of the International 
Boundary and Water Commission, United States and Mexico, and 
(3) the approval of the proper authorities in the Republic of Mexico. 
SEC. 2. El Paso County, Texas, may fix and charge tolls for transit 
over such bridge in accordance with any laws of the State of Texas 
or the LTnited States applicable thereto, and the rates of toll so fixed 
shall be the legal rates until changed under the authority contained 
in the Act of March 23,1906, referred to in the first section. 
SEC. 3. The right to alter, amend, or repeal this Act is hereby 
expressly reserved. 
Approved August 4, 1959.