Opinion ID: 2116338
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Heading: State Calendar Year Restrictions.

Text: We must next consider whether the additional annual maximum restrictions enacted by our state legislature apply to this case. The resolution of this question turns on whether the underlying alimony order falls within the exceptions provided in chapter 252D and sections 598.22, 598.23, and 627.12. Iowa Code § 642.21. In addressing this issue, we observe each of the four statutory exceptions set forth in section 642.21 were amended by our legislature following the entry of the district court order. See 1997 Iowa Acts ch. 175, §§ 56, 60, 194, 196, 239. In view of the nature of the amendments, we apply the statute as it exists at the time we consider the appeal. [6] The four exceptions to the annual ceiling on the amount of earnings a creditor can garnish from a debtor concern the collection of delinquent court-ordered support. Generally, chapter 252D authorizes the court to order the withholding and assignment of income. [7] Section 598.22 sets forth procedures for the collection of support. [8] Section 598.23 allows the court to provide for the assignment of income as an alternative to punishment for contempt of a temporary order or final decree. [9] Finally, section 627.12 declares the personal earnings exemption from execution does not apply to an order for the support of a child. In determining whether any of the four exceptions apply to this case, we observe Patricia instituted this proceeding under the general garnishment procedures of chapter 642 to collect a debt from earnings of the debtor held by a garnishee. [10] She was not seeking a court order to withhold income under chapter 252D or section 598.22. She also was not requesting the court to withhold income as an alternative punishment for contempt under section 598.23. Therefore, the exceptions to the annual limits for proceedings under chapter 252D, section 598.22, and section 598.23 do not apply to this case. The remaining question is whether Patricia's action is excepted from the annual caps under section 627.12. Section 627.12 as amended declares the personal earnings of a debtor are not exempt from execution when the debt arises from an order for child support. It provides: The personal earnings of the debtor are not exempt from an order, judgment, or decree for the support, as defined in section 252D.16A, of a child, nor from an installment of an order, judgment, or decree for the support of a child. 1997 Iowa Acts ch. 175, § 239. This section is part of a comprehensive chapter providing for the exemption of certain property from execution. See Iowa Code ch. 627. We have previously traced a portion of its legislative history. See MidAmerica Sav. Bank, 438 N.W.2d at 839. Originally, the chapter exempted the personal earnings of the head of a family from liability for a debt which was later amended to specifically exempt personal earnings from garnishment. Id.; see Iowa Code § 627.10 (1954). Section 627.12, however, made this exemption inapplicable to orders for support of a child. Similarly, section 627.11 excluded alimony from the personal earnings exception. The personal earnings exemption section in chapter 627 was repealed in 1971, the same year the legislature enacted section 642.21. Id.; see 1971 Iowa Acts. ch. 270. The legislature specified the annual restrictions did not apply to child support orders entered under section 627.12, but made no similar restriction as to alimony ordered under section 627.11. We must assume the legislature acted deliberately in applying the caps as to one section, and not doing so as to the other. See Marcus v. Young, 538 N.W.2d 285, 289 (Iowa 1995) (legislative intent is expressed by omission as well as by inclusion, and express mention of one thing implies the exclusion of others not so mentioned). We therefore conclude the limits do not apply to orders for alimony. We acknowledge section 627.11 remains part of Iowa's exemption from execution scheme. Our legislature has simply limited the scope of section 627.11 by excluding it from the exceptions to the garnishment limits under section 642.21. Otherwise, section 627.11 continues to subject personal earnings to execution based upon a spousal support order. We also observe our legislature has defined support in sections 627.12 and 627.11 by using the definition of support in chapter 252D. Under section 252D.16A, support may include the term spousal support but is defined to mean any amount which a court may require a person to pay for the benefit of a child under a temporary order, final judgment, or decree. 1997 Iowa Acts ch. 175, § 60. There is nothing in the record to indicate the support at issue in this case was for the benefit of a child. We conclude the statutory garnishment scheme does not except the collection of court-ordered alimony from the annual restrictions under section 642.21. The district court erred in determining the annual restrictions set forth in section 642.21 did not apply to Patricia's garnishment claim.