What is my employer supposed to do with the money?

In an ordinary judgment garnishment, Miss. Code Ann. § 11-35-23 directs a garnishee owing wages during the first 30 days after service of a proper writ to pay all of it to the employee; the 30-day exemption and ordinary caps do not apply to qualifying support orders or state or local tax debts. Afterward it retains the nonexempt percentage of disposable earnings set by Miss. Code Ann. § 85-3-4 until the amount on the writ accumulates, making one payment into court unless the court authorizes earlier payments or releases — and at least one payment per year of what was withheld the preceding year. If the employment ends, it reports and pays in within 15 days. Directions differ elsewhere: a circuit clerk may direct monies to the attorney of record, justice court payments go to the plaintiff or the attorney named in the suggestion, with notice when the judgment is satisfied or the employee leaves, and the Department of Employment Security as plaintiff is paid monthly.

Do the Mississippi wage limits apply to child support and taxes?

Not the ordinary limits. Those restrictions do not apply to an order for the support of any person issued by a court of competent jurisdiction or under an administrative procedure established by state law that affords substantial due process and is subject to judicial review, or to a debt due for any state or local tax (Miss. Code Ann. § 85-3-4). Support garnishment has its own ceilings — 50% of disposable earnings for the week where the worker supports a spouse or dependent child other than the one the order covers, 60% where he does not, rising to 55% and 65% if and to the extent the earnings enforce a support order for a period before the 12-week period ending with the beginning of that workweek. The section sets no separate tax ceiling.

What if two or more of my cases were dismissed in the previous year?

Under 11 U.S.C. § 362(c)(4), if a later single or joint case is filed by or against an individual and two or more of that debtor's cases were pending within the previous year but were dismissed — other than a case refiled under a chapter other than chapter 7 after dismissal under section 707(b) — the stay does not go into effect on that filing. If a party in interest requests within 30 days after that filing, the court may order the stay to take effect as to any or all creditors, after notice and a hearing, only on a showing that the filing is in good faith as to the creditors to be stayed. A stay imposed that way takes effect when the order is entered.

If I file, do I use Mississippi exemptions or the federal list?

That depends on domicile. Under 11 U.S.C. § 522(b)(3)(A), the applicable state or local exemption law is that of the place where your domicile was located for the 730 days immediately preceding filing, or, if not a single state for that period, where it was located for the 180 days immediately preceding those 730 days, or for a longer portion of that 180-day period than anywhere else. Where Mississippi law applies, it has opted out of the federal list in 11 U.S.C. § 522(d) (Miss. Code Ann. § 85-3-2). Section 522(b)(3) separately reaches other federal exemptions and qualifying retirement funds; those protections do not come from the state's opt-out statute. If the domiciliary requirement leaves a debtor ineligible for any exemption, 11 U.S.C. § 522(b) allows an election of the subsection (d) list.

Can my employer fire me over a garnishment?

No employer may discharge an employee by reason of the fact that his earnings have been subjected to garnishment for any one indebtedness (15 U.S.C. § 1674), and a willful violation carries a fine or imprisonment. That provision is about termination for a single indebtedness; it says nothing about recovering money that was withheld. 15 U.S.C. § 1677 adds that the federal subchapter does not displace state laws prohibiting discharge where earnings have been garnished for more than one indebtedness.

Wages & debt

Wage Garnishment in Mississippi: What the Law Says and What Bankruptcy Changes

Mississippi exempts a resident employee's wages from garnishment for 30 days from service of the writ, and afterward caps ordinary judgment garnishment under Miss. Code Ann. § 85-3-4 — with separate rules for support orders and state or local tax debts. Filing a bankruptcy petition generally triggers the automatic stay of 11 U.S.C. § 362(a), which commonly halts collection of a prepetition judgment, though exceptions, prior dismissed cases, and court-ordered relief can limit it.

Key points

Miss. Code Ann. § 85-3-4 exempts a resident employee's wages from attachment, execution or garnishment for 30 days from the date the writ is served, except where it enforces a qualifying support order or a state or local tax debt.
After that period, an ordinary workweek garnishment is limited to the lesser of 25% of disposable earnings or the amount exceeding 30 times the federal minimum hourly wage.
Neither that 30-day exemption nor the ordinary percentage caps apply to a qualifying support order or to a debt due for any state or local tax; the section specifies support ceilings, not a tax-debt ceiling; federal law remains separate.
Filing commences a case under 11 U.S.C. § 301 and generally operates as a stay under 11 U.S.C. § 362(a) without a separate order, subject to that section's exceptions and limits.
Mississippi’s opt-out from the federal exemption list in 11 U.S.C. § 522(d) applies when the domicile rule in § 522(b)(3)(A) makes Mississippi exemption law applicable (Miss. Code Ann. § 85-3-2). Other federal exemptions are a separate question.

If a creditor holds a Mississippi judgment and your employer has been served with a writ of garnishment, two bodies of law are in play: the Mississippi statutes that limit how much can be taken, and the federal Bankruptcy Code if you file. This page sets out what Mississippi's garnishment and exemption statutes say, and what they leave open. It is general information, not advice about your situation.

How much of your pay can be garnished in Mississippi?

Under Miss. Code Ann. § 85-3-4(1), the wages, salaries or other compensation of laborers or employees resident in the state are exempt from seizure under attachment, execution or garnishment for 30 days from service of the writ. After that period, § 85-3-4(2)(a) caps what may be levied for any workweek at the lesser of 25% of disposable earnings for that week, or the amount by which they exceed 30 times the federal minimum hourly wage in effect when the earnings are payable. For nonweekly pay, paragraph (2)(b) uses a minimum-wage multiple; separately applicable federal protections still apply. Disposable earnings are earnings left after deductions required by law (15 U.S.C. § 1672(b)). Neither the 30-day exemption nor those caps applies where the garnishment enforces a qualifying support order or a debt due for any state or local tax. The separate ceiling in 15 U.S.C. § 1673(a) is no cap on all collection: subsection (b) excepts qualifying support orders, orders of a United States court with jurisdiction over chapter 13 cases, and state or federal tax debts.

What does Mississippi's garnishment procedure require of creditors and courts?

Garnishment in Mississippi is court-driven. A writ issues from the clerk on the judgment creditor's written suggestion that someone is indebted to the debtor or holds the debtor's property (Miss. Code Ann. § 11-35-1), served the way a summons must be served (Miss. Code Ann. § 11-35-9). It must show the amount of the claim and the court costs, and the court must notify the garnishee if judgment is later rendered for a different amount (Miss. Code Ann. § 11-35-23). The garnishee (here, your employer) answers on oath about what it owes and holds, and a wage garnishee also states whether the debtor is an employee and the interval between pay periods (Miss. Code Ann. § 11-35-25). Where several garnishments reach one employee, the garnishee follows the writ served first — the smallest if two arrive the same day — but court-ordered child support has first priority (Miss. Code Ann. § 11-35-24).

Which income is protected from garnishment under Mississippi law?

Wage garnishment limits sit in Miss. Code Ann. § 85-3-4; the general exemption list's tangible-personal-property paragraph does not reach those wages (Miss. Code Ann. § 85-3-1). Rights to unemployment benefits are exempt from levy, execution, attachment or any other debt-collection remedy, and benefits received stay exempt while not mingled with other funds — except for debts incurred for necessities furnished to the individual or a spouse or dependents while unemployed; that section does not apply to the deduction from benefits provided by Section 71-5-516 (Miss. Code Ann. § 71-5-539). Rights accruing under Articles 1 and 3 of the Public Employees' Retirement System law, and the monies in that system, are exempt from levy and sale, garnishment, attachment or any other process, except as that article otherwise provides and for insurance deductions authorized under subsection (2) (Miss. Code Ann. § 25-11-129). The deferred portion of an employee's compensation, the plan and the monies in that plan are exempt from levy, garnishment, attachment or any other process; subsection (3) permits plan-authorized Roth or after-tax accounts, with contributions counted in the participant's income when that compensation would otherwise have been received, a tax-timing point, not a garnishment exception (Miss. Code Ann. § 25-14-5). A crime-victim award is not subject to garnishment, except for orders withholding support for minor children and to the extent a creditor's costs are included in an allowable-expense award (Miss. Code Ann. § 99-41-23).

Which statutory protections may matter when contesting a Mississippi garnishment?

A garnishee admitting a debt or property may state in its answer that it believes the defendant will claim it as exempt. The clerk or justice of the peace then summons the debtor — or makes publication, if the debtor is shown by oath to be absent from the state — to assert that exemption, and proceedings against the garnishee are stayed until the question is determined; if the debtor does not appear, default judgment may be taken against the exemption claim, and if he appears the court must on his motion make up and try an issue with the plaintiff (Miss. Code Ann. § 11-35-33). The debtor may also contest the answer in writing, alleging a larger indebtedness or unadmitted property and specifying in what particular it is untrue or defective, though the plaintiff may still take judgment for the sum admitted or condemn the property admitted (Miss. Code Ann. § 11-35-47). A garnishee may plead that the underlying judgment is void (Miss. Code Ann. § 11-35-39). These sections are not a complete procedural guide, and other deadlines apply.

How does filing bankruptcy affect a Mississippi garnishment?

Filing a voluntary petition commences the case and itself constitutes an order for relief (11 U.S.C. § 301). From that filing, 11 U.S.C. § 362(a) operates as a stay applicable to all entities — no separate order is required — covering the commencement or continuation of a judicial or administrative action against the debtor, enforcement against the debtor or property of the estate of a judgment obtained before the case, and any act to collect a claim that arose before the case. A wage garnishment enforcing a prepetition judgment commonly falls within those paragraphs. The stay is not universal. Subsection (b) lists exceptions, including the withholding of income for a domestic support obligation under a judicial or administrative order or a statute. Subsection (c) sets when the stay ends, with shorter rules for repeat filings, and under subsection (d) a party in interest may ask the court, after notice and a hearing, to terminate, annul, modify or condition it.

What if an earlier case was dismissed in the past year?

Under 11 U.S.C. § 362(c)(3), if a single or joint case is filed by or against an individual under chapter 7, 11 or 13 and a single or joint case of that debtor was pending within the preceding 1-year period but was dismissed — other than a case refiled under a chapter other than chapter 7 after dismissal under section 707(b) — the stay under subsection (a) terminates as to the debtor on the 30th day after the filing of the later case, with respect to any action taken with respect to a debt, property securing that debt, or a lease. A party in interest may move for continuation of the stay, with notice and a hearing completed before the 30-day period expires, and the court may extend it as to any or all creditors only if that party demonstrates the later filing is in good faith as to the creditors to be stayed. Ask a Mississippi bankruptcy attorney how that quoted scope applies to your wages and property.

What should you ask a lawyer about a Mississippi garnishment?

The sections above describe limits and procedures; they do not tell you which one governs the writ served on your employer. Those are questions for a Mississippi attorney or a legal aid office, and most can be worked out from documents you already have: the judgment, the writ, the garnishee's answer and your pay stubs. Useful questions include: what date was the writ served, and has the 30-day period in Miss. Code Ann. § 85-3-4 run? Is the amount being withheld within the limits in that section and in 15 U.S.C. § 1673? Is this an ordinary judgment garnishment, a support withholding order, or tax collection, and which ceiling applies? Has anything been taken that one of the income-exemption statutes covers? Is more than one garnishment in play, given the priority rules in Miss. Code Ann. § 11-35-24? And if I filed, which exemption list would apply under 11 U.S.C. § 522(b)(3)(A)?

Frequently asked questions

What is my employer supposed to do with the money?: In an ordinary judgment garnishment, Miss. Code Ann. § 11-35-23 directs a garnishee owing wages during the first 30 days after service of a proper writ to pay all of it to the employee; the 30-day exemption and ordinary caps do not apply to qualifying support orders or state or local tax debts. Afterward it retains the nonexempt percentage of disposable earnings set by Miss. Code Ann. § 85-3-4 until the amount on the writ accumulates, making one payment into court unless the court authorizes earlier payments or releases — and at least one payment per year of what was withheld the preceding year. If the employment ends, it reports and pays in within 15 days. Directions differ elsewhere: a circuit clerk may direct monies to the attorney of record, justice court payments go to the plaintiff or the attorney named in the suggestion, with notice when the judgment is satisfied or the employee leaves, and the Department of Employment Security as plaintiff is paid monthly.
Do the Mississippi wage limits apply to child support and taxes?: Not the ordinary limits. Those restrictions do not apply to an order for the support of any person issued by a court of competent jurisdiction or under an administrative procedure established by state law that affords substantial due process and is subject to judicial review, or to a debt due for any state or local tax (Miss. Code Ann. § 85-3-4). Support garnishment has its own ceilings — 50% of disposable earnings for the week where the worker supports a spouse or dependent child other than the one the order covers, 60% where he does not, rising to 55% and 65% if and to the extent the earnings enforce a support order for a period before the 12-week period ending with the beginning of that workweek. The section sets no separate tax ceiling.
Does filing bankruptcy always stop a wage garnishment?: Not always. 11 U.S.C. § 362(a) generally operates as a stay on filing, and it commonly reaches enforcement of a judgment obtained before the case; but 11 U.S.C. § 362(b) excepts a list of actions, including withholding income for a domestic support obligation under a judicial or administrative order or a statute. A party in interest can also seek relief from the stay after notice and a hearing, and prior dismissed cases may shorten the stay or prevent it from arising.
What if two or more of my cases were dismissed in the previous year?: Under 11 U.S.C. § 362(c)(4), if a later single or joint case is filed by or against an individual and two or more of that debtor's cases were pending within the previous year but were dismissed — other than a case refiled under a chapter other than chapter 7 after dismissal under section 707(b) — the stay does not go into effect on that filing. If a party in interest requests within 30 days after that filing, the court may order the stay to take effect as to any or all creditors, after notice and a hearing, only on a showing that the filing is in good faith as to the creditors to be stayed. A stay imposed that way takes effect when the order is entered.
If I file, do I use Mississippi exemptions or the federal list?: That depends on domicile. Under 11 U.S.C. § 522(b)(3)(A), the applicable state or local exemption law is that of the place where your domicile was located for the 730 days immediately preceding filing, or, if not a single state for that period, where it was located for the 180 days immediately preceding those 730 days, or for a longer portion of that 180-day period than anywhere else. Where Mississippi law applies, it has opted out of the federal list in 11 U.S.C. § 522(d) (Miss. Code Ann. § 85-3-2). Section 522(b)(3) separately reaches other federal exemptions and qualifying retirement funds; those protections do not come from the state's opt-out statute. If the domiciliary requirement leaves a debtor ineligible for any exemption, 11 U.S.C. § 522(b) allows an election of the subsection (d) list.
Can my employer fire me over a garnishment?: No employer may discharge an employee by reason of the fact that his earnings have been subjected to garnishment for any one indebtedness (15 U.S.C. § 1674), and a willful violation carries a fine or imprisonment. That provision is about termination for a single indebtedness; it says nothing about recovering money that was withheld. 15 U.S.C. § 1677 adds that the federal subchapter does not displace state laws prohibiting discharge where earnings have been garnished for more than one indebtedness.

By Antonio G. Jimenez, Esq. · Florida Bar No. 21022

Sources verified October 21, 2026 · How we verify

Every figure on this page is drawn from a primary legal source and checked against our canonical legal database before publication. Bankruptcy.law is not a law firm and does not provide legal advice.

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