The Indiana Court of Appeals entered an order of interest to collection attorneys today on the topic of attempts to garnish bank accounts.

In the case of JP Morgan v. Brown, a judgment creditor filed bank interrogatories in the course of a proceeding supplemental. The garnishee bank responded that the judgment debtor had a balance of $20.61. Subsequently, the judgment debtor deposited $1,004.77 to the account. The garnishment order that issued instructed the garnishee bank to turn over up to the judgment amount. The bank did not turn over the additional amounts, the bank was held in contempt of the garnishment order, and judgment was entered against the bank. The case is unclear as to whether or how much the garnishee bank remitted and if and when the judgment debtor withdrew those funds, but, in any case, the court held that the bank is not responsible for restricting funds deposited after the garnishee bank receives notice of the garnishment proceedings. The reasoning for this is that in 1998, the legislature amended the statute and one of the changes made was to omit a specification that the bank restrict withdrawal of funds subsequently deposited into the account. There is also an interesting digression about whether a magistrate’s contempt order can constitute a final, appealable order.

Tippecanoe County judges ruled against two John Doe sex offenders challenging residency restrictions imposed by the General Assembly. The suits request, among other things, injunctive relief against the Tippecanoe County Sheriff. In the Tippecanoe County Circuit Court, the court granted summary judgment in favor of the Sheriff and the other Defendants. In the Superior Court, the judge ruled against the John Doe seeking to be removed from the sex offender registry which would have the effect of lifting the residency restrictions for that individual. The individual’s request for a permanent injunction prohibiting enforcement of the residency law is still pending in that suit.

The Law Offices of Hoffman, Luhman & Masson have completed their move from 201 Main Street, Suite 700 in Lafayette to 200 Ferry Street, Suite C in Lafayette. Our new offices are 2 blocks to the north from our old offices. Also, as of yesterday, we had our Internet access restored.