Ark. Code Ann. § 16-110-406 (2026)
Failure of bank to answer
- If any garnishee that is a bank, savings bank, or trust company domiciled in this state, after having been served with a writ of garnishment ten (10) days before the return day thereof, shall neglect to answer on or before the return day the writ or any interrogatories which have been exhibited against it, the court or justice before whom the matter is pending shall enter judgment in general terms against the garnishee. The general judgment shall be deemed to be for costs of the garnishment and for an amount not exceeding the full amount specified in the plaintiff's judgment against the original defendant and also not exceeding the amount or value in which at the time when served and thereafter up to and including said return day the garnishee was indebted, or had in its hands or possession goods, chattels, moneys, credits, and effects belonging to the original defendant.
- At any time after the general judgment the plaintiff may have, from the court or justice in the matter, a discovery against the garnishee and at its cost to ascertain the specific amount due thereunder.
History. Acts 1913, No. 113, [§ 62], as added by Acts 1923, No. 627, § 7; Pope's Dig., § 746; A.S.A. 1947, § 31-507.
Publisher's Notes. The time for filing pleadings in civil actions is now governed by Ark. R. Civ. P. 12.
Acts 1991, No. 1027, § 2, provided that the act would neither amend nor repeal this section.
Case Notes
Applicability.
Arkansas's appellate courts have long interpreted garnishment statutes like this section to mean that a creditor-garnishor has a lien on all the defendant's property as soon as the writ is served on the garnishee. Eagle Bank & Trust Co. v. Raynor Mfg. Co., 2019 Ark. App. 168, 574 S.W.3d 196 (2019).
Circuit court did not err in finding that a bank that had been served with a writ of garnishment was liable to the judgment creditor for the amount transferred from the judgment debtor's account after that account had been closed and then reopened; even assuming that the bank properly answered the writ of garnishment and was a payor bank under § 4-4-403, this section controlled and required the bank to lien all money at the time the writ was served — immediately. As a result, the circuit court did not err in applying the garnishment statutes instead of Article 4 of the Uniform Commercial Code. Eagle Bank & Trust Co. v. Raynor Mfg. Co., 2019 Ark. App. 168, 574 S.W.3d 196 (2019).
Liability.
The liability of a bank, on failure to timely answer a writ of garnishment, is limited to the amount which the bank owed the debtor up until the time the bank answered. Woodcock v. First Commercial Bank, 284 Ark. 490, 683 S.W.2d 605 (1985).
Cited: Searcy Steel Co. v. Mercantile Bank, 19 Ark. App. 220, 719 S.W.2d 277 (1986).