Tennessee Code Annotated

Tenn. Code Ann. § 26-2-214 (2026)

Garnishment of compensation due from garnishee

✓ current as of May 2026

Find cases: SyfertCases citing this section JustiaTenn. Code CornellLII Search CasesGoogle Scholar

(a) Upon the garnishment of earnings due from a garnishee, the garnishee shall:
- (1) Pay the judgment debtor the amount of such debtor's exempt earnings;
- (2) Submit as a part of the judgment debtor's answer to the garnishment a statement of the judgment debtor's dependent children under sixteen (16) years of age who are residents of this state; and
- (3) Furnish the judgment debtor with a copy of the garnishment summons containing the notice of the judgment debtor's right to the exemptions from wage garnishment specified in federal law and in §§ 26-2-106 and 26-2-107 of the right to apply to the court for an order staying further garnishment and allowing the judgment debtor to pay the judgment in installments, and of procedures the judgment debtor can follow to contest the garnishment.

(b)
- (1) To the extent of the amount due upon the judgment and costs, the garnishee shall hold, subject to the order of the court, any nonexempt earnings due or that subsequently become due. The judgment or balance due is a lien on earnings due at the time of the service of the execution. The lien shall continue as to subsequent earnings until the total amount due upon the judgment and costs is paid or satisfied, or until the expiration of the payment period immediately prior to six (6) calendar months after service of the execution, whichever occurs first. The lien on subsequent earnings shall terminate sooner if the relationship between judgment debtor and garnishee is terminated or if the underlying judgment is vacated or modified.
- (2) A lien obtained under this section shall have priority over any subsequent liens obtained under this section.

(c) Nothing in this section with respect to the relationship between the judgment debtor and the garnishee shall be construed to affect the underlying relationship of the parties, including, but not limited to, the relationship of employer-employee or the independent contractor relationship as otherwise provided by law.

Amended by 2016 Tenn. Acts, ch. 851,s 1, eff. 9/1/2016.

Acts 1978, ch. 915, § 33; T.C.A., § 26-243; Acts 1988, ch. 934, § 14; 1993, ch. 258, §§ 1, 2; 1994, ch. 827, § 1.

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 8 cases, 1985–2018 · leading case: Suntrust Bank v. Walter Joseph Burke a/k/a Walter Joseph Burke, Jr., 491 S.W.3d 693 (Tenn. Ct. App. 2015).

Sort: Relevance Newest Treatment

Suntrust Bank v. Walter Joseph Burke a/k/a Walter Joseph Burke, Jr., 491 S.W.3d 693 (Tenn. Ct. App. 2015). · cites it 35× “Appellant responded to the motion, arguing that it was not subject to continuous garnishment because Tennessee Code Annotated Section 26-2-214 only applies to employers.”

Holdway v. Duvoisin (In Re Holdway), 83 B.R. 510 (Bankr. E.D. Tenn. 1988). · cites it 10× “Subsection (4) of Tenn.Code Ann. § 26-2-214 (1980) — Garnishment of compensation due from employer.”

Lawrence v. Jahn (In Re Lawrence), 219 B.R. 786 (E.D. Tenn. 1998). · cites it 2× “, accounts receivable, are exempt from garnishznent by the Trustee and should be paid over to Law-z’enee by the garnishees pursuant to Tenn. Code Ann. § 26-2-214 . Lawrence does not cite any caselgw in support of his theory.”

Smith v. Smith, 165 S.W.3d 285 (Tenn. Ct. App. 2004). · cites it 2× “That statute provides: The employer garnishee shall remit to the court all moneys [sic] withheld as provided under § 26-2-214 not less than one (1) time each calendar thirty (30) days.”

Perry v. Gen. Motors Acceptance Corp. (In Re Perry), 48 B.R. 591 (Bankr. M.D. Tenn. 1985). “§ 26-2-214(4) clearly provides that “a garnishment is a lien on salaries, wages, or other compensation due at the time of the service of the execution.”

Voss Prods., Inc. v. Carlton, 147 F. Supp. 2d 892 (E.D. Tenn. 2001). · cites it 2× “Code Ann. § 36 — 5—501(i)(l). On either basis in the present case, the support order garnishment has priority over plaintiffs creditor garnishment.”

Ancro Fin. v. Kevin Johnson v. Dyncorp (Tenn. Ct. App. 2001). · cites it 4× “Johnson’s children under the age of sixteen that resided in Tennessee as required by section 26-2-214 of the Tennessee Code. Accordingly, the total amount to be withheld from Mr.”

Julie Ann Kendle v. Matthew Davis Kendle, 578 S.W.3d 431 (2018). · cites it 2× “” 2 The relevance or applicability, if any, of the form entitled “Administrative Wage Garnishment Calculator” to garnishments of wages pursuant to Tenn. Code Ann. §§ 26-2-214 , -216, and -224, and/or (continued…) -2- argued that an employer who uses this form is first to…”

— Tenn. Code Ann. § 26-2-214(4) — 1 case

— Tenn. Code Ann. § 26-2-214(5) — 1 case

Holdway v. Duvoisin (In Re Holdway), 83 B.R. 510 (Bankr. E.D. Tenn. 1988). “Subsection (4) of Tenn.Code Ann. § 26-2-214 (1980) — Garnishment of compensation due from employer.”

— Tenn. Code Ann. § 26-2-214(a)(2) — 1 case

Smith v. Smith, 165 S.W.3d 285 (Tenn. Ct. App. 2004). “That statute provides: The employer garnishee shall remit to the court all moneys [sic] withheld as provided under § 26-2-214 not less than one (1) time each calendar thirty (30) days.”

— Tenn. Code Ann. § 26-2-214(b)(l) — 1 case

Suntrust Bank v. Walter Joseph Burke a/k/a Walter Joseph Burke, Jr., 491 S.W.3d 693 (Tenn. Ct. App. 2015). “Appellant responded to the motion, arguing that it was not subject to continuous garnishment because Tennessee Code Annotated Section 26-2-214 only applies to employers.”

Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.