Dennis Garner, Appellant (plaintiff) v. Gregory S. Kempf and Clerk of Vanderburgh County (garnishee), Appellees… (Indiana 2018)

Summary

The Indiana Supreme Court held that a civil judgment creditor may garnish a cash bail bond posted by the judgment debtor in an unrelated criminal matter when the bond is held by a court clerk. Service of the garnishment proceedings creates an equitable lien, and the clerk must preserve the bond until the civil court determines the creditor’s rights, although the funds cannot be recovered until the criminal court has ordered the bond released. Because the clerk released the bond after receiving notice of the garnishment, the court reversed and remanded for judgment against her. Justice David, joined by Chief Justice Rush, dissented, arguing that bail bonds are not garnishable absent express statutory authorization and that the clerk should not be liable for following the criminal court’s release order.

Holding

Whether a judgment creditor may garnish a cash bail bond held by a court clerk in an unrelated criminal matter.. Indiana law permits a judgment creditor to garnish a cash bail bond held by a court clerk, even when the civil judgment is unrelated to the criminal matter. The bail-bond statutes do not exempt cash bonds from garnishment, and the provision addressing civil claims arising from the same criminal transaction is an additional safeguard rather than an exclusive limitation.

Whether the civil court conducting proceedings supplemental retains jurisdiction over the garnished bond despite the bond’s connection to a separate criminal proceeding.. The civil court that entered the underlying judgment retains jurisdiction over proceedings supplemental and does not automatically yield jurisdiction to the criminal court that admitted the debtor to bail. The garnishment proceeding must be filed in the civil court where the judgment was rendered.

Whether the clerk is liable for releasing the bond after being served with the garnishment proceedings but before the civil court determined the creditor’s right to the proceeds.. The Clerk is liable for the $5,000 bond proceeds because service of the garnishment proceedings created an equitable lien, and she released the bond before the civil court determined Garner’s entitlement. The criminal court’s release order did not excuse the Clerk’s failure to preserve the funds or notify that court of the lien.

Dennis Garner, Appellant (plaintiff) v. Gregory S. Kempf and Clerk of Vanderburgh County (garnishee), Appellees…

Summary

Holding

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