CHAPTER 204

EXECUTION; LEVY; SALE; REDEMPTION

204.01                         Enforcement of Judgments

The party in whose favor a judgment is given or the assignee of such judgment, may proceed to enforce or collect the same at any time within 10 years after the entry thereof, in the manner provided by law.

204.02                         Methods of Enforcement

When a judgment requires the payment of money, or the delivery of real or personal property, it may be enforced in those respects by execution. Where the judgment requires the performance of any other act, a certified copy of the judgment may be served upon the party against whom it is given or the person or officer who is required thereby or by law to obey it and if s/he refuses to obey the judgment s/he may be punished by the Court as a contempt and his/her obedience thereto enforced.

204.03                         Execution, How Issued

Upon application to the Court by a judgment creditor, the Court shall issue a Writ of Execution. The Writ of Execution shall refer to the judgment, the names of the parties to the judgment, the amount of the judgment, and the time and date the judgment was entered. The Writ of Execution shall be directed to the Red Lake Police Department and shall require the Police Department to do the following:

      a)              To satisfy the judgment, with interest, out of the non-exempt personal property of the judgment debtor that can be found and if sufficient personal property can not be found to satisfy the judgment then to satisfy the same out of the non-exempt real property of the judgment debtor which can be found;

      b)              If the judgment requires the delivery of possession of real or personal property, the Writ of Execution shall require the Police Department to deliver possession of the same to the party entitled thereto.

204.04                         Execution Against Personal Property Capable of Delivery

The Red Lake Police Department shall enforce a Writ of Execution against personal property capable of manual delivery of the judgment debtor by seizing the same and taking it into custody. After the seizure has been completed, the property shall be sold by the Red Lake Police Department and the proceeds of such sale, after deducting costs and expenses, shall be paid to the judgment creditor to the extent as will satisfy the execution.

204.05                         Sale of Property on Execution

Subdivision 1. Notice of Sale. Before the sale shall take place, the Red Lake Police Department shall post in its office and in the office of the Tribal Council of the Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians for ten (10) consecutive days a printed notice of the sale stating the time and place of the sale and a description of the items of property to be sold.

Subdivision 2. Conducting Sale. The sale shall be by public auction to the highest cash bidder. Only so much of the property shall be sold as is sufficient to satisfy the execution and the costs of holding the sale. The Red Lake Police Department nor its officers, agents or employees may purchase at the sale.

Subdivision 3. Certification of Sale. The Red Lake Police Department shall execute to the purchaser at said sale a Certificate of Sale which shall transfer to the purchaser all the right, title and interest of the judgment debtor in and to said property. The Certification of Sale shall be subject to any valid liens or security agreements affecting the property sold.

204.06                         Garnishment

Wages, salaries, contract fees, and other monies due and owing are subject to garnishment if the garnishee is subject to the jurisdiction of the Red Lake Nation and under the requirements of the following provisions.

Subdivision 1. Definitions.

      (a)             Garnishee means the person who employs the debtor or who holds monies due or expected to be due and owing to the debtor.

      (b)             Debtor, or Judgment Debtor, means the person against whom a judgment has been issued from a court of competent jurisdiction.

      (c)             Creditor, or Judgment Creditor, means the person to whom money is owed according to a judgment entered in a court of competent jurisdiction.

      (d)             Net earnings means the remainder after the following deductions have been withheld from the gross earnings: federal withholding tax, social security deductions, mandatory pension deductions, union dues, check-off and mandatory health insurance deductions.

Subdivision 2.  Limits of Garnishment.        After service of the Garnishment Summons as provided herein,

      (a)             The Garnishee shall withhold the earnings, salary, wages, or other monies due and owing at the time of service and thereafter until otherwise ordered by the Court.

      (b)             The Garnishee shall retain an amount no more than Six Hundred Dollars ($600.00) per month, but in no event shall the Garnishee retain from the Debtor an amount that would reduce the Debtor's remaining take-home earnings to less than net earnings minimum wage.

      (c)             The Garnishment shall pertain to monies only and shall not subject personal property to garnishment.

      (d)             The total amount withheld from the Debtor by the Garnishee shall not exceed the total amount of the Judgment filed with the Clerk of Court for the Court file.

Subdivision 3. Continued Employment.         No employer may discharge any employee by reason of the garnishment or prejudice his/her employability therefore during the period of withholding or thereafter.

Subdivision 4. Assignments.              Any assignment of earnings, wages or salary, funds, or negotiable instruments made within ten (10) days prior to the receipt of the first garnishment on a debt is void by operation of law and not enforceable against a garnishment action, and may not be used as a defense to a garnishment action.

Subdivision 5. Termination of Judgment Debt.          Discharge of the debt in the cause brought pursuant to this Section shall satisfy in full the debt owed subject to the Judgment upon which the action is based. Discharge may be accomplished by written agreement of the judgment parties, signed by the judgment parties, and filed with the Court, or by a statement from the Garnishee that the payments have been made in full and the debt is satisfied.

Subdivision 6. Initiation of Garnishment Action.      A Garnishment Complaint filed with the Court must contain two attachments: (A) a certified copy of the Judgment evidencing the Debt for which the garnishment is being requested, and (B) a sworn Affidavit by the complainant must be attached to the Complaint, stating that to the best of his/her information and belief, the Garnishee holds funds due and owing to the Judgment Debtor.

      An original and two (2) copies of the Complaint and attachments shall be filed with the Clerk of Court. If the Garnishment Complaint and the two (2) required attachments are not filed properly, the Clerk of Court shall not accept the documents for filing with the Court. The fee for filing shall be Sixty Dollars ($60.00), which may, in the Judge's discretion, be waived on the basis of financial hardship.

Subdivision 7. Judgment.       Judgment may be entered against a Garnishee for the amount of the judgment. Such judgment shall acquit and discharge the Garnishee from all claims of all the parties named in the Garnishment Cause from all further claims of the parties named in the process.

Subdivision 8. Notice, Summons.      When the Clerk of Court receives the filing of a garnishment complaint and s/he has determined that the proper attachments accompany the complaint, i.e. the certified copy of the Judgment and the Affidavit, then the Clerk shall cause the Debtor and the Garnishee to be served with a copy of the Complaint together with the attachments thereto and the Garnishment Summons.

      The Clerk of the Court shall prepare the Garnishment Summons which shall contain the following:

RED LAKE NATION COURT

                                                                                                       (Judgment Creditor)

Name and Address

vs.

                                                                                                        (Garnishee)

Name and Address

                                                                                                       (Judgment Debtor)

Name and Address

GARNISHMENT SUMMONS

TO THE ABOVE NAMED GARNISHEE:

      YOU ARE HEREBY SUMMONED AND REQUIRED TO SERVE UPON THE JUDGMENT CREDITOR, NAMED ABOVE, WITHIN 30 DAYS AFTER THE DATE SERVICE OF THIS SUMMONS IS MADE UPON YOU, WRITTEN INFORMATION, MADE UNDER OATH, SETTING FORTH YOUR INDEBTNESS TO THE JUDGMENT DEBTOR, NAMED ABOVE, INCLUDING ANY MONIES DUE AND OWING AT THE TIME SERVICE IS MADE UPON YOU, AND INCLUDING THE AMOUNT OF ANY AND ALL REGULAR MONIES HELD BY YOU FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE JUDGMENT DEBTOR HEREIN, OR PAID BY YOU TO THE JUDGMENT DEBTOR HEREIN.

      YOU ARE HEREBY REQUIRED BY LAW TO RETAIN AND WITHHOLD FUNDS DUE AND OWING TO THE JUDGMENT DEBTOR, , AND HOLD THE SAME IN YOUR POSSESSION, IN THE AMOUNT OF NOT MORE THAN SIX HUNDRED DOLLARS ($600.00) PER MONTH. IN ADDITION, IF YOU ARE THE DEBTOR'S EMPLOYEE, IN NO EVENT SHALL YOU RETAIN FROM THE DEBTOR AN AMOUNT THAT WOULD REDUCE THE DEBTOR'S REMAINING TAKE-HOME EARNINGS TO LESS THAN NET EARNINGS AT MINIMUM WAGE.

      YOU SHALL RETAIN SAID FUNDS IN YOUR POSSESSION UNTIL SUCH TIME AS:      (1) THE COURT SERVES A WRIT OF EXECUTION UPON YOU, (2) THE JUDGMENT DEBTOR AUTHORIZES RELEASE TO THE JUDGMENT CREDITOR, OR (3) THE EXPIRATION OF NINETY (90) DAYS FROM THE DATE OF SERVICE UPON YOU WITHIN WHICH TIME, NO FURTHER ACTION OR NOTICE HAS BEEN SERVED UPON YOU, WHEN YOU SHALL RETURN SAID FUNDS TO THE JUDGMENT DEBTOR NAMED HEREIN ABOVE.

      ANY ASSIGNMENT OF EARNINGS, WAGES OR SALARY, FUNDS, OR NEGOTIABLE INSTRUMENTS MADE WITHIN TEN (10) DAYS PRIOR TO THE RECEIPT OF THE FIRST GARNISHMENT ON A DEBT IS VOID AND SHOULD BE DISREGARDED.

      YOU ARE PROHIBITED BY LAW FROM DISCHARGING THE JUDGMENT DEBTOR NAMED HEREIN ABOVE BECAUSE THE JUDGMENT DEBTOR'S EARNINGS HAVE BEEN SUBJECTED TO GARNISHMENT.

      THIS SUMMONS IS ISSUED THIS , DAY OF , 19 .

                                                `                      CLERK OF THE TRIBAL COURT

(Section 204.06, previously authorized by Resolution No. 33-93, amended by Resolution No. 16-94, dated January 11, 1994)