Constable Scott Enlow
Pike County Constable
1020 Delos Drive
Magnolia, Mississippi 39652
Re: Serving Garnishment Papers
Dear Constable Enlow:
Attorney General Mike Moore has received your letter of request and
has assigned it to me for research and reply. Your letter states:
In our county we have a manufacturing company which has two places of business in two separate constable districts. One being the manufacturing with an assembly line employing over 500 persons (in the southern district) and the other being the corporate office employing a handful of white collar workers (in the northern district).This company asks that all garnishment orders be delivered to the corporate office in the northern district where their payroll is handled. This in spite of the fact that the manufacturing facility has a personnel office and business office on premises. All of the employees being garnished are employed at the manufacturing plant in the southern district not at the corporate headquarters.
I have been delivering the garnishments to the corporate headquarters in the northern district as a courtesy to the business because that is what they requested. However a question has recently arisen as to which constable should be delivering these papers. Me, the southern district constable where the garnished employee is actually employed or the northern district constable where the companies preferred garnishment acceptance site is located? Which constable should serve the garnishment order?
In response, MS
AG Ops., Barber (June 26, 1984) and Montgomery
(May 15, 1984)(attached), state that a justice court clerk has discretion
in assigning process to a constable. Process does not have to be assigned
to a constable based on the district from where the process is to be served.
Further each constable has jurisdiction to serve process throughout the county.
If we may be of further service to you, let us know.
Very truly yours,
MIKE MOORE, ATTORNEY GENERAL
By: David K. Scott
Special Assistant Attorney General
/dks
Enclosures