[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 5, Volume 1]
[Revised as of January 1, 2002]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 5CFR581.305]

[Page 611-613]
 
                    TITLE 5--ADMINISTRATIVE PERSONNEL
 
                CHAPTER I--OFFICE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT
 
PART 581--PROCESSING GARNISHMENT ORDERS FOR CHILD SUPPORT AND/OR ALIMONY--Table of Contents
 
                   Subpart C--Compliance With Process
 
Sec. 581.305  Honoring legal process.

    (a) The governmental entity shall comply with legal process, except 
where the process cannot be complied with because:
    (1) It does not, on its face, conform to the laws of the 
jurisdiction from which it was issued;

[[Page 612]]

    (2) The legal process would require the withholding of funds not 
deemed moneys due from, or payable by, the United States as remuneration 
for employment;
    (3) The legal process is not brought to enforce legal obligation(s) 
for alimony and/or child support;
    (4) It does not comply with the mandatory provisions of this part; 
or
    (5) An order of a court of competent jurisdiction enjoining or 
suspending the operation of the legal process has been served on the 
governmental entity.
    (b) Where notice is received that the obligor has appealed either 
the legal process or the underlying alimony and/or child support order, 
payment of moneys subject to the legal process shall be suspended; i.e., 
moneys shall continue to be withheld, but these amounts shall be 
retained by the governmental entity until the entity is ordered by the 
court, or other authority, to resume payments or otherwise disburse the 
suspended amounts. However, no suspension action shall be taken where 
the applicable law of the jurisdiction wherein the appeal is filed 
requires compliance with the legal process while an appeal is pending. 
Where the legal process has been issued by a court in the District of 
Columbia, a motion to quash shall be deemed equivalent to an appeal.
    (c) Under the circumstances set forth in Sec. 581.305 (a) or (b), or 
where the governmental entity is directed by the Justice Department not 
to comply with the legal process, the entity shall respond directly to 
the court, or other authority, setting forth its objections to 
compliance with the legal process. In addition, the governmental entity 
shall inform the party who caused the legal process to be served, or the 
party's representative, that the legal process will not be honored. 
Thereafter, if litigation is initiated or threatened, the entity shall 
immediately refer the matter to the United States Attorney for the 
district from which the legal process issued. To ensure uniformity in 
the executive branch, governmental entities which have statutory 
authority to represent themselves in court shall coordinate their 
representation with the United States Attorney.
    (d) If a governmental entity is served with more than one legal 
process for the same moneys due or payable to an individual, the entity 
shall comply with Sec. 581.303(a). Provided, That in no event will the 
total amount garnished for any pay or disbursement cycle exceed the 
applicable limitation set forth in Sec. 581.402.
    (e)(1) Neither the United States, any disbursing officer, nor any 
governmental entity shall be liable for any payment made from moneys due 
from, or payable by, the United States to any individual pursuant to 
legal process regular on its face, if such payment is made in accordance 
with this part.
    (2) Neither the United States, any disbursing officer, nor any 
governmental entity shall be liable under this part to pay money damages 
for failure to comply with legal process.
    (f) Governmental entities affected by legal process served under 
this part shall not be required to vary their normal pay or disbursement 
cycles to comply with the legal process. However, legal process, valid 
at the time of service, which is received too late to be honored during 
the disbursement cycle in which it is received, shall be honored to the 
extent that the legal process may be satisfied during the next 
disbursement cycle within the limits set forth in Sec. 581.402. The fact 
that the legal process may have expired during this period would not 
relieve the governmental entity of its obligation to honor legal process 
which was valid at the time of service. If, in the next disbursement 
cycle, no further payment will be due from the entity to the obligor, 
the entity shall follow the procedures set forth in Sec. 581.306.
    (g) If a governmental entity receives legal process which, on its 
face, appears to conform to the laws of the jurisdiction from which it 
was issued, the entity shall not be required to ascertain whether the 
authority which issued the legal process had obtained personal 
jurisdiction over the obligor.
    (h) A failure by the party bringing the garnishment action to comply 
with the provisions of the Uniform Reciprocal Enforcement of Support Act 
(URESA) or the Revised Uniform Reciprocal Enforcement of Support Act by 
itself shall not be a valid basis for a

[[Page 613]]

governmental entity to refuse to comply with legal process.

[45 FR 85667, Dec. 30, 1980, as amended at 48 FR 26280, June 7, 1983; 55 
FR 1357, Jan. 16, 1990; 63 FR 14759, Mar. 26, 1998]