12-805.Summons; Issuance.

Section 12-805 is the entry point for a wage deduction case. To get a summons issued, the judgment creditor (or an attorney or designee) must file an affidavit stating a belief that some person owes the debtor wages, giving the debtor's name and last known address, and certifying that a wage deduction notice was already mailed to the debtor by first-class mail. Alongside the affidavit, the creditor files written interrogatories for the employer to answer under oath -- questions detailed enough to let the court determine the correct amount of non-exempt wages. The clerk then issues summons commanding the named employer to appear and answer, and the summons must be accompanied by a copy of the underlying judgment (or a clerk's or attorney's certification of the judgment amount, costs, interest, and balance due) plus the wage deduction notice itself.

The statute prescribes the notice's substance in detail. It tells the debtor the case name, the employer named, the return date, and the judgment amount, and it walks through both the Illinois cap under Section 12-803 (the lesser of 15% of gross weekly wages or the amount disposable earnings exceed 45 times the applicable minimum hourly wage) and, for the debtor's information, the federal formula (the lesser of 25% of disposable earnings or the amount disposable earnings exceed 30 times the federal minimum hourly wage). It also tells the debtor that pension and retirement benefits may be exempt and explains how to request a hearing to dispute the deduction -- with different steps depending on whether the county has 1,000,000 or more people (notify the clerk in person and in writing, or appear in court, by the return date) or fewer (notify the clerk in writing by the return date).

In counties with fewer than 1,000,000 people, the statute also allows service by mail instead of personal service, at the creditor's request. The creditor pays the clerk a $2 fee per employer plus mailing costs and furnishes originals and copies of the summons, interrogatories, affidavit, notice, and judgment documentation; the clerk then mails everything to the employer by certified or registered mail, return receipt requested, using restricted delivery when the employer is a natural person. A return receipt showing delivery at least 3 days before the return date proves service. Where mail service under that procedure is not used, Section 12-805(c) allows service and return in the manner Supreme Court rule prescribes for serving a notice of additional relief on a defaulted party.