Wage Garnishment Limits in Arkansas
At a glance
| Governing law | No independent state percentage cap for ordinary garnishment — the federal formula, 15 U.S.C. § 1673, applies directly; laborer/mechanic wage exemption, Ark. Code § 16-66-208; garnishment procedure chapter, Ark. Code §§ 16-110-401 et seq., with a first-in-time priority rule at § 16-110-109 |
|---|---|
| Maximum that can be garnished | The plain federal cap applies (Arkansas hasn't enacted a lower one): lesser of 25% of disposable earnings or the amount by which earnings exceed 30x the federal minimum hourly wage. Laborers and mechanics may instead claim the first $25/week of net wages as absolutely exempt, plus up to 60 days' wages if that total doesn't exceed Arkansas's $500 (married/head of family) or $200 (single) constitutional exemption (Ark. Code § 16-66-208) |
| State rule vs. federal floor | Adopts the federal formula by default — Arkansas has no separate, stricter state percentage for ordinary judgment creditors. Laborers and mechanics have an alternative state-law exemption (§ 16-66-208) they can invoke instead of the federal test if it protects more of their pay, though most debtors still do better under the federal formula |
| Minimum-wage protected floor | 30x the federal minimum hourly wage — $217.50/week at $7.25/hour — the plain federal multiplier; Arkansas has not adopted its own higher multiplier or its own minimum wage for this calculation |
| Support, tax & student loan debts | Child and spousal support income withholding is capped at the federal support tiers (50-65% of disposable earnings depending on arrears and other dependents) and by statute outranks every other legal process against the same income (Ark. Code § 9-14-219); state or federal tax debt and bankruptcy proceedings are collected through their own separate processes outside this chapter |
| Head-of-household/family exemption | No wage-specific head-of-household exemption. 'Head of family' status instead raises the constitutional PERSONAL PROPERTY exemption used to cap the § 16-66-208 laborer/mechanic wage exemption — $500 for a married person or head of family versus $200 for a single person (Ark. Code § 16-66-218(b)) |
| Multiple garnishments at once | Strict first-in-time: competing orders of attachment or garnishment against the same debtor are executed in the order the sheriff or other officer received them (Ark. Code § 16-110-109), except that a child-support income-withholding order always takes priority over every other legal process regardless of when it arrived (§ 9-14-219) |
| Protection from being fired | No independent Arkansas statute protects an employee from discharge over an ordinary judgment garnishment — only the federal rule applies (bars discharge for a single garnishment, 15 U.S.C. § 1674). Arkansas separately fines an employer up to $50/day for firing a parent because of a child-support income-withholding order (Ark. Code § 9-14-222(d)(6)), but that specific protection doesn't extend to ordinary creditor garnishments |
Requirements one by one
Governing law
Arkansas has no chapter of its own setting a general percentage cap for ordinary judgment garnishment — the federal Consumer Credit Protection Act formula (15 U.S.C. § 1673) simply governs because the state hasn't enacted a stricter alternative. Arkansas does add one state-specific wage protection, Ark. Code § 16-66-208, for laborers and mechanics specifically, and its garnishment procedure begins at § 16-110-401 and continues in that subchapter, which includes a general priority rule for competing orders at § 16-110-109.
Maximum garnishment amount
For most workers, the maximum that can be garnished is set by the plain federal formula: the lesser of 25% of disposable earnings, or the amount by which disposable earnings exceed 30 times the federal minimum hourly wage. Laborers and mechanics get an alternative under § 16-66-208: the first $25/week of net wages is absolutely exempt without having to file anything, and up to 60 days' wages can additionally be protected if the debtor swears that amount (combined with other personal property) doesn't exceed Arkansas's constitutional exemption.
Federal floor comparison
Arkansas is, for most workers, simply the federal formula — it hasn't enacted its own lower percentage or higher minimum-wage multiplier the way some states have. The § 16-66-208 laborer/mechanic option exists alongside the federal test as a choice, not a universal override; most debtors end up better protected under the federal 25%/30x test because it isn't capped by the state's modest $500/$200 personal-property limit.
Minimum wage protection floor
30 times the federal minimum hourly wage — $217.50 a week at the $7.25 federal rate — since Arkansas hasn't adopted its own multiplier or its own minimum wage for this calculation.
Priority debt exceptions
Court-ordered child and spousal support is enforced through income withholding capped at the federal support tiers (50-65% of disposable earnings depending on arrears and whether the debtor supports another family) and, by statute, that withholding outranks every other legal process against the same income (§ 9-14-219). State and federal tax debts and bankruptcy court orders are handled through their own separate collection processes, outside the ordinary garnishment chapter.
Head-of-household exemption
Arkansas doesn't give a wage-specific break to a debtor supporting a family. Instead, "head of family" status raises the constitutional personal-property exemption used to cap the § 16-66-208 laborer/mechanic wage exemption — $500 for a married person or head of family, versus $200 for a single person (§ 16-66-218(b)) — but that's a property-exemption distinction, not an independent wage exemption of its own.
Multiple garnishments priority
Arkansas uses strict first-in-time priority: when more than one order of attachment or garnishment targets the same debtor, they're executed in the order the county sheriff or other officer received them (§ 16-110-109). The one exception is child support — a child-support income-withholding order always takes priority over every other order, no matter when it arrived (§ 9-14-219).
Employee termination protection
There's no independent Arkansas statute barring an employer from firing an employee over an ordinary judgment garnishment — only the federal rule applies, which bars discharge for a single garnishment for one debt (15 U.S.C. § 1674). Arkansas does separately fine an employer up to $50 a day for firing a parent because of a child-support income-withholding order (§ 9-14-222(d)(6)), but that protection is limited to child support and doesn't extend to an ordinary creditor's garnishment.
What trips people up
Don't assume Arkansas has its own, more protective percentage the way many states do — for most workers the number you calculate is exactly the federal one, because Arkansas simply hasn't legislated a different cap. The laborer/mechanic exemption in § 16-66-208 is easy to over-rely on: it only helps if the debtor's total protected amount (60 days' wages plus other personal property) stays under the modest $500/$200 constitutional ceiling, so most higher earners still do better under the plain federal test. And watch for a mis-citation floating around online and in some document templates that points to "§ 16-66-217" for the wage exemption — that section is actually an unrelated bankruptcy-exemption-election provision; the wage exemption is § 16-66-208.
Common questions
Does Arkansas cap ordinary wage garnishment below the federal 25% limit? No. Arkansas has no separate percentage statute for most workers, so the federal 25%/30x-minimum-wage test applies as-is.
I'm a laborer — what extra protection do I get? Under § 16-66-208, the first $25/week of your net wages is always exempt, and you can protect up to 60 days' wages if that amount, added to your other personal property, stays under Arkansas's constitutional exemption ($500 if married or head of family, $200 if single).
If I already have a garnishment and a second creditor gets one too, who gets paid first? Whichever order the sheriff received first, under § 16-110-109 — except a child-support income-withholding order, which always jumps to the front regardless of when it arrived.
Statutes and sources
- Ark. Code § 16-66-208 — https://law.justia.com/codes/arkansas/title-16/subtitle-5/chapter-66/subchapter-2/section-16-66-208/ (accessed 2026-07-05)
- Ark. Code § 16-66-218(b) — https://law.justia.com/codes/arkansas/title-16/subtitle-5/chapter-66/subchapter-2/section-16-66-218/ (accessed 2026-07-05)
- Ark. Code § 16-110-109 — https://law.justia.com/codes/arkansas/title-16/subtitle-7/chapter-110/subchapter-1/section-16-110-109/ (accessed 2026-07-05)
- Ark. Code § 9-14-219 — https://law.justia.com/codes/arkansas/title-9/subtitle-2/chapter-14/subchapter-2/section-9-14-219/ (accessed 2026-07-05)
- Ark. Code § 9-14-222(d)(6) — https://law.justia.com/codes/arkansas/title-9/subtitle-2/chapter-14/subchapter-2/section-9-14-222/ (accessed 2026-07-05)
- 15 U.S.C. § 1673 — https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/USCODE-2011-title15/USCODE-2011-title15-chap41-subchapII-sec1673 (accessed 2026-07-05)
Source links
Every statute quoted above, linked, with the date we checked it.
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