Citations Affected: IC 34-6; IC 34-54.
Synopsis: Enforcement of foreign judgments. Provides for the filing in
an Indiana court of the judgment decree or order of a U.S. court, the
court of another state, or another court to which Indiana extends full
faith and credit.
Effective: July 1, 2003.
January 7, 2003, read first time and referred to Committee on Judiciary.
February 6, 2003, amended, reported _ Do Pass.
February 10, 2003, read second time, ordered engrossed. Engrossed.
February 11, 2003, read third time, passed. Yeas 94, nays 2.
A BILL FOR AN ACT to amend the Indiana Code concerning civil
procedure.
the foreign judgment in the same manner as a judgment of an
Indiana court.
(c) A foreign judgment filed under subsection (a) has the same
effect and is subject to the same procedures and defenses as a
judgment entered by an Indiana court.
Sec. 2. (a) A judgment creditor filing a foreign judgment under
this chapter must file an affidavit with the clerk of the court in
which the foreign judgment is filed at the time the foreign
judgment is filed. The affidavit must set forth:
(1) the name and last known address of the judgment debtor;
and
(2) the name and last known address of the judgment creditor.
(b) The judgment creditor must send notice of the filing of the
foreign judgment in the same process prescribed under Indiana
Trial Rule 4 through Indiana Trial Rule 4.17.
(c) The notice described in subsection (b) must contain:
(1) the name and address of the judgment creditor;
(2) the name and address of the judgment creditor's attorney,
if any; and
(3) the nature and amount of the judgment creditor's claim
under the foreign judgment.
(d) Execution or other process for the enforcement of a foreign
judgment may not be issued earlier than twenty-one (21) days after
the entry of the judgment in the judgment's original jurisdiction.
(e) Not later than twenty-one (21) days after the date notice is
served to the judgment debtor by the judgment creditor or the
judgment creditor's attorney, the judgment debtor may file a
notice with the court in which the judgment has been filed
asserting any defenses that would prohibit the judgment creditor
from execution or another process for enforcement of the foreign
judgment.
Sec. 3. (a) The filing fee for a foreign judgment is the same as
the fee for filing a cause of action with the clerk of the court in
which the foreign judgment is filed.
(b) All filing fees are due and payable at the time of filing.
Sec. 4. (a) If the judgment debtor shows the court with whose
clerk the foreign judgment is filed:
(1) that:
(A) an appeal from the foreign judgment is pending;
(B) an appeal from the foreign judgment will be taken; or
(C) a stay of execution of the foreign judgment has been
granted; and
(2) that the judgment debtor has furnished the security, if any,
for the judgment required under the jurisdiction in which the
foreign judgment was rendered;
the court shall stay enforcement of the foreign judgment until the
appeal is concluded, the time for appeal expires, or the stay of
execution expires or is vacated.
(b) If:
(1) the judgment debtor shows the court grounds upon which
enforcement of a judgment of a court of Indiana would be
stayed; and
(2) the judgment debtor gives the court security for the
judgment debt;
the court shall stay enforcement of the foreign judgment for the
same period as would be appropriate to stay enforcement for a
similar judgment by an Indiana court.
Sec. 5. This chapter does not impair a judgment creditor's right
to bring an action to enforce a foreign judgment by other means.