Money & Debt · Wage Garnishment
Wage Garnishment Laws in Kansas
How much of your paycheck a creditor can take in Kansas, the pay that is fully protected, and what to do right now if a garnishment has started, cited to the statute.
Want your own number? Run your paycheck through the Kansas wage garnishment calculator →
The limit and what is protected in Kansas
How much a creditor can take, the pay that is exempt, and where it comes from in the code.
| Most a creditor can take | 25% of disposable earnings |
| How the limit works | The federal ceiling: 25% of disposable pay, or 30× the minimum wage protected |
| Fully protected pay | Weekly disposable pay up to $217.50 (30 times the $7.25 federal minimum wage) is fully protected. A creditor can reach only the lesser of 25% of your disposable pay or the amount above $217.50 a week. |
| Other exemptions |
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| Federal backstop | The federal 25% / 30× minimum-wage floor also applies; a creditor can never take more than federal law allows. |
| Statute | K.S.A. 60-2310 |
Kansas follows the federal ceiling exactly for ordinary consumer debt: the lesser of 25% of disposable pay or the amount above $217.50 a week, or the amount of the creditor’s claim if smaller. The statute has no head-of-household exemption. Its most useful debtor protections are procedural: the one-garnishment-per-30-days rule and the sickness pause. The percentage-cap exceptions (child support, alimony, and bankruptcy chapter XIII) follow their own rules and can reach a larger share of your pay.
What you can do right now
Concrete, neutral steps if your wages are being garnished in Kansas. This is legal information, not legal advice.
- Confirm the protected floor first
Under K.S.A. 60-2310 the first $217.50 of your weekly disposable pay cannot be touched, and a creditor can take only the lesser of 25% of disposable pay or the amount above that floor. If your take-home is at or below $217.50 a week, none of it should be garnished.
- Check the one-garnishment-per-30-days limit
No single creditor may issue more than one garnishment against your earnings in any 30-day period. If the same creditor is trying to garnish you more often than that, the extra garnishment may not be valid, so flag it to the court.
- Raise the sickness protection if it applies
If an illness has kept you from working for more than two weeks, garnishment of your earnings cannot be invoked until two months after you recover. Bring proof of the illness and its dates if you need to rely on this.
- Get free Kansas legal help
Kansas Legal Services can help you check the math, confirm the 30-day and sickness rules, and respond to a garnishment. This is legal information, not legal advice, so confirm your own situation with a lawyer.
You do not have to face a garnishment alone. This resource can help you check whether an exemption applies and how to file the paperwork.
→ Kansas Legal Services (statewide free legal help)This is general legal information, not legal advice. Deadlines to claim an exemption are short and vary by court, so act quickly and confirm the specifics for your case.
What Kansas workers get wrong
Kansas follows the federal garnishment ceiling, so on an ordinary consumer judgment a creditor can take the lesser of 25% of your disposable pay or the amount by which your weekly disposable pay exceeds $217.50. That $217.50 is 30 times the $7.25 federal minimum wage, and it is always protected. Kansas does not add a head-of-household exemption the way some states do, so the percentage is the whole story on the number itself. Where Kansas helps debtors is procedure. K.S.A. 60-2310 says no single creditor may issue more than one garnishment against the same debtor in any 30-day period, which slows down how fast one creditor can keep hitting your paycheck. The statute also pauses garnishment if illness keeps you from working for more than two weeks: nothing can be garnished until two months after you recover. Those two rules are the ones most worth knowing if a Kansas creditor is coming after your wages.
Common questions
How much of my paycheck can a creditor garnish in Kansas?
For an ordinary consumer judgment, K.S.A. 60-2310 lets a creditor take the lesser of 25% of your disposable pay or the amount by which your weekly disposable pay exceeds $217.50. Disposable pay is what is left after taxes and other deductions required by law. Kansas does not add a head-of-household exemption to lower that percentage.
How often can the same creditor garnish my wages in Kansas?
No more than once every 30 days. K.S.A. 60-2310 says no single creditor may issue more than one garnishment against the earnings of the same debtor during any 30-day period. The creditor can still correct names or addresses, but it cannot stack fresh garnishments faster than that limit.
What happens to a Kansas garnishment if I get sick and cannot work?
The statute pauses it. If sickness prevents you from working for more than two weeks, garnishment of your earnings cannot be invoked until after two months from your recovery. This is a specific protection written into K.S.A. 60-2310, so keep records of the illness and the dates you were unable to work.
Does Kansas have a head-of-household exemption for wage garnishment?
No. Unlike states such as Florida, Kansas does not give heads of household a larger wage exemption. Everyone is under the same federal ceiling: the lesser of 25% of disposable pay or the amount above $217.50 a week. Other exemptions may protect specific funds, but not through a family-based percentage.
What debts can take more than 25% of my pay in Kansas?
The 25% ceiling does not apply to court orders for the support of any person, including alimony, or to a court of bankruptcy under chapter XIII. Child support, taxes, and defaulted federal student loans follow their own federal rules and can reach a larger share of your paycheck.
Not legal advicePlainStatute provides plain-language summaries of public law for general information only. This is not legal advice. Statutes change; always confirm current requirements with the official source linked above before acting.