Business Service Bureau, Inc. v. Martin

Case Date: 08/05/1999
Court: 4th District Appellate
Docket No: 4-98-0894

Business Service Bureau, Inc. v. Martin, No. 4-98-0894

4th District, 5 August 1999



BUSINESS SERVICE BUREAU, INC.,

Plaintiff-Appellee,

v.

RODNEY MARTIN,

Defendant-Appellant.

Appeal from Circuit Court of Champaign County

No. 97SC804

Honorable Donald R. Parkinson, Judge Presiding.

JUSTICE COOK delivered the opinion of the court:

In March 1997, the trial court entered a judgment for plaintiff, Business Service Bureau, Inc. (Bureau), against defendant, Rodney Martin, for unpaid medical expenses plus costs and interest. Supplementary proceedings to discover assets followed, and in September 1998, the trial court ordered defendant, who (according to his affidavit) is unemployed and has no assets, to search for employment. After a hearing in November 1998, the trial court denied a motion to vacate the job search order and entered a Rule 304(a) finding of no just reason to delay enforcement or an appeal. 155 Ill. 2d R. 304(a).

Martin appeals, arguing that the trial court erred in its application of section 2-1402 of the Code of Civil Procedure (Code) (735 ILCS 5/2-1402 (West 1996)) because (1) the order forces him to spend his wife's exempt income to search for a job, violating section 2-1402(j) of the Code (735 ILCS 5/2-1402(j) (West 1996)); (2) section 2-1402 deals with discovery of assets, not creation of assets; (3) the job search order is inappropriate because section 2-1402(c) provides for orders intended to compel collection of discovered assets, not asset creation; and (4) the job search order is unconstitutional under the thirteenth amendment (U.S. Const., amend. XIII), as well as a violation of due process (U.S. Const, amend. XIV; Ill. Const. 1970, art. I,