COLUMBUS, Ohio - Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost alerted creditors and financial institutions Monday that COVID-19 stimulus checks are protected under existing Ohio law from bill collectors and exempt from state and federal attachment, garnishment, or execution.

"The stimulus checks were intended to be used during an emergency, to put food on the table, keep the lights on, and a roof over our heads," Yost said. "It wasn't meant to pay off an old bill."

Yost said he is sending notices to relevant entities as well as posting the notice on his website.

He pointed out that a section of the Ohio Revised Code applies to payments under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act.

While the CARES Act does not allow for stimulus checks to be garnished for debts owed to federal or state governments, there is no current federal provision banning private debt collectors from doing the same, which is why Yost said he issued the notice about state law.

"Sometimes, state law gives greater protection than federal law," he noted.

The CARES Act does allow for stimulus checks to be garnished in cases where people are behind on child-support payments.

Yost also today signed a letter joining 24 other attorneys general requesting that the Department of the Treasury take immediate action to ensure that emergency monetary relief authorized by the CARES Act will not be subject to garnishment by creditors or debt collectors.