§ 9-13-163.Sale of perishable property — When and by whom ordered; where held

The ordinary execution sale process waits for a first Tuesday and four weeks of advertising under Code Sections 9-13-140, 9-13-141, and 9-13-161, which is a poor fit for property that will spoil, or that costs money to store, in the meantime. This section carves out a faster, judge-ordered path for exactly that situation.

Two things have to be true before the fast track opens. The property has to fall into one of three categories — perishable by nature, liable to deteriorate from being kept, or attended by expense in keeping it — and it has to have been levied on under a fi. fa., an attachment, or other process, with the defendant having failed to recover possession, leaving the property sitting with the levying officer. Once those facts are shown plainly to the proper judge, ordering the sale stops being discretionary: the statute makes it “the duty of the judge” to order it.

Which judge can act depends on availability. The judge of the court that issued the process can order the sale, as can the county’s superior court judge; the county’s probate court judge can only step in when the superior court judge is unavailable. Wherever the authority comes from, the sale itself happens at the county’s usual location for sheriff’s sales, and Code Section 9-13-164 fills in the advertising, notice, and proceeds rules that govern the sale once it is ordered.