{"id":"sheriffs-regulations-2020","name":"Sheriff's Regulations 2020","slug":"sheriff-s-regulations-2020","collection":"regulation","jurisdiction":"sa","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":null,"makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":237217,"registerId":"sa-sheriffs-regulations-2020-current","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-06","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Sheriff's Regulations 2020","content":"South Australia\nSheriff's Regulations 2020\nunder the Sheriff's Act 1978\n\nContents\n1\tShort title\n2\tCommencement\n3\tInterpretation\n4\tSafe keeping and disposal of items\n5\tFees\nSchedule 1—Revocation of Sheriff's Regulations 2005\nLegislative history\n\n1—Short title\nThese regulations may be cited as the Sheriff's Regulations 2020.\n2—Commencement\nThese regulations come into operation on 1 September 2020.\n3—Interpretation\nIn these regulations—\nAct means the Sheriff's Act 1978.\n4—Safe keeping and disposal of items\n\t(1)\tIf a person fails, on leaving the premises of a participating body, to collect items held in safe keeping while the person is on the premises (see section 9G(h)(i) of the Act), the sheriff—\n\t(a)\tmust take reasonable care, for a period of 30 days, of the items (other than perishable items); and\n\t(b)\tmay, in the sheriff's absolute discretion—\n\t(i)\tin the case of perishable items—destroy or otherwise dispose of the items;\n\t(ii)\tin any other case—destroy or otherwise dispose of the items after taking reasonable care of them for the period referred to in paragraph (a).\n\t(2)\tThe items may be kept at a place considered appropriate by the sheriff and, before an item is released to a person, the person may be required to produce satisfactory evidence of identity and entitlement to the item.\n\t(3)\tIf the items are sold, the net proceeds of the sale must be paid into the Consolidated Account.\n5—Fees\n\t(1)\tThe sheriff may recover expenses reasonably incurred by the sheriff in the performance of duties imposed on the sheriff by or under the Act or any other Act.\nExamples—\nExpenses reasonably incurred that the sheriff may recover include—\n\t(a)\tcleaning and maintenance of property;\n\t(b)\tlabour and removal of goods;\n\t(c)\tcartage;\n\t(d)\tstorage;\n\t(e)\tinsurance;\n\t(f)\tadvertisements;\n\t(g)\tseizure and maintenance of animals;\n\t(h)\tpostage;\n\t(i)\ttelephone calls;\n\t(j)\tengaging assistants;\n\t(k)\tengaging auctioneers or agents;\n\t(l)\tconducting a sale of land or goods.\n\t(2)\tThe sheriff may require—\n\t(a)\ta deposit as security for the payment of fees before commencing a proceeding or at any time during the course of the proceeding; and\n\t(b)\ta written undertaking to pay any further fees which may become payable above the amount of the deposit.\n\t(3)\tThe prescribed fee for service of a document or execution of a process is payable despite the document not being served or the process not being executed if—\n\t(a)\tthe officer who attempted to serve the document or execute the process obtained information about the defendant of value to the plaintiff; or\n\t(b)\tthe sheriff is satisfied that other special circumstances exist justifying the fee,\nand a written report on the results of the attempted service or execution has been provided to the plaintiff.\nSchedule 1—Revocation of Sheriff's Regulations 2005\nThe Sheriff's Regulations 2005 are revoked.\nLegislative history\nNotes\n\t•\tFor further information relating to the Act and subordinate legislation made under the Act see the Index of South Australian Statutes or www.legislation.sa.gov.au.\nPrincipal regulations\nYear\nNo\nReference\nCommencement\n2020\n258\nGazette 20.8.2020 p4365 \n1.9.2020: r 2\n","sortOrder":0}],"analysis":{"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":2,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"These regulations appear to maintain the traditional scope of Sheriff's regulations — dealing with safekeeping of property and fee recovery. They replace the 2005 regulations without significant expansion into new areas."},"complexity_factors":["Very short document (5 substantive regulations plus revocation schedule)","Only 1 defined term ('Act') in the interpretation section","Minimal cross-referencing (only to section 9G(h)(i) of the Sheriff's Act 1978)","Simple conditional logic (basic 'if-then' structures without nesting)","Straightforward fee recovery mechanism with illustrative examples rather than exhaustive definitions","No exceptions to exceptions or deeply nested subsections"],"plain_english_summary":"**What this does:**\n\nThese regulations set out practical rules for how the South Australian Sheriff handles people's belongings and recovers costs for their work.\n\n**Key things covered:**\n\n*   **Lost property:** If you leave something behind at a court or other government building (a \"participating body\"), the Sheriff will look after it for 30 days. If it's food or something that will go off, they can throw it out straight away. After 30 days, they can sell or dispose of other items too. If they sell your stuff, the money goes to the government's main bank account (the Consolidated Account). You'll need to prove who you are to get your things back.\n\n*   **Getting paid back:** The Sheriff can charge you for costs they rack up doing their job — things like cleaning, moving furniture, storing goods, advertising sales, postage, phone calls, and hiring auctioneers. They can ask for a deposit upfront before they start work, and make you sign a promise to pay any extra costs later.\n\n*   **Fees for attempted work:** Even if the Sheriff tries to serve court papers on someone and fails, you might still have to pay — but only if they found useful information for you, or there's some other good reason, and they give you a written report.\n\n**Who it affects:**\n\nAnyone involved in court enforcement — people who've left property behind, people who owe money or property being seized, and lawyers or litigants using Sheriff's services.\n\n**Why it matters:**\n\nIt makes clear what happens to your stuff if you leave it behind in court buildings, and ensures the Sheriff can recover costs for enforcement work (like seizing goods or selling property) without running at a loss."},"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":3,"scope_assessment":{"changed":true,"description":"Schedule 1 expressly revokes the Sheriff's Regulations 2005 and replaces them with rules that focus on safekeeping/disposal of items and fee recovery. Mechanically the instrument formalises a 30‑day hold for non‑perishables, an absolute discretion to dispose (including immediate disposal of perishables), mandatory procedures for release, a list of recoverable expense types, powers to require deposits/undertakings, and an exception allowing prescribed fees after unsuccessful service (r4, r5, Sch 1)."},"complexity_factors":["Discretion to dispose of items is described as the sheriff's \"absolute discretion\" (r4(1)(b)), increasing legal uncertainty about disposal decisions.","A mandatory 30‑day custody period for non‑perishables before disposal creates a clear temporal rule (r4(1)(a)).","Requirement for satisfactory proof of identity and entitlement before release creates an administrative gate and potential delay (r4(2)).","Proceeds of any sale are required to be paid into the Consolidated Account, removing discretion over use of funds (r4(3)).","Broad recoverable expenses list with illustrative, non‑exhaustive examples expands the range of chargeable costs (r5(1) and examples).","Power to demand a deposit and a written undertaking at any stage of proceedings creates upfront cashflow requirements for parties (r5(2)).","A prescribed fee may be payable even if service or execution failed where value was obtained or \"special circumstances\" exist, subject to a written report—introduces subjective evaluation and reporting requirement (r5(3)).","Revocation of the 2005 Regulations and replacement by this instrument signals a legislative reset of administrative rules (Schedule 1)."],"plain_english_summary":"These regulations govern how the South Australian Sheriff handles items left at participating bodies and how the Sheriff recovers costs. The sheriff must take reasonable care of non‑perishable items for 30 days, may immediately dispose of perishables, and may destroy or sell uncollected items; sale proceeds go to the Consolidated Account. The sheriff may recover reasonable expenses, require a deposit or written undertaking, and in certain cases charge prescribed fees even if service or execution was not successful (r4, r5, Sch 1)."},"issue_detection":{"absurdities":[],"contradictions":[]},"flash_summary_failed":{"failed":true,"reason":"A positive credit balance is required for all requests, including BYOK, so fallback providers remain available. Add credits at https://vercel.com/d?to=%2F%5Bteam%5D%2F%7E%2Fai%3Fmodal%3Dtop-up to continue.","source":"analysis-cron"},"summary":{"complexity_score":1,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"Scope cannot be assessed as the legislative text was not retrievable. No comparison between original intent and enacted form is possible from the information provided."},"complexity_factors":["No actual legislative content was retrievable — the source URL returned a 404 Page Not Found error","Unable to assess cross-references, definitional complexity, or regulatory burden without the text","Complexity score of 1 reflects the absence of content to analyse, not simplicity of the underlying law"],"plain_english_summary":"The Sheriff's Regulations 2020 would set out rules for the operation of South Australia’s Sheriff’s Office—how court orders, warrants, service of documents and judicially ordered seizures are carried out. It affects people subject to enforcement (debts, fines), recipients/servers of court documents, legal practitioners and sheriff’s officers, because it governs practical enforcement procedures and safeguards."}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/sheriff-s-regulations-2020","history":"/api/acts/sheriff-s-regulations-2020/history","analysis":"/api/acts/sheriff-s-regulations-2020/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/sheriff-s-regulations-2020/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/sheriff-s-regulations-2020/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/sheriff-s-regulations-2020/documents"}}