(a) If any law enforcement officer has a reasonable belief that second personal property located in a purchaser’s premises is “stolen property,” the purchaser shall release such property to the officer upon demand and upon receiving a receipt for the property from the officer.
(b) A purchaser shall be granted on opportunity to appear before the City Court, at the next available hearing date immediately following the confiscation of any such property pursuant to subsection (a). The purchaser shall be entitled to representation by an attorney at his or her expense, or in the alternative to proceed pro se, and have the purchaser’s case heard before the City Court concerning the return of any such confiscated items, provided it can be established by the purchaser, by preponderance of the evidence, that the purchaser does have legal title to said personal property. Any purchaser aggrieved by the ruling of the City Court of Keyser, West Virginia, shall have the right of appeal said decision to the Circuit Court of Mineral County, West Virginia, by filing a Notice of Appeal with the City Court within thirty days after the date of judgement.
(c) The remedy provided for in subsection (b) shall be binding only upon the City of Keyser and the purchaser concerning each of the parties legal rights to any such personal property in dispute. Nothing contained within this chapter shall deny or prohibit any person, claiming lawful ownership of any personal property in dispute, from pursing a separate cause of action in the Magistrate Court of Mineral County, West Virginia or any other Court of competent jurisdiction to decide the person’s true and lawful interest in any such personal property.