A. Record Required: All personal property which comes into the possession of any police officer, which has been found or stolen or taken off the person or out of the possession of any prisoner or person suspected of or charged with being a criminal, and which is not known to belong to some person laying claim thereto, shall be, by the officer securing possession thereof, delivered into the charge of the Chief of Police. The Chief shall, in a permanent record book kept for that purpose, make a record sufficient to identify the property, with the date and circumstances of the receipt thereof, the name of the person from whom it was taken and the place where it was found, and the record shall also disclose the subsequent disposal thereof, giving the date of sale, name and address of the purchaser, and the amount for which it was sold. (2011 Code § 18-3)
B. Disposition Of Property:
1. Any unclaimed personal property, other than animals, which remains in the possession of the Chief of Police, unclaimed, or the ownership of which is not to him satisfactorily established, for a period of thirty (30) days, shall be sold, and the proceeds of the sale shall be paid to the Town Clerk-Treasurer, who shall issue a receipt therefor, and deposit the same to the credit of the General Fund of the Town, except such personal property as, in the opinion of the Board of Trustees, can be more advantageously used by some department or office of the Town government.
2. Ten (10) days before a sale of such unclaimed property, the Chief of Police shall sign and have posted in at least three (3) public places in the Town, notices of the time, place, manner of such sale, and list of property to be sold.
3. If, in the opinion of the Board of Trustees, all or any portion of the personal property can be more advantageously used by some department or office of the Town government, the Board shall so instruct the Chief of Police, in writing, and the Chief shall thereupon deliver the personal property designated to that department or office of Town government and make a permanent record of its disposition.
4. In the alternative, the Chief of Police may proceed under the provisions of 11 Oklahoma Statutes section 34-104 for the disposition of the property referred to herein. (2011 Code § 18-4)
C. Property Found By Private Person: Any personal property found by a person other than a public official or employee, which is delivered to any police officer for identification, if not claimed or identified within thirty (30) days, shall, within ten (10) additional days thereafter, if requested by the finder, be returned to him, and a record of such disposal made thereof. If the finder does not request return of the property to him within such additional ten (10) days, then the Chief of Police shall sell the property as if it had been found by a public official or employee or, on instruction by the Board of Trustees, deliver it to some department or office of the Town government for its use. (2011 Code § 18-5)
D. Recovery By Owner: If any property is sold as herein provided, and the owner thereof takes and recovers possession of same from the purchaser, the amount paid therefor shall be returned to the purchaser, upon verified claim being submitted and approved by the Board of Trustees. (2011 Code § 18-6)
E. Violation; Penalty: Any person, firm, association, corporation, or copartnership who shall violate any of the provisions of this section shall, severally for each and every such violation, be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be punishable as provided in section 1-4-1 of this Code. (2011 Code § 18-7)