(A) Duties and responsibilities.
(1) The Chief of Police is designated the custodian of all property defined in (B) below, which is taken by peace officers of the city.
(2) The Chief of Police shall appoint a Property Clerk/Evidence Custodian who is a civilian or any sworn officer to carry out the property safekeeping, use and disposition procedures required by this section and all applicable state and federal laws.
(3) Any peace officer of the city shall, as soon as practicable after property described in (B) comes into the officer's possession, deliver it to the Property Clerk/Evidence Custodian.
(4) The Property Clerk/Evidence Custodian shall maintain a separate, permanent record in which shall be registered and particularly described, and as received by any peace officer of the city, any property of the classes described in (B). The record shall also contain the name of the owner, if ascertained, the place where found, the name of the person from whom it was taken, the general circumstances of its receipt, the name of the officer recovering the property, the name or names of any and all claimants to the property and final disposition of the property. The Property Clerk/Evidence Custodian shall advertise any property, not the subject of a forfeiture proceeding, as to the amount and dispositions of the property.
(5) Any property as defined in (B) which is delivered to the Property Clerk/Evidence Custodian under this section shall be securely stored at the Police Department in a separate room used only for the storage of such property and to which only the Property Custodian and Property Clerk/Evidence Custodian have general access.
(6) If any property in the custody of the Property Clerk/Evidence Custodian is desired as evidence in any court, such property shall be delivered to any officer who presents an order to that effect from the court. Such property not retained by the court shall be returned to the Property Clerk/Evidence Custodian.
(7) All property which has been seized and is forfeited pursuant to law shall be disposed of as provided in the court order of forfeiture.
(8) All property that remains in the custody of the Property Clerk/Evidence Custodian and which is contraband or which is subject to forfeiture and in which there will be no court action shall be ordered forfeited by the Woodford Circuit Court not less than ninety (90) days after it comes into the possession of the Property Clerk/Evidence Custodian. The Property Clerk/Evidence Custodian shall advise the City Attorney of the expiration of those ninety (90) days, who shall move the court at its next motion hour for an order of forfeiture. The order of forfeiture shall be consistent with applicable provisions of Kentucky and federal law. If the property is ordered sold, the proceeds shall go to the credit of the Versailles Police Department.
(9) All property which remains in the custody of the Property Clerk/Evidence Custodian without any lawful claimant thereto and which is not subject to the Subsections 6 and 7 above shall be sold at public sale at the Versailles Police Station after being advertised pursuant to KRS Chapter 424. The sale shall be held annually in the month of October, and complete inventory of the property to be sold shall be made by the Property Clerk/Evidence Custodian and presented to the Mayor and City Council by the first regular meeting of September each year. No property shall be sold under this provision unless:
(a) It has been in the custody of the Property Clerk/Evidence Custodian for over ninety (90) days; and
(b) Reasonable efforts have been made by the Property Clerk/Evidence Custodian to ascertain the name of the true owner or lawful claimant of the property and to effect its return; and
(c) The sale is in conformity with applicable State and Federal laws and regulations.
(10) No property shall be delivered to the Property Clerk/Evidence Custodian or delivered by the property clerk except as provided by this section.
(11) No property shall be disposed of by the Property Clerk/Evidence Custodian except in the manner provided in this section.
(B) Definitions.
(1) The Chief of Police is the custodian of all property alleged to be or suspected of being the proceeds of crime.
(2) The Chief of Police is the custodian of all property alleged to be or suspected of having been used to facilitate the commission of a crime.
(3) The Chief of Police is the custodian of all property which is subject to confiscation or forfeiture or both under the Kentucky Revised Statues.
(4) The Chief of Police is the custodian of all property which is taken from the person of a prisoner, except for such personal property as may be in the custody of a prisoner upon his or her admission to jail (in which case all property which he or she is not permitted to retain upon admission to jail shall be placed in the custody of the jailer).
(5) The Chief of Police is the custodian of all property which is lost or abandoned and taken into custody by any peace officer of the city.
(6) The Chief of Police is the custodian of all property which is taken from persons supposed to be insane, intoxicated or otherwise incapable of taking care of themselves.
(C) Exceptions.
(1) The provisions of this section do not apply to stolen, strayed, lost or confiscated animals.
(2) The provisions of this section do not apply to the Kentucky State Police, Woodford County Police, the Sheriff of Woodford County, Kentucky Park Rangers, or peace officers of the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources or any person not a peace officer of the City of Versailles.
(D) Penalties. Any person convicted of violating any provision of this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be fined not more than five hundred dollars ($500.00) and imprisoned in the county jail for not more than one (1) year, or both.
(Am. Ord. 2019-24, passed 7-2-19)