Oakley Municipal Code Art. 2 Unclaimed Property

All property found in this City whose ownership is unknown or unclaimed shall be delivered to, and held and disposed of by the City Manager, as herein provided.

All such unclaimed property described above shall be held by the City for a period of at least four months, except that unclaimed bicycles shall be held for a period of at least three months.

The Chief of Police shall attempt to ascertain the owner of such property and shall restore the same to him/her, if found, upon proof of ownership satisfactory to the Chief and payment of costs herein provided.

The City Manager shall establish a schedule of storage charges for property held as herein provided, based upon the amount of space and care required to preserve the property, but small articles held for short periods may be restored to their owner without charge. Record shall be kept of the actual cost of locating the owner of such property, including advertising costs, if any. Such charges and costs shall be paid to the City by the owner as provided in Section 2.8.206.

Any unclaimed automobiles shall be disposed of as provided in the California Vehicle Code Section 22851.2 et seq.

All property described in Section 1411 of the California Penal Code which comes into the possession of the Chief of Police shall be disposed of by the Chief of Police in the manner provided in this article.

If within four months (or three months, in the case of bicycles) such property remains unclaimed or the charges thereon have not been paid, the City Manager may sell the same at public auction to the highest bidder for cash in lawful money of the United States. The Chief of Police shall give notice of the time and place of sale, describing the property, by publishing such notice one time in the official newspaper of the City or if there is no such official newspaper, the posting of said notice in at least three public places in the City, at least five days before the time fixed for the sale. Any property remaining unsold after being offered at such public auction may be destroyed or otherwise disposed of by the City Manager. If the City Manager determines that any such property is needed for public use, such property may be retained by the City and need not be sold.

All proceeds from such sales shall be deposited in the general fund of the City.