San Clemente Municipal Code Ch. 3.44 Unclaimed Personal Property

A. .....Any person finding property with a value of one hundred dollars ($100.00) or more shall turn the property over to the Police Department and execute an affidavit particularly describing the property, and stating: (1) the finder's name and address; (2) when and where the property was found; (3) whether the owner of said property is known to the finder; (4) that the finder has not secreted, withheld or disposed of any part of the property; and (5) the estimated value of the property.

B. .....If the finder's affidavit identifies the owner of the property or if the Police Department has actual knowledge as to the identity and whereabouts of the owner, the Police Department shall make reasonable efforts, by telephone or letter, to notify the owner that the property is in the custody of the Police Department.

1. If the reported value of the property is fifty dollars ($50.00) or more and no owner appears and proves ownership of the property within ninety (90) days after the property is delivered to the Police Department, the Police Department shall cause notice of the finding of said property to be published once in a newspaper of general circulation published in the county. If, after seven (7) days following said publication, no owner appears and proves his ownership of the property, and the person who found the property pays the cost of the publication, title to the property shall vest in the finder.

2. If the reported value of the property is less than fifty dollars ($50.00) and no owner appears and proves ownership of the property within ninety (90) days after the property is delivered to the Police Department, title to the property shall vest in the finder.

3. Bicycles unclaimed by the owner after sixty (60) days shall be turned over to the Probation Officer, to the Welfare Department of the County, or to any charitable or nonprofit organization which is authorized under its articles of incorporation to participate in a program or activity designed to prevent juvenile delinquency and which is exempt from income taxation under federal or state law, or both, for use in any program or activity designed to prevent juvenile delinquency.

4. Notwithstanding any provision to the contrary, all firearms turned over to the Police Department shall be held by the Police Department for one hundred eighty (180) days. If it has been determined by the Police Department that the firearm was not used in the commission of a crime or is not evidence of an ongoing criminal or civil prosecution, the Police Department shall cause the weapon to be either sold or destroyed, of its sole discretion, pursuant to Penal Code Section 12028.

C. .....Subsections (B)(1) and (B)(2) of this section notwithstanding, all property found in the course of employment with a public agency shall be sold at public auction as set forth in subsection E of this section.

D. .....Whenever title to found property vests in the finder, the Police Department shall notify the finder by letter at the address specified in the affidavit that the property has not been claimed. If the finder does not claim said property within thirty (30) days after such notice is mailed, the Police Department may proceed with the sale in the same manner as if the property had been found by an employee of a public agency.

E. .....If unclaimed property is to be sold at a public auction to the highest bidder, the Police Department shall cause a notice of such sale to be published in a newspaper of general circulation published in the County of Orange at least five (5) days before the time fixed for the sale.

F. .....It is not the intent of this section to create a duty to any owner or finder of property other than as may be specified in state law, nor to create any obligation to any owner or finder if the City does not comply with the procedures set forth in this section, nor to validate any sale or transfer of property if the City does not comply with the procedures set forth herein.

(Ord. 1163 § 13, 1995; prior code § 4-9)