(a)(1) The Sheriff of Russell County shall keep and maintain a permanentrecord of all abandoned and stolen personal property recovered by the sheriff’sdepartment. These records shall statethe description of the property, the date of recoveryof the property, the serial or other identifyingnumber of the property, and the place of recovery of the property. The records shall be open to publicinspection at all reasonable times. (2) All abandoned or stolen property recovered by thesheriff’s department shall be stored in a suitable place to protect theproperty from deterioration.(b) If theabandoned and stolen personal property is of a perishable nature and reasonableattempts to locate and identify the owner of the property are not successful,the property may be sold at once without notice. The sheriff shall attempt to obtain the best possible price forthe property. The proceeds of thesale shall be held in a separate account for a period of six months for theowner. During this period, theproceeds shall be paid to the owner upon demand, less any cost of recovery,storage, maintenance, and sale. e held in a separate account for a period of six months for theowner. During this period, theproceeds shall be paid to the owner upon demand, less any cost of recovery,storage, maintenance, and sale. Ifthe proceeds are not claimed within six months, after deducting and paying allexpenses incurred in the recovery, storage, maintenance, and sale of theproperty, the net funds shall be paid to the office of the Sheriff of Russell County.(c)(1) The sheriff shall keep and maintain a separate permanent record ofall abandoned and stolen firearms, not subject to disposition by general law. The records shall state thedescription of the firearm, the date of recovery of the firearm,the serial or other identifying number, if any, of the firearm,and the place of recovery of the firearm. Firearm,as used in this section, shall have the same meaning as defined in Section13A–8–1.(2) Unlessotherwise provided by law, the sheriff may sell or destroy these firearmsif the owner of the firearm does not claimthe firearm within six months of the date the sheriffobtained it.(3) The sheriffmay sell the firearms only to gun dealers who have held an active businesslicense from Russell County for at least one mthe firearm within six months of the date the sheriffobtained it.(3) The sheriffmay sell the firearms only to gun dealers who have held an active businesslicense from Russell County for at least one year immediately prior to the dateof the sale. The sheriff shallestablish a procedure to notify gun dealersof a sale. A firearmshall be sold to the gundealer submitting the highest sealed bid. All sales shall be on a cash basis.The proceeds of the sale, after deducting and paying all expenses incurred inthe recovery, maintenance, and sale of the firearms shall be paid to the officeof the Sheriff of Russell County.(4) The sheriffmay establish a procedure to destroy firearms and may expend necessary sheriffdepartment funds for that purpose.(d)(1) At least every six months, the sheriffshall sell at public auction to the highest bidder for cash all abandonedor stolen personalproperty, other than firearms,which has been recovered by the sheriff’s department and has remained unclaimedby the rightful owner during the preceding six-month period. (2) Prior to the sale, noticeshall be given by publication in a newspaper of general circulation in RussellCounty once a week for two successive rightful owner during the preceding six-month period. (2) Prior to the sale, noticeshall be given by publication in a newspaper of general circulation in RussellCounty once a week for two successive weeks or by posting a notice in aconspicuous place at the Russell County Courthouse for a period of at least 20days. The notice shall contain theplace, date, and time of each auction and a description of each item ofpersonal property to be sold at the auction.If publication of notice is made in the newspaper, the first noticeshall run at least 20 days prior to the auction. (e) The owner of any abandoned or stolen personal property recovered by theRussell County Sheriff’s Department, including firearms, may claim the propertyat any time prior to its sale by submitting sufficient proof of ownership asdetermined by the sheriff and by paying any reasonable expenses incurredin the recovery of the property, its maintenance, storage,and a pro rata share of the costs, if any, of publication of notice ofthe sale of the property. (f) If property is sold at public auction, as provided in this section, anotation in the storage record book shall be made of the sale and of the amount receivedfor notice ofthe sale of the property. (f) If property is sold at public auction, as provided in this section, anotation in the storage record book shall be made of the sale and of the amount receivedfor the property. The person making the sale may reject any andall bids if the amountbid is unreasonably low and may continuethe sale, from time to time,if no bidders are present. (g) The proceeds from the sale of property at an auction conducted underthe authority of this section,after deducting and paying all expenses incurred in the recovery, storage,maintenance, and sale of property, shall be paid to the office of the Sheriffof Russell County. (Act 2000–636, p. 1282, §§ 1–7.)
Alabama Legal Code