(a)(1) The Sheriff of Clay County shall keep and maintain a permanent record of all abandoned and stolen personal property recovered by the sheriff’s office. These records shall state the description of the property, the date of recovery of the property, the serial or other identifying number of the property, and the place where the property was recovered. The records shall be open to public inspection at all reasonable times.
(2)All abandoned or stolen property recovered by the sheriff’s office shall be stored in a suitable place to protect the property from deterioration.
(b)If the abandoned or stolen personal property is of a perishable nature and reasonable attempts to locate and identify the owner of the property are not successful, the property may be sold at once without notice. T
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(a)(1) The Sheriff of Clay County shall keep and maintain a permanent record of all abandoned and stolen personal property recovered by the sheriff’s office. These records shall state the description of the property, the date of recovery of the property, the serial or other identifying number of the property, and the place where the property was recovered. The records shall be open to public inspection at all reasonable times.
(2) All abandoned or stolen property recovered by the sheriff’s office shall be stored in a suitable place to protect the property from deterioration.
(b) If the abandoned or stolen personal property is of a perishable nature and reasonable attempts 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 for the property. The proceeds from the sale shall be held for a period of six months for the owner. During this period, the proceeds shall be paid to the owner upon demand, less any cost of recovery, storage, maintenance, and sale. If the proceeds are not claimed within six months, after deducting and paying all expenses incurred in the recovery, storage, maintenance, and sale of the property, the net funds shall be paid to the Office of the Sheriff of Clay County.
(c)(1)a. The sheriff shall keep and maintain a permanent record of all abandoned or stolen firearms not subject to disposition by general law. The records shall state the description of the firearm, the date of recovery of the firearm, the serial or other identifying number, if any, of the firearm, and the place where the firearm was recovered. The sheriff shall take reasonable efforts to locate the owner of abandoned or stolen firearms recovered by the sheriff’s office, including notifying the sheriff’s offices of surrounding counties of the recovered firearms.
b. For the purposes of this section, “firearm” shall have the same meaning as defined in Section 13A-8-1.
(2) Unless otherwise provided by law, the sheriff may sell or destroy a firearm if the owner of the firearm does not claim the firearm after six months of the date the sheriff obtained it.
(3) The sheriff may sell a firearm only to gun dealers who have a current federal firearm license on the date of the sale. The sheriff shall establish a procedure to notify gun dealers of a sale. A firearm shall be sold to the gun dealer 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 in the recovery, maintenance, and sale of the firearm, shall be paid to the Office of the Sheriff of Clay County.
(4) The sheriff may establish a procedure to destroy firearms and may expend necessary funds of the sheriff’s office for that purpose.
(d)(1)a. As often as necessary, the sheriff may sell at public auction or by Internet auction to the highest bidder all abandoned or stolen personal property, other than firearms, which has been recovered by the sheriff’s office and has remained unclaimed by the rightful owner for at least a six-month period.
b. The sheriff shall take reasonable efforts to locate the owner of abandoned or stolen personal property recovered by the sheriff’s office, including notifying the sheriff’s office of surrounding counties if the property is deemed to be a family heirloom or to be of substantial value.
(2) Prior to the sale, notice shall be given by publication in a newspaper of general circulation in Clay County once a week for two consecutive weeks or by posting notice in a conspicuous place at the Clay County Courthouse for a period of at least 20 days. The notice shall contain the place, date, and time of each auction and a general description of items of personal property to be sold at the auction. If publication of notice is made in the newspaper, the first notice shall run at least 20 days prior to the auction.
(e) The owner of any abandoned or stolen personal property recovered by the Clay County Sheriff’s Office, including firearms, may claim the property at any time prior to its sale by submitting sufficient proof of ownership as determined by the sheriff and by paying any reasonable expenses incurred in the recovery of the property, its maintenance, storage, and a pro rata share of the costs, if any, of publication of notice of the sale of the property.
(f) If property is sold at public auction, as provided in this section, a notation in the storage record shall be made of the sale and of the amount received for the property. The person making the sale may reject any bid if the amount bid is unreasonably low and may continue the sale, from time to time, if no bidders are present.
(g) The proceeds from the sale of property at an auction conducted under the authority of this section, after deducting and paying all expenses incurred in the recovery, storage, maintenance, and sale of property, shall be collected by the sheriff and deposited in any bank located in Clay County into a fund designated as the Sheriff’s Fund. The fund may be drawn upon by the sheriff and used exclusively for law enforcement purposes in the discharge of the duties of the sheriff’s office at the discretion of the sheriff.