§ 45-27-231.22 — Record of Abandoned or Stolen Firearms; Sale or Destruction

Alabama § 45-27-231.22

• Jurisdiction: Alabama
• Title 45: Local Laws
• Ch. 27: Escambia County
• Art. 23: Sheriff
• Part 2: Funding
• Subpart 2: Sale of Abandoned, Stolen, and Unclaimed Property

Text

(a)(1) 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.
(2) 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.
(3) For the purposes of this subpart, firearm shall have the same meaning as defined in Section 13A-8-1.
(b) Unless otherwise provided by law, the sheriff may sell or destroy the firearm if the owner of the firearm does not claim the firearm within six months of the date the sheriff obtained the firearm.
(c) The sheriff may sell the firearms 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 firearms, shall be paid to the office of the Sheriff of Escambia County.
(d) The sheriff may establish a procedure to destroy firearms and may expend necessary funds of the sheriff’s office for that purpose.

Legislative History

(Act 2021-142, §3.)