Policy Text
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RELEASE OF PROPERTY ON A PERMANENT BASIS
The purpose of this order is to s tate the types of clearances t hat permit the release or
disposal of property on a perm anent basis. Permanent release is property released or
disposed of after all releas e criteria has been met.
I. Recovered Stolen
A. Property booked under this cla ssification may be released or disposed of
if:
1. A Sheriff’s detective submitted the report.
2. A Sheriff’s detective sends wri tten authorization to release .
3. A property officer reviews t he victim’s theft report and con curs, in
writing, the person/business named is the rightful owner.
B. A written claim of ownership notice must be sent to the pers on from whom
the property was taken and the s pecified time requirement (30 d ays from
the date on the form) must be me t before the property can be re leased.
C. A photograph must be taken of the property prior to its rele ase if a claim of
ownership notice was sent.
II. Evidence
A. Case adjudication
1. The Property Bureau must be advi sed, in writing, by the Dist rict
Attorney (DA6, DA7, or Juvenile Court release form), the State
Attorney General, or the US Feder al Attorney that the case has
been adjudicated.
2. The District Attorney’s Office p repares a case package for e ach
case that is filed. This case package includes a District Attor ney’s
“Property Release and Dispositio n” form (DA6). When the case is
closed, this form is completed and forwarded to the Property
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Bureau so that any property held as evidence for this case may be
disposed of accordingly. Any c orrespondence from the DA’s Offic e
regarding release of informati on must be signed by a deputy Dis trict
Attorney in order to be valid.
3. Property may be returned to its rightful owner prior to adju dication
of the case if one of the fo llowing conditions is met:
a. Written authorization is rec eived from either the deputy DA
or the detective bureau assigned to the case.
b. A court order is received st ipulating the release of the
property.
c. The property is determined to b e of no evidentiary value by
either the detective bureau a ssigned to the case or by a
property officer.
B. Exceptional or Unfounded Clearances
1. The Property Bureau must be ad vised, in writing, by the appr opriate
detective bureau that the case has been cleared by an exception al
or unfounded clearance (Form 7401-104).
C. Statutory Law
1. Property booked as evidence mu st be held the required period of
time as outlined in Secti ons 799 through 806 PC.
a. Section 799 PC states that ther e is no statute of limitation s
for:
(1) A crime punishable by deat h (Sections 37, 187 PC).
(2) A crime punishable by life imprisonment without the
possibility of parole (Sections 37, 187, 209 PC).
(3) Embezzlement of public m oney (Section 424 PC).
b. There is a six-year statute o f limitation (Section 800 PC) f or:
(1) Any crime punishable by imprisonment in a state
prison for eight or more year s except as provided in
Sections 799, 261, 264.1, 286(c), 286(d), 286(g), 288,
289(a), and 289(b).
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c. There is a three-year statute of limitation (Section 801 PC)
for:
(1) Any crime punishable by imprisonment in a state
prison except as provided in Sections 799 and 800
PC.
d. There is a two-year statute of limitation (802[b] PC) for
violation of Section 647(a) PC.
e. There is a one-year statute o f limitation for any crime not
punishable by death or impri sonment in a state prison
(Section 802[a] PC):
(1) Misdemeanor (2) Citations
2. A warrant check must be comp leted on all suspects related to a
case before that case can be cl eared by statutory law. The CJIS
computer system will be used to v erify that no warrants have be en
issued.
D. Property that is not of evidentiary value:
1. Property processed by finger prints by the ID Bureau.
a. Crimes against property. I f no prints are raised,
release/dispose of immediately.
b. Crimes against persons. If no prints are raised, request a
clearance from the detective bureau assigned to the case.
2. Items received at a property c rime scene that are not proces sed for
fingerprints and that have no evidentiary value such as:
a. Broken glass: dispose of immediately.
b. Rocks: dispose of immediately.
c. Wood or tree limbs: dispose of immediately. d. Door knobs: place a three-mont h “hold” card. If there is no
activity after three months, dispose of.
e. Unidentifiable tools: place a