Policy Text
Property Bureau Page 1 of 4 57/01.0 (REV 2/96)
PROCESSING CLEARANCES
The purpose of this order is to d escribe the procedures to be u sed to process written
clearances received from the District Attorney’s Office, the Sa cramento Municipal and
Superior courts, the State Atto rney General, the US Attorney, o r the Sheriff’s Detective
Division. It also will describe t he procedures used when cleara nces are initiated by the
Property Bureau. I. General
A. Clearances received from ot her agencies or the Detective Div ision.
1. When the DA’s Office, the State Attorney General, or the US
Attorney file on a report, it is their responsibility to advise the
Property Bureau when the case has been adjudicated.
2. If a report is not filed, it i s the responsibility of the ap propriate
Detective bureau to advise t he Property Bureau and indicate
whether the case has been cleared by an excepti onal clearance o r
is pending further investigation.
3. All court orders, clearances, partial clearances, or case st atus
advisements shall be submitted to the Property Bureau in writin g.
No release shall occur until the written release is in the poss ession
of the Property Bureau.
B. Processing Clearances
1. When a clearance is received , the property receipt/report wi ll be
pulled.
a. Verify the suspect(s) nam e and the report n umber on both
the clearance and the pr operty receipt/report.
b. A full clearance must include a ll of the suspects involved i n
the case.
2. Review the report and determi ne if any additional releases a re
required.
Property Bureau Page 2 of 4 57/01.0 (REV 2/96)
a. Property taken on a search w arrant requires a court order fo r
a release prior to adjudicatio n and either a court order or a
signed “Return of Search Warr ant” after adjudication.
b. Verify that any court orders attached to the case specify th e
item(s) to be released.
c. Homicide, missing persons, and suicide reports require, in
addition to any other release, w ritten release authorization
from the Homicide Bureau.
3. If additional release authoriz ations are required, indicate the type of
release needed on the property r eceipt/report and to whom it
should be sent, and submit the re port to clerical personnel for
processing. Note : The Property transportation officer may obtain a
homicide release authorization di rectly from the Homicide Burea u.
4. Partial clearances on cases that meet all of the release cri teria
(refer to Operations Order 57/00. 0) will be processed immediate ly.
a. Place a request for a letter on the property receipt/report
indicating the name and addres s of the owner and submit
the report to clerical personnel for processing.
5. Cases that meet all of the rel ease criteria (refer to Operat ions Order
57/00.0) and are now ready for comp lete disposal shall be revie wed
thoroughly.
a. Each item of property will be evaluated and a determination
made as to the appropriate metho d of disposal (refer to
Operations Orders 58/ 00.0 through 58/08.0).
b. A notation will be made in the remarks column of the
property receipt/report indica ting the correct method of
disposal; i.e., “narc” confiscate , owner (include name), etc.
c. If there is insufficien t information on the property
receipt/report to determine t he method of disposal or
ownership, a copy of the crime report shall be ordered from
Records.
6. On property receipt/reports that contain a large number of
recovered stolen items, contact the detective assigned to that case
and request further information as to the identity of the owner s.
Property Bureau Page 3 of 4 57/01.0 (REV 2/96)
7. The following procedures apply after a case has been thoroug hly
evaluated and the appropriate met hod of disposal determined:
a. Complete a yellow tickler c ard if there are controlled
substances to be destroyed.
b. Complete a green tickler card if there is money to be sent t o
the County.
c. Complete a white tickler card if there is a specific time fr ame
to be in compliance.
d. Indicate on the property rec eipt/report wha t letters need to
be sent (include name and addr ess for each letter) and
submit the report to the cleric al personnel for completion.
8. Property receipt/reports that require no specialized process ing prior
to disposal are filed in the “dis posal file drawer.” This file is routinely
purged; pulling the property fro m the shelves and completing th e
actual disposal procedures (re fer to Operations Orders 58/00.0
through 58/00.0).
II. Statute of Limitation Clearances
A. When there is no arrest on a case or if the clearance inform ation on a
case is not sent to the Property B ureau, the property on that p roperty
receipt/report must be held until t he statute of limitations fo r that crime has
expired.
B. Routinely, the property receip t/reports in the active file s ystem shall be
reviewed. The reports that are past the appropriate statute of limitation
(refer to Operations