NEY GENE EXAS

Hon. Joe Resweber Opinion No. C-649 County Attorney Harris County Re: Disposition of unclaimed or Houston, Texas abandoned personal property under Article 18.30, Code Dear Mr. Resweber: of Criminal Procedure.

Znyour opInIon request you submItted the following questions:I,1.

“2. Under Section 18.30, Vernon's Texas Codeof Criminal Procedure, effective January 1, 1966, must apeace officer turn over all unclaimed or abandoned personal property which was In his poseession before January 1, 1966, to the County Purdhaslng Agent for disposition? Under such provision of the newcode, are automobiles Including those taken into possession by a city pursuant to its parking regulations to be turned over to the County Purchasing Agent andmust the County pay to such City fees assessed by It for the towing and storage of such automobiles?" Theapplicable part of Article 18.30 of the Codeof Criminal Procedure, 1966, provides:

"Sec. 1. All unclaimed or abandoned personal property except whiskey, wine and beer, of every kind, seized by a peace officer, which is not held as evidence to be used in any pending case and haa not been ordered destroyed or returned to the person entitled to possession of the sameby amagistrate, which shall remain unclaimed for a period of 30 days shall be delivered to the purchasing agent of the county for sale. If the county, has nopurchasing agent then such property shall be sold by the she~riff of the county."
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Ron. Joe Resweber, page 2 (C-649,)

Sections 2, 3 and4of this article regulate the disposition of anyproperty delivered In accordance with Section 1.

Theproper Interpretation and construction of Article 18.30 was considered In our opinion No. C-585, dated Jam%slry 18, 1966. There, weheld, as digested In the summaryof the opinion:

‘The appllcablllty of Article 18.30

of the newCodeof Criminal procedure Is not limited to unclaimed or abandoned personal property seized under a search warrant; on the contrary, this Article controls the disposition of all such property (except intoxicants) In the custody of peace officers where there is no special statute providing for the disposition of particular ltems’and kinds of property.” Your first questIon,‘whether Art$cle 18.30 Is applicable to property seized before January 1, 1966, but still In the custody of peace officers on that date, Is answered by Article 1.02 of the newCode; this article provides:

Article 1.02 Effective date

“This Code shall take effect andbe in.force on and after January 1, 1966. The procedure presoribed shall govern all criminal proce~edings pending upon the effective date hereof Insofar as are applicable.” Byvirtue of Article 1.02, wehold that all unclaimed andabandoned property in the possession of a peace officer as of January 1, 1966, must be disposed of In conformity with the provisions of ArtIcle.18.30 unless the property be intoxlcants or unless the property Is of aparticular kind covered by a special disposition statute. It should also be observed that Article 18.30 la a crlmlnal procedural statute andwould cover only suahproperty as Is seized In the course of criminal Investigations or proceedings or whenpossession wasobtained by apeace officer through someactivity related to the enforcementof the,penal code of this State.

With regard to your second question, concerning the application of Article 18.30 ’ to ’ automobiles -Impoundedby’a city Pursuant to its parkingregulatlons, notice Is taken that automobiles are removed from the streets of a municipality pursuant to ordinance regulation of parking on the streets.

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This seizure andremoval from the streets maybe authorized under a city code to prevent obstruction of traffic on the streets and is only Incidentally connected, If at all, to the enforcement of the orImina1 statutes of Texas or the penal ordinances of cities.

Inasmuch as the newCodeof Criminal Procedure regulates criminal proceedings (Article 1.02), Article 18.30 of the Codehas noapplication to automobiles Impoundedby a munlclpalI.ty under the authority of Its parking ordinances for the purpoae of removing obstructions to traffic on the city streets.

Since weare holding that Article 18.30 Is not appllcable to automobiles seized by a city andwould not control their eventual disposition, there Is no occasion to consider the question of re-embursement or payment to a city by Harris County for fees and expenses incurred by a city In the towing and storage of these vehicles. SUMMARY All unclaimed andabandoned personal property in the possession of peace offieers on January 1, 1966, previously seized In the course of law enforcement activities, should be disposed of In accordance with Article 18.30 of the Codeof Criminal Procedure, unless the propertv is of a particular kind covered by a special disposition statute. Article 18.30 does not control the disposition of automobiles seized andremoved by a city from Its streets In order to pre- ': vent the obstruction of traffic. Very truly yours, WAWCNER

CARR Attorney Qeneral of Texas

LFZ:cm

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### APPROVED: OPINIONCOMMITTBE W.V.Geppert,Chairman SamKelley RonaldLuna JohnReeves HowardFender APPROVEDFORTHEATTORNEYGENERAL BY:T.B.WRIGHT

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