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. 

Zn your opInIon request you submItted the following 

questions: 

I, 

1. 

“2. 

Under Section 18.30, Vernon's Texas 

Code of Criminal Procedure, effective 

January 1, 1966, must a peace 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 new code, 

are automobiles Including those taken 

into possession by a city pursuant to 

its parking regulations to be turned 

over to the County Purchasing Agent 

and must the County pay to such City 

fees assessed by It for the towing 

and storage of such automobiles?" 

The applicable part of Article 18.30 of the Code of 

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 same by a magistrate, 

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 no purchasing 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 and 4 of this article regulate the disposition 

of any property delivered In accordance with Section 1. 

The proper Interpretation and construction of Article 

18.30 was considered In our opinion No. C-585, dated Jam%slry 

18, 1966. There, we held, as digested In the summary of the 

opinion: 

‘The appllcablllty of Article 18.30 

of the new Code of 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 new Code; this article provides: 

Article 1.02 Effective date 

“This Code shall take effect and be 

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.” 

By virtue of Article 1.02, we hold that all unclaimed 

and abandoned 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 a particular kind covered 

by a special disposition statute. It should also be observed 

that Article 18.30 la a crlmlnal procedural statute and would 

cover only suah property as Is seized In the course of criminal 

Investigations or proceedings or when possession was obtained 

by apeace officer through some activity related to the enforcement of the,penal code of this State. 

With regard to your second question, concerning the 

application of Article 18.30’ to’ automobiles -Impounded by’ 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. 

-3148- 
Hon. Joe Resweber, page 3 (C-649) 

This seizure and removal from the streets may be 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 new Code of Criminal Procedure regulates criminal proceedings (Article 1.02), Article 18.30 of 

the Code has no application to automobiles Impounded by a 

munlclpalI.ty under the authority of Its parking ordinances 

for the purpoae of removing obstructions to traffic on the 

city streets. 

Since we are holding that Article 18.30 Is not appllcable to automobiles seized by a city and would 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 and abandoned 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 Code of 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 and removed 

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 

-3149- 
Ron. Joe Resweber, page 4 (C-649) 

APPROVED: 

OPINION COMMITTBE 

W. V. Geppert, Chairman 

Sam Kelley 

Ronald Luna 

John Reeves 

Howard Fender 

APPROVED FOR THE ATTORNEY GENERAL 

BY: T. B. WRIGHT 

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