January 18, 1966 

Honorable Henry Wade opinion woo. c-585 

District Attorney 

Dallas County Re: The a pllcablllty of ArtlDallas, Texas cle 1 8 .30, Code of Crfmlnal 

Procedure, to dispositions 

of unclaimed or abandoned 

personal property In the 

cu8t0ay of law enforcement 

Dear Mr. Wade: officials and agencies. 

You have requested an opinion of this office by letter 

which reads In part: 

“Doea Section lo Article 18.30, Code of 

CrImlnal Procedure, whfch becomes effective 

January 1, 1966, provide only for the delivery 

to the purchasfng agent or sheriff of unclaimed 

or abandoned personal property seized by a 

peace offfcer through execution of a search 

warrant?" 

Se&Ion 1 of Artfcle 18.30, referred to above, provfdes 

as follows: 

Article 18.30 Sale of unalafmed or abandoned property 

“Sea, 1. All unclaimed or abandoned personal 

property except whiskey, wine and beer, of every 

kind, sefzed by a peace offfcer, which Is not held 

as evfdence to be used In any pendIng case and has 

not been ordered aest.royea or returned to the person entitled to possessfon of the same by a magistrate# whfch shall remafn unclaimed for a period of 

30 days shall be delfvered to the purchaafng agent 

of the county for sale. If the county has no purchaaIng agent then such property shall be sold by 

the sherfff of the county,” 

Sections 2, 3 and 4 of this article provide for the disposition 

of any property delfvered in accordance with Section 1. 

By the express terms of Section 1, “A&l . . . personal 

property . e . aefzed by a peace officer” (except whfskey, wine 

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Hon. Henry Wade, page 2 (C-585). 

and beer), and by virtue of the Incorporation of this sectfon 

Into Chapter 18 of the,coae of Crfmlnal Procedure which Is 

entltled “Search Warrants’ and regulates the feeuance of such 

warrants, It Is clear that Sectfon 1 ana the ofhor sections of 

Artfcle 18.30 apply to property seized under a search warrant 

and that any unclaimed or abanaonea personal property so obtained must be delivered to the purchasing agent or sherfff of 

the county to be dfsposed of aa thrrefn provfded. 

The question remafns a8 to whether OP not Article 18.30 

is applicable to abandoned OP unclaimed personal property which 

has come fnto the hands of law enforcement offPcers by some 

means other than sefzure under a search warrant. 

BY formulating an anewer, notice should first be taken of 

specfal statutes that provide for the disposal of certain 

propertfea of a “contraband” nature (properties used or possessed In vfolation of law). FOP example, Intoxlcatlng beverages, expreaaly excluded from the operation of Article 18.30, 

are dealt wfth in Artfcles 666-30 and 666-42 of Vernone~s Penal 

Code; narcotics and vehicles used for their transportation are 

oovered by Artfcle 725d of Vernon’8 Penal Code, while Article 

7266, Vernonf s Penal Code, covers the dfsposftfon of “dangerous ” 

drugs”; adulterated or mfsbranaed fo,od and drugs are controlled 

by Artfcles 9.06 of Vernon’s Code of CrImInal Procedure and 

Artfcle j&76-5 of Vernon’s Civil Statutes; and the dispositfon 

of gaming equfpment faprovfaed for by Artfcles 637 and 642a 

of Vernon’s Penal Code. 

“. %Y.-.;'Slnce Article 54.02 of the new code of CrImInal Procew 

dure stIpulatea that any exfsting proviefons of the RevIsea 

Civil Statutes and the Penal Code whfch govern crImIna1 procedures in special Instancea are not repealed, any special 

statutes such as those set out above9 provfdfng fop the dfsposftion of particular Items of property comfng Into the custody 

of law enforcement officers, should continue to be followed 

and adhered to. 

Where there Is no special statute governing disposition 

and the roperty concerned is not sefaed under a search warrant, 

Chapter $ 7 (Artfcles 47.01 - 47.11) of the new Code of CrImInal 

Procedure styled “Dfspositfon of Stolen Property” should be 

consulted, Thfs chapter, &%ter provfdfng for the return of 

stolen property where the owner Ujcnown or can, be determined, 

conta@sthe following Articles: 

.- 

Artfole 47.06 Property sold 

“If the property Is not claimed wIthIn 30 

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Iion. Henry wade, page 3 (C-589) 

days from the convlotion of the person accused 

off Illegally acquiring it, the aame procedure 

for Its aIaposItlon aa set out In Article 18.30 

of this Code shall be followed.” 

supplied) 

(Emphaals 

Artlole 47.07 Owner may raker 

“The real owner of the property soid under 

the provlrions of Article 47.06 may recover such 

property under the same terms au prescribed In 

Section 4 of Article 18 0 of this Code‘;* 

@phaels adde + 

Artmle 47.11 Scope of Chapter 

“Each provision of this Chapter relating to 

stolen properDj:~~applles as well to property aoqulred in any manner which makes the acquisition 

a penal offense.n 

It would therefore appear evident that the terms of 

Article 18.30 apply to unalalmea or abandoned property, which 

may have been stolen whether aelzed under a search warrant or 

not, and to property uhloh la otherwise illegally acquired 

uhere there Is no special statute controlling disposition. 

Next to be considered Is the problem of disposing of 

other properties, not s~lzed under a search warrant, and which 

do not come within the terms of a special dlsposltlon atatute 

or within the defInItlon of stolen or illegally aaqulred 

P=v-tY. 

Suoh articles of personal property may Include items 

of an evidentiary nature se&aed by officers at the time of an 

arre8t of a auspect with or without an arrest warrant where a 

searah and seizure is made incident to the arrest ana not 

pursuant to a search warrant. 

Article 18.30, Section 1, speaks of property "seized 

by a peace officer@ with no qualifying language lImItlng the 

terms of the article to situations where the seizure of the 

property was under the authority of a search warrant, and 

l acordingly, the article logically applies to all seizures 

of property by peace offlaera. 

Moreover, Inasmuch as the new Code of Criminal Procedure purporta to regulate all matters relating to crlmlnal 

-2a26- 
. - 

Ron. Henry Wade, page 4 (c-585) 

procedure (Articles X-03 and 54.02, Code of Crtilnal Procedure), the provisions of the Code should govern the disposition 

of all property coming into the possession of law enforcement 

offfcers In connection wfth the enforcement of criminal laws 

unless there fs another special statute providing for dlaposltlon. Accordingly, in any circumstance, where there is no 

particular procedure set us by another statute, the words 

seized by a peace officer in Article 18.30 should be given 

a broad meaning EO as to embrace all personal properties, 

not of a contraband nature* which may come Into the possession 

of peace officers Including property voluntarily delivered 

to such officers by a suspect, witness or other person who may 

have knowledge of a criminal offense or suspected orlme. 

SUMMARY 

“The applicability of Article 18.30 of the 

new Code of Criminal Procedure Is not llmlted 

to unclaimed or abandoned per,sonal 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 offlaers where there Is no special 

statute providing for the disposition of particular items and kflhds of property.” 

Very truly yours, 

WAGGONER CARFi 

Attorney General of Texaa 

LFZ P cm 

APPROVED : 

OPINION CO!%U?l’TEE 

W. V. Geppert, Chairman 

Milton Richardson 

Iioward M. Fender 

John Banks 

Robert Flowers 

APPROVED FOR TRE ATTORmY GENERAL 

BY: To B. Wrfght 

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