January 18, 1966

Honorable HenryWade opinion woo.c-585 District Attorney Dallas County Re: Thea pllcablllty of ArtlDallas, Texas cle 18.30, Code of Crfmlnal Procedure, to dispositions of unclaimed or abandoned personal property In the cu8t0ay of law enforcement Dear Mr. Wade: officials and agencies.

Youhave 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 andbeer, of every kind, sefzed by a peace offfcer, which Is not held as evfdence to be used In anypendIng case andhas not been ordered aest.royea or returned to the per

### sonentitled to possessfon of the sameby amagistrate# 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.

Bythe express terms of Section 1, “A&l

. . . personal property

. e
. 

### aefzedby a peace officer” (except whfskey, wine -2826Hon. Henry Wade, page 2 (C-585).

andbeer), andby virtue of the Incorporation of this sectfon Into Chapter 18 of the,coae of Crfmlnal Procedure which Is entltled “Search Warrants’ andregulates 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 anyunclaimed or abanaonea personal property so obtained mustbe 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 

### undera search warrant.

BYformulating 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~sPenal Code; narcotics andvehicles used for their transportation are oovered by Artfcle 725d of Vernon’8 Penal Code, while Article 7266, Vernonfs Penal Code, covers the dfsposftfon of “dangerous ” drugs”; adulterated or mfsbranaed fo,od anddrugs are controlled by Artfcles 9.06 of Vernon’s Code of CrImInal Procedure and Artfcle j&76-5 of Vernon’s Civil Statutes; andthe dispositfon of gaming equfpment faprovfaed for by Artfcles 637 and 642a of Vernon’s Penal Code.

“

. %Y.-.;'Slnce

Article 54.02 of the newcode of CrImInal Procew dure stIpulatea that any exfsting proviefons of the RevIsea Civil Statutes and the Penal Codewhfch 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.

Wherethere 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 newCode of CrImInal Procedure styled “Dfspositfon of Stolen Property” should be consulted, Thfs chapter, &%terprovfdfng for the return of stolen property where the 

### ownerUjcnown or can,be determined, conta@sthe following Articles:
.- Artfole 47.06 Property sold

“If the property Is not claimed wIthIn 30

-2a25-Iion. Henry wade, page 3 (C-589)

days from the convlotion of the person accused offIllegally acquiring it, the aameprocedure for Its aIaposItlon 

### aa set out In Article 18.30 of this Code shall be followed.” supplied) (Emphaals

Artlole 47.07 Ownermayraker

“The real owner of the property soid under the provlrions of Article 47.06 mayrecover such property under the sameterms auprescribed In Section 4 of Article 18 0of 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 anymannerwhich makes the acquisition 

### apenal offense.n It would therefore appear evident that the terms of Article 18.30 apply to unalalmea or abandoned property, which mayhave 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, andwhich donot comewithin the terms of a special dlsposltlon atatute or within the defInItlon of stolen or illegally aaqulred P=v-tY. Suoharticles of personal property mayInclude items of an evidentiary nature se&aedby officers at the time of an arre8t of a auspect with or without an arrest warrant where a searah and seizure is madeincident 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 wasunder 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 newCodeof Criminal Procedure purporta to regulate all matters relating to crlmlnal -2a26-. -

Ron. HenryWade, page 4 (c-585)

procedure (Articles X-03 and 54.02, Codeof 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 apeace officer in Article 18.30 should be given abroad meaning EOas to embrace all personal properties, not of a contraband nature* which 

### maycomeInto the possession of peace officers Including property voluntarily delivered to such officers by a suspect, witness or other person whomay have knowledge of a criminal offense or suspected orlme.



### SUMMARY

“The applicability of Article 18.30 of the newCode of Criminal Procedure 

### Isnot llmlted to unclaimed or abandoned per,sonal property seized under a search warrant; on the contrary, this Article 

### controlsthe 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 andkflhds of property.” Very truly yours, WAGGONER

CARFi Attorney General of Texaa

LFZP cm APPROVED

: OPINIONCO!%U?l’TEE W.V. Geppert, Chairman Milton Richardson IiowardM. Fender JohnBanks Robert Flowers APPROVED

FORTREATTORmYGENERAL BY: To B. Wrfght -2827-