Worcester daily spy. [volume] (Worcester [Mass.]) 1850-1888, 1862-08-30
|, July IA, 1862.


AN ACT to amend an act entitled San act
to create Metropolitan police district Of
the District Of Columbia, and to establish
police therefor approved August six eight
teen hundred and sixty-one.
Be it enacted by the senate and house of
Representative of the United States of Ameri-
ca in congress assembled that the act enti-
tied ian act to create a metropolitan police
district of the District of columbia, and to es-
tablish police therefor" approved August
six, eighteen hundred and sixty-one, be and
the same is hereby amended as follows
Sect. l. And be it further enacted that all
property or money alleged orsupposedto have
been feloniously obtained, or which shall be
lost or abandoned, and which shall be thereaf-
ter taken into the custody ofany member of the
metropolitan police force, or criminal court of
the District of Columbia, or which shall come
into custody of any justice of the peace, shall
be, by such member or justice, or by order of
said court, given into the custody of and kept
by an officer, who shall be appointed and may
be removed by the board of police, known as
property clerk" of the metropolitan police
district and all such property and money shall
be particularly registered by said property
clerk in a book kept for that purpose, which
shall also contain u record of the names of the
persons from whom such property or money
was taken, the names Of all claimants there
to, the time of the seizure. and any final dis
position of such property and money. When
ever property or money shall be taken from
persons arrested, and shall be alleged to
have been felonously obtained, orto be the pro-
ceeds of crime, and whenever so brought with
such claimant and the person arrested before
some magistrate for adjudication, and the
magistrate shall be then and there satisfied
from evidence that the person arrested is in
nocent of the offence alleged, and that the
property rightfully belongs to him, then said
magistrate may thereupon, in writing order
such property or money to be returned, and
the property clerk, if he have it, to deliver
such property or money to the accused person
himself, and not to any attorney. agent, or
clerk Of such accused person. If any claim
to the ownership of such property or money
shall be made on oath before the magistrate,
by or in behalf of any other persons than the
persona arrested, and the said accused person
shall be held for trial OF examination, such
property or money shall remain in the custo-
DIV of the property clerk until the discharge or
conviction of the persons accused. All prop
erty or money taken on suspicion of having
been feloniously obtained, or of being the pro-
ceeds of crime, and for which there is no other
claimant than the person from whom such
property was taken and all lost property
coming into the possession of any member of
the said metropolitan police force, and all
property and money taken from pawnbrokers
as proceeds of crime, or by any such member
from persons supposed to be insane, intoxica-
ted, or otherwise incapable of taking care of
themselves, shall be transmitted as soon as
practicable to the property clerk Of the met
ropolitan police district, to be duly registered
and advertised for the benefit of all persons
and parties interested, and for the information
of the public as to'the amount and disposition
of the property so taken into custody by the
police. All property and money that shall
remain in the custody of the property clerk
for the period of six months without any law
full claimant thereto after having been three
times in public newspapers, shall be sold at
public auction, and the proceeds of such sale
shall be paid into the poicemens fund Pro-
vided, that horses and other animals taken by
the police and remaining unclaimed for TWEEN
ty days may be advertised and sold upon ten
days public notice, and all perishable proper
ty to be sold ut once. If any property or
money placed in the custody of the property
clerk shall be desired as evidence in any po-
lice or other criminal court, such property
shall be delivered to any ofiicerwho shall pre-
sent an order to that effect from such court
such property, however, shall not be retained
in said court, but shall be returned to said
property clerk, to be disposed of according to
the previous provisions Of this act. And the
annual compensation Of said property clerk,