An Act to amend provisions of law relating to personal property coming into the custody of the property clerk, Metropolitan Police Department, and for other purposes.
PL 87-691 (S.3317), enacted 09/25/1962

76 STAT.] 
PUBLIC LAW 87-691-SEPT. 25, 1962 
589 
Public Law 87-691 
AN ACT 
September 25, 1962 
To aiueiid provisions of law relating to personal proi)erty coming into the 
[s. 3317] 
custody of the property clerk, Metropolitan Police Department, and for other 
purposes. 
Feloniously ob-
tained property. 
Be it enacted hy the Senate and House of Representatives 
of the 
D. c. 
United States of America in Congress assembled, That section 413 p^ice°Depfr" 
of the Revised Statutes of the United States relating to the District 
Personal prop-
of Columbia, as amended (sec. 4-156, D.C. Code, 1961 edition), is ^'55 stat. iss. 
amended by adding thereto the following subsection: 
"(e) Whenever the owner of property in the custody of the property 
clerk has been notified by the property clerk, by registered or certified 
mail, to take possession of such property within thirty days after the 
date of mailing of such notification, and such owner fails so to do 
within such period, such property shall be thereafter treated as other 
unclaimed, abandoned, or lost property and shall be disposed of as 
provided in section 417 of this chapter: Provided, 
That if, in the 
Post, p. 591. 
opinion of the property clerk, such property has no salable value, and 
if within thirty days after the date of mailing such notification such 
property is not reclaimed by its owner and removed by him from 
the custody of the property clerk, such property shall be disposed of 
by destruction or otherwise, as the Commissioners of the District of 
Columbia by regulation or order shall provide." 
SEC. 2. Section 416 of the Revised Statutes of the United States 
relating to the District^of Columbia, as amended (sec. 4-159, D.C. 
(^ode, 1961 edition), is amended to read as follows: 
"SEC. 416, (a) All property or money taken on suspicion of having 
been feloniously obtained, or of being the proceeds 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 possession of any 
member of the police force, and all property and money taken from 
pawnbrokers as the proceeds of crime or from persons alleged to be 
insane, intoxicated, or otherwise incapable of taking care of them-
selves, shall be transmitted as soon as practicable to the property clerk 
to be fully registered and advertised for the benefit of all parties in-
terested, and for the information of the public as to the amount and 
disposition of the property so taken into custody by the police. 
"(b) (1) Whenever any money or property of a deceased person of 
Deceased persons' 
a value of less than $1,000 coming into the custody of the property property. 
clerk shall remain in his custody for a period of six months or more 
without being claimed and repossessed by the next of kin or the legal 
representative of such deceased person, such money or property shall 
be disposed of as lost or abandoned property as provided in section 
417 of this chapter: Provided, That prior to the disposition of such 
post, p. 591. 
property of a deceased person it shall be the duty of the property clerk 
to ascertain whether there is pending in the United States District 
Court for the District of Columbia any petition seeking the appoint-
ment of a legal representative of such deceased person, and, if such 
a petition is pending in such court, the property clerk shall not dispose 
of such property until final disposition by thei court of such petition: 
Provided further. That in any case where the property clerk acquires 
actual knowledge that a petition for the appointment of a legal repre-
sentative of such deceased person has been filed or is pending in a court 
outside of the District of Columbia, the property clerk shall not dis-
pose of such property until final disposition by the court of such 
petition. 
"(b)(2) Whenever any money or property of a deceased person 
shall be of a value of $1,000 or more and shall have remained in the 
590 
PUBLIC LAW 87-691-SEPT. 25, 1962 
[76 STAT. 
Insane persons' 
property. 
Storage. 
Fees. 
custx)dy of the property clerk for at least six months, all records 
pertaining to the same shall be referred by the property clerk to the 
Corporation Counsel of the District of Columbia for the purpose of 
instituting appropriate proceedings to effect the appointment of an 
administrator of the estate of such decedent: Provided^ That upon 
expiration of the time for final settlement of such estate under law 
then in effect, the residue thereof in the absence of any claim by the 
heirs-at-law or next of kin of the decedent, as provided by law, shall 
be deposited into the Registry of the Probate Court, and upon the 
expiration of a period of three years, no demand having been made 
upon such funds by lawful heirs or other rightful claimants, the 
amount so deposited in such registry shall be deposited in the Treasury 
to the credit of the District of Columbia: Provided further^ That if 
the administrator does not take possession of such property within 
three months from' the date of his appointment, the property clerk 
may, after giving such administrator thirty days' notice by registered 
or certified mail, sell such property at public auction, and, after 
deducting the expenses of such sale, and expense incident to the mainte-
nance of custody of such property, shall pay the remaining proceeds 
of such sale over to such administrator. 
"(c) Whenever the property clerk has custody of any property 
belonging to any person who has been adjudged of unsound mind and 
a committee has been appointed for such person but fails to take 
possession of the property of such person in the custody of the prop-
erty clerk within six months from the date of such committee's ap-
pointment, the property clerk shall ^ive such committee sixty days' 
notice by registered or certified mail of his intention to sell such 
property at public auction or otherwise dispose of such property in 
accordance with law. 
If, upon the expiration of such sixty days' 
notice, the committee has not taken custody of such property, (a) the 
property clerk is authorized to sell such property at public auction, 
and, after deducting the expenses of the sale, expenses incident to 
the maintenance and custody of such property, and any amounts due 
the District of Columbia for care and maintenance of the adjudicated 
patient, shall pay the remaining proceeds of the sale over to such 
committee, or (b) if in the opinion of the property clerk any such 
property has no salable value, he is authorized to dispose of such 
property by destruction or otherwise as the Commissioners of the 
District of Columbia shall, by regulation or order, determine. 
"(d)(1) The said Commissioners are authorized, in their discretion, 
to store in any commercial warehouse or garage in the District of 
Columbia, or in or on any facility under the jurisdiction of the District 
of Columbia, any property coming into the custody of the property 
clerk pursuant to this chapter, including vehicles impounded by any 
officer or member of the Metropolitan Police force. 
"(2) The Commissioners are authorized to fix, by regulation, the 
fees to be charged to reimburse the District of Columbia for the cost 
of services rendered by the Metropolitan Police force in taking custody 
of and protecting such property and for the cost of storing such prop-
erty in any commercial warehouse or garage, and whenever any such 
property is stored in or on any facility under the jurisdiction of the 
District of Columbia, the Commissioners shall fix the storage fee in an 
amount reasonably estimated by them to be the value of the storage 
service rendered for each day during which such property is so stored, 
and to collect all such fees due and owing for such property before 
releasing such property to its owner or his legal representative: 
Provided^ That the Commissioners are authorized, in their discretion, 
to waive the charging and collecting of such fees for property taken 
into custody as evidence, the proceeds of crime, or from persons sup-
76 STAT. ] 
PUBLIC LAW 87-691-SEPT. 25, 1962 
591 
Infra. 
Sale at pub-
lic auction. 
Supra, 
posed to be insane: Provided 
further, 
That the property clerk is 
authorized to sell at public auction pursuant to subsection (a) of sec-
tion 417 of this chapter any property stored in a commercial garage 
or warehouse, when the storage charges for such property exceed 75 
per centum of its value as determined by the property clerk, regardless 
of the amount of time for which such property is required by other 
sections of this chapter to be held by the property clerk. 
"(3) Fees collected by reason of this section shall be deposited in 
the Treasury to the credit of the District of Columbia." 
SEC. 3. Subsections (a), (b), and (c) of section 306 of the Act 
Repeal 
approved June 29,1953 (67 Stat. 101, ch. 159), are hereby repealed. 
SEC. 4. Section 417 of the Revised Statutes of the United States 
relating to the District of Columbia, as amended (sec. 4-160, D.C. 
Code, 1961 edition), is amended to read as follows: 
"SEC. 417. (a) All property, except perishable property and 
animals and property of insane persons, not otherwise disposed of 
in accordance with section 416 of this chapter, that shall remain in the 
custody of the property clerk for not less than ninety days, except 
motor vehicles which shall be held for not less than sixty days, without 
being claimed and repossessed, shall, after having been three times 
advertised in a daily newspaper of general circulation published in the 
District of Columbia, be sold at public auction, and the proceeds of 
such sale, after deducting the expenses of the sale, and all other 
expenses incident to such custody, having been retained by the said 
property clerk for a period of at least ninety days without being 
claimed and repossessed, shall be deposited in the Treasury to the 
credit of the District of Columbia: Provided, That if in the opinion 
of the property clerk any such property has no salable value, he is 
authorized to dispose of such property by destruction or otherwise as 
the Commissioners of the District of Columbia shall, by order or 
regulation, determine. 
"(b) Whenever the property clerk shall have in his custody any 
motor vehicle upon which there is a lien or liens of record in the 
Office of the Recorder of Deeds of the District of Columbia he shall, 
prior to the sale thereof pursuant to this section, notify by registered 
or certified mail each lienor and lienee in any such case of such custody 
and impending sale, and if such lienor or lienee fail to remove such 
property from the custody of the property clerk within thirty days 
from the date of the mailing of such notification, such lien or liens 
shall be considered to have been abandoned, and shall be thenceforth 
null and void. 
Upon being notified in writing of such fact by the 
property clerk, the Recorder of Deeds of the District of Columbia 
IS authorized to indicate on his records that such lien or liens are 
thenceforth null and void and the property clerk is authorized to sell 
any such motor vehicle at public auction free and clear of such lien or 
liens; except that the proceeds of such sale shall be available, first, 
for the payment of all expenses incident to such sale and custody; 
second, for the payment of such fiens so declared null and void; third, 
for payment to the owner in accordance with subsection (a) of this 
section; and the remainder, if any, shalLbe deposited in the Treasury 
of the United States to the credit of the District of Columbia. 
"(c) All money, except money of insane persons, that shall remain 
in the custody of the property clerk for six months shall be so adver-
tised, and if not claimed and repossessed within thirty days, it shall 
likewise be deposited in the Treasury to the credit of the District of 
Columbia." 
SEC. 5. Neither the government of the District of Columbia nor any 
officer or employee thereof shall be liable for damage to any property 
Motor vehicles. 
Liability Jfof 
damage. 
592 
PUBLIC LAW 87-692-SEPT. 25, 1962 
[76 STAT. 
••Gross negli-
gence." 
D. C. Code 
title 1 app. 
resulting; from the removal of such property from public space, or the 
transportation of such property into the custody of the property clerk, 
Metropolitan Police Department, nor for damage to any such property 
while such property is in the custody of the property clerk, Metropoli-
tan Police Department, when such custody is maintained pursuant 
to the requirements of law, except that the government of the District 
of Columbia or any such officer or employee may be liable for damage 
to such property as a result of gross negligence in the removal, trans-
portation, or storage of such property: Promded^ That should a judg-
ment be entered for the District of Columbia against any commercial 
Avarehouseman or garagekeeper for damage to such property in his 
care, recovery on such judgment, less all administrative expenses and 
court costs to the District of Columbia involved in such litigation, 
shall be paid by the District of Columbia to the owner of the damaged 
property as determined by the property clerk. 
For the purpose of 
this section the term "gross negligence" means a willful intent to 
injure property, or a reckless or wanton disregard of the rights of 
another in his property. 
SEC. 6. Nothing in this Act shall be construed so as to aifect the 
authority vested in the Board of Commissioners of the District of 
Columbia by Reorganization Plan Numbered 5 of 1952 (66 Stat. 824). 
The performance of any function vested by this Act in the Board of 
Commissioners or in any office or agency under the jurisdiction and 
control of said Board of Commissioners may be delegated by said 
Board of Commissioners in accordance with section 8 of such plan. 
Approved September 25, 1962. 
Public Law 87-692 
September 25, 1962 
AN A C T 
^^- ^^^°^ 
To amend title III of the Public Health Service Act to authorize grants for 
family clinics for domestic agricultural migratory workers, and for other 
purposes. 
Public health. 
Migratory work-
ers. 
58 Stat. 691. 
42 u s e 241-
242g. 
Be it enacted hy tlie Senate and House of Representatives 
of the 
United /States of Aftierica in Congress assembled, That title I I I of the 
Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C., ch. 6A, subch. II) is amended 
by inserting at the end of part A thereof the following new section: 
"GRANTS FOR FAMILY HEALTH SERVICE CLINICS FOR DOMESTIC 
AGRICULTURAL MIGRATORY WORKERS 
"SEC. 310. There are hereby authorized to be appropriated for the 
fiscal year ending June 30, 1963, the fiscal year ending June 30, 1964, 
and the fiscal year ending June 30, 1965, such sums, not to exceed 
$3,000,000 for any year, as may be necessary to enable the Surgeon 
General (1) to make grants to public and other nonprofit agencies, 
institutions, and organizations for paying part of the cost of (i) estab-
lishing and operating family health service clinics for domestic 
agricultural migratory workers and their families, including training 
persons to provide services in the establishing and operating of such 
clinics, and (ii) special projects to improve health services for and the 
health conditions of domestic agricultural migratory workers and 
their families, including training persons to provide health services for 
or otherwise improve the health conditions of such migratory workers 
and their families, and (2) to encourage and cooperate in pi-ograms 
for the purpose of improving health services for or otherwise improv-
ing the health conditions of domestic agricultural migratory workers 
and their families." 
Approved September 25, 1962.