2023 New York Laws › PEP - Personal Property › Article 7-B - Lost and Found Property › 252 - Found Property and Found Instruments to Be Deposited With Police; Penalty for Failure to Deliver to Police; Delivery to Persons in Possession of Premi

§  252.  Found  property  and  found  instruments to be deposited with
  police; penalty for failure to deliver to police; delivery to persons in
  possession of premises where found. 1. Except as provided in subdivision
  five of section two hundred fifty-six of this chapter  or  as  otherwise
  prescribed  pursuant  to  section  two  hundred  fifty  of  the  general
  municipal law, any person who finds lost property of the value of twenty
  dollars or more or comes into possession of property  of  the  value  of
  twenty  dollars or more with knowledge that it is lost property or found
  property shall, within ten days after  the  finding  or  acquisition  of
  possession thereof, either return it to the owner or report such finding
  or  acquisition  of  possession  and  deposit  such property in a police
  station or police headquarters of the city where the finding occurred or
  possession was acquired, but if the finding occurred or  possession  was
  acquired  in  buildings  or on grounds or premises under the control and
  supervision of the commissioner of  general  services  as  described  in
  article  two  of the public buildings law, then the property may also be
  deposited in a station of the capital buildings police. If  the  finding
  occurred  or  possession was acquired outside a city, then such property
  shall be deposited in a station or substation of the state police or  in
  a  police  station or police headquarters, including a sheriff's office,
  of the county, town, or village where the finding occurred or possession
  was acquired. If the finding occurred  or  possession  was  acquired  in
  buildings  or on grounds or premises constituting a state park, parkway,
  recreational facility or historic site under  the  jurisdiction  of  the
  commissioner  of  parks, recreation and historic preservation, then such
  property may also be deposited in a station of the regional  state  park
  police.  If the finding occurred or possession was acquired in buildings
  or on the grounds or premises of the state-operated institutions in  the
  state  university  of New York, then such property may also be deposited
  with a security  officer  or  police  officer  appointed  by  the  state
  university.  Property  so deposited shall be retained and disposed of in
  accordance with procedures set forth in sections two hundred fifty-three
  through two hundred fifty-seven of this chapter except that  the  powers
  and  duties  in  said  sections  mentioned to be performed by the police
  shall be performed by security officers or police officers appointed  by
  the state university.
2.  Except  as  provided  in  subdivision  five of section two hundred
  fifty-six of this chapter or as otherwise prescribed pursuant to section
  two hundred fifty of the general municipal law, any person who finds  an
  instrument or comes into possession of an instrument with knowledge that
  it  has  been  found  shall,  within  ten  days  after  the  finding  or
  acquisition of possession thereof, either return it to a person entitled
  thereto or report the finding or acquisition of possession  and  deposit
  the  instrument  in a police station or police headquarters, as provided
  in subdivision one of this section, as  if  such  instrument  were  lost
  property having a value of ten dollars or more.
3.  Except as provided in subdivision four of this section, any person
  who shall refuse or wilfully neglect to comply with  the  provisions  of
  subdivision  one or subdivision two of this section shall be guilty of a
  misdemeanor and upon conviction thereof shall be punished by a  fine  of
  not  more  than  one  hundred  dollars or imprisonment not exceeding six
  months or both.
4. A person shall not be subject to criminal prosecution  for  failure
  to report a finding or acquisition of possession of found property or of
  a found instrument to the police and deposit such property or instrument
  with  the  police  if,  in  lieu  thereof,  he  delivers the property or
  instrument to the  person  in  possession  of  the  premises  where  the
  property  or  instrument was found, provided he had no reason to believe

  that such person would not comply with subdivision  one  or  subdivision
  two of this section.
A  person  who  delivers  found  property or a found instrument to the
  person in possession of the premises where the  property  or  instrument
  was found is not liable to the owner or person entitled thereto for such
  delivery  if  he had no reason to believe that such person in possession
  of the premises would not comply with subdivision one or subdivision two
  of this section.