SB149 HFA Miley 3-10

    Delegate Miley moves to amend the bill, immediately following the enacting section, by striking everything after the enacting section and inserting in lieu thereof the following:

“ARTICLE 8A. UNCLAIMED STOLEN PROPERTY HELD BY LAW-ENFORCEMENT                 AGENCIES.

§36-8A-2. Unclaimed stolen property reports.

    (a) Prior to September 1, 1997, and on On or before September 1, of each succeeding year, each law-enforcement agency which has unclaimed stolen property in its possession shall file an unclaimed stolen property report with the Treasurer which identifies all unclaimed stolen property in its possession at the time the report is filed.

    (b) An unclaimed stolen property report shall include the following information with respect to all unclaimed stolen property in the possession of the law-enforcement agency filing it:

    (1) A description of each item, including a serial number, if applicable;

    (2) An estimated value for each item;

    (3) Whether any nonprofit organization has requested that any item be donated to it and whether any nonprofit organization might be considered to receive the item as a donation;

    (4) Whether the law-enforcement agency could use the item for any legitimate and authorized law enforcement or educational purpose;

    (5) The chief executive’s recommendation for the disposition of each item; and

    (6) If any unclaimed stolen property in the law-enforcement agency’s possession consists of firearms or ammunition, the chief executive’s determination of whether the firearms or ammunition are of a sufficient quality to be traded in on new weapons or ammunition for the law-enforcement agency or appropriated for the law-enforcement agency’s use. a description of the best efforts used by the chief executive to determine if the firearm has been lost by, stolen or otherwise unlawfully obtained from an innocent owner prior to its disposition by public auction or as otherwise required by section five of this article.

§36-8A-3. Treasurer’s response to unclaimed stolen property               report.

    Within thirty days of the receipt of an unclaimed stolen property report, the Treasurer shall send a response to the law-enforcement agency submitting it. For each item identified in the unclaimed stolen property report, except firearms and ammunition, which the chief executive determined to be of sufficient quality to trade in on new weapons or ammunition or to appropriate for the law-enforcement agency’s use the Treasurer shall either require that it be delivered to the Treasurer, authorize the law-enforcement agency to sell it at a public sale, authorize the law-enforcement agency to donate it to a nonprofit organization, authorize the law-enforcement agency to use it for any legitimate and authorized law enforcement or educational purpose, or authorize the law-enforcement agency either to sell it at a public sale, to donate it to a nonprofit organization, or to use it for any legitimate and authorized law enforcement or educational purpose. However, the treasurer may not authorize the law-enforcement agency to sell or donate any firearms or ammunition. The sale of any firearms or ammunition by the law enforcement agency must be at a public sale to persons licensed as firearms collectors, dealers, importers or manufacturers under the provisions of 18 U.S.C. §§921 et seq. and authorized to receive firearms under the terms of their license. If the Treasurer determines that any item identified in an unclaimed stolen property report is of such value that it should be processed by the Treasurer’s office, the Treasurer shall have the authority to require that the item be delivered to the treasurer.

§36-8A-5. Regarding the disposition of firearms in state custody.

    (a) If the chief executive determined in the law-enforcement agency’s unclaimed stolen property report that any firearms or ammunition in the law-enforcement agency’s possession are not of a sufficient quality to be traded in on new weapons or ammunition for the agency or appropriated for the agency’s use, the chief executive shall cause the firearms or ammunition to be delivered to the treasurer for destruction.

    (b) If the chief executive determined in the law-enforcement agency’s unclaimed stolen property report that any firearms or ammunition in the law-enforcement agency’s possession are of a sufficient quality to be traded in on new weapons or ammunition for the agency or appropriated for the agency’s use, the chief executive shall cause the firearms or ammunition to be traded in on new weapons or ammunition or appropriated for the agency’s use. After any trade-in or appropriation under this subsection, the law-enforcement agency shall file a report with the treasurer and the state tax department on the trade-in or appropriation.

    (a) Except as provided in section three of this article, subject to the duty to return firearms to innocent owners pursuant to subsection (b) of this section, all firearms, as defined in section two, article seven, chapter sixty-one of this code, that are forfeited or abandoned to any law-enforcement agency of this state or a political subdivision of this state, including the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources, or that are otherwise acquired by the state or a political subdivision of the state and are no longer needed, shall be transferred to the State Treasurer for disposal as provided in this section.

    (b) Except as provided in §36-8A-3, within thirty days of the receipt of an unclaimed stolen property report, the State Treasurer shall coordinate best efforts with the reporting law-enforcement agency to transfer the firearms and ammunition to the State Treasurer for disposal as provided in subsection (e).

    (c) Prior to the disposal of any firearm that has been forfeited or abandoned to the state, the chief executive of each law-enforcement agency shall use best efforts to determine if the firearm has been lost by, stolen or otherwise unlawfully obtained from an innocent owner, and if so, shall return the firearm to its innocent owner, if ascertainable, unless that person is ineligible to receive or possess a firearm under state or federal law.

    (d) Upon determination and verification that a lawful owner is unavailable or ineligible to receive or possess a firearm under state or federal law, reporting enforcement agencies may trade the firearms and ammunition to persons licensed as firearms collectors, dealers, importers or manufacturers under the provisions of 18 U.S.C. §§921 et seq. and authorized to receive firearms under the terms of their license, in exchange for new weapons or ammunition, or appropriate the firearms and ammunition for law-enforcement agency use.

    (e) Except as provided in subsections (c),(d) and (f) of this section, the State Treasurer shall dispose of the firearms that it receives under subsection (a) by sale at public auction to persons licensed as firearms collectors, dealers, importers or manufacturers under the provisions of 18 U.S.C. §§921 et seq. and authorized to receive firearms under the terms of their license.

    (1) The auctions required by this subsection may occur online on a rolling basis or at live events but in no event may occur less frequently than once every six months.

    (2) The State Treasurer shall retain only the net proceeds necessary to cover the costs of administering this section, with any surplus to be transferred to the general fund of the state: Provided, That an agency may be reimbursed for any decommissioned firearms formerly in use by the agency that are sold under this section: Provided however, That an agency may apply to the State Treasurer for payment of the net proceeds generated by the sale of any property by the State Treasurer pursuant to this section.

    (3) Employees of the State Police or of the agency from which the firearms are received are not eligible to bid on the firearms at an auction conducted under this section.

    (f) The requirements of subsection (d) do not apply to a firearm that the chief executive of the law-enforcement agency or his or her designee certifies is unsafe for use because of wear, damage, age or modification, and any such firearm shall at the discretion of the superintendent be transferred to the State Police forensic laboratory for training or experimental purposes or to a museum or historical society or be destroyed.

    (g) The State Treasurer shall keep records of all firearms acquired and disposed of under the provisions of this section, as well as the net proceeds of the sales and the disbursement of such proceeds, and shall maintain these records for not less than ten years from the date on which a firearm is disposed of or on which a disbursement of funds is made, as the case may be.

    (h) Any firearm or ammunition subject to forfeiture proceedings which is ordered returned to any law enforcement agency for the purposes of public sale or auction may only be sold or transferred to persons licensed as firearms collectors, dealers, importers or manufacturers under the provisions of 18 U.S.C. §§921 et seq.”