2006 New York Code - Property Clerk.

 
    § 14-140 Property clerk. a. Appointment, duties and security.
    1.  The  commissioner  shall  employ  a  property clerk who shall take
  charge of all property and money hereinafter described.
    2. All such property and money shall be described  and  registered  by
  the  property  clerk  in  a  record  kept  for that purpose, which shall
  contain a description of such property or money, the name and address of
  the owner or claimant if ascertained, the date and place where  obtained
  or  found,  the  name  and  address  of  the  person  from whom taken or
  obtained, with the general circumstances, the name  of  the  officer  by
  whom  recovered  or  obtained,  the  date  when received by the property
  clerk, the names and addresses of all claimants thereto, and  any  final
  disposition of such property or money.
    3. The property clerk shall have power to administer oaths to and take
  affidavits  and  depositions  of  any  person or claimant in all matters
  pertaining to the powers and duties of the property clerk, and  property
  and money in his or her custody and claims thereto.
    4.  The  commissioner  may  require and take security for the faithful
  performance of the duties of the property clerk.
    b. Custody of property and money. All property or money taken from the
  person or possession of a prisoner, all property or money  suspected  of
  having  been  unlawfully obtained or stolen or embezzled or of being the
  proceeds of crime or  derived  through  crime  or  derived  through  the
  conversion  of  unlawfully acquired property or money or derived through
  the use or sale of property prohibited by law from being held,  used  or
  sold,  all property or money suspected of having been used as a means of
  committing crime or employed in aid or furtherance  of  crime  or  held,
  used  or  sold  in  violation of law, all money or property suspected of
  being the proceeds of or  derived  through  bookmaking,  policy,  common
  gambling,  keeping  a  gambling  place  or  device, or any other form of
  illegal gambling activity and all property or money employed  in  or  in
  connection  with  or  in  furtherance of any such gambling activity, all
  property or money  taken  by  the  police  as  evidence  in  a  criminal
  investigation  or  proceeding,  all  property  or  money  taken  from or
  surrendered by a pawnbroker on suspicion of being the proceeds of  crime
  or  of  having  been unlawfully obtained, held or used by the person who
  deposited the same with the pawnbroker, all property or money  which  is
  lost  or abandoned, all property or money left uncared for upon a public
  street, public building or public place, all  property  or  money  taken
  from  the  possession of a person appearing to be insane, intoxicated or
  otherwise incapable of taking care of himself  or  herself,  that  shall
  come  into  the  custody  of  any member of the police force or criminal
  court, and all property or money of inmates of any city hospital, prison
  or institution except the property found on deceased persons that  shall
  remain  unclaimed  in  its  custody  for a period of one month, shall be
  given, as soon as practicable, into the  custody  of  and  kept  by  the
  property  clerk  except  that  vehicles  suspected  of  being  stolen or
  abandoned and evidence vehicles as defined in subdivision b  of  section
  20-495  of the code may be taken into custody in the manner provided for
  in subdivision b of section 20-519 of the code.
    c. Return of property and money to person accused.  Whenever  property
  or  money  taken  from any person arrested shall be alleged to have been
  feloniously obtained, or to be the proceeds of crime, and brought,  with
  all  ascertained  claimants  thereof,  and the person arrested, before a
  judge of the criminal court for  adjudication,  and  the  judge  of  the
  criminal  court  shall  be  satisfied  from the evidence that the person
  arrested is innocent of the  offense  alleged,  and  that  the  property
  rightfully belongs to him or her, then such judge thereupon, in writing,
  may order such property or money to be returned, and the property clerk,


  if  he  or she have it, to deliver such property or money to the accused
  person, and not to any attorney, agent or clerk of such accused person.
    d.  Disputed ownership. If any claim to the ownership of such property
  or money shall be made on oath before the judge, by or in behalf of  any
  other persons than the person arrested, and such accused person shall be
  held  for  trial  or examination, such property or money shall remain in
  the custody of the property clerk until the discharge or  conviction  of
  the person accused and until lawfully disposed of.
    e. Disposition of property and money. 1. Abandoned vehicles subject to
  the  provisions of section twelve hundred twenty-four of the vehicle and
  traffic law in the custody of the property clerk shall be disposed of in
  accordance  with  the  provisions  of  such   section   twelve   hundred
  twenty-four.  The  city  may convert to its own use in any calendar year
  one percent of any such abandoned vehicles not  subject  to  subdivision
  two  of  such  section twelve hundred twenty-four which are not claimed.
  All moneys or property other than  abandoned  vehicles  subject  to  the
  provisions  of such section twelve hundred twenty-four that shall remain
  in the custody of the property  clerk  for  a  period  of  three  months
  without a lawful claimant entitled thereto shall, in the case of moneys,
  be  paid  into  the  general  fund  of  the city established pursuant to
  section one hundred nine of the charter, and in  the  case  of  property
  other  than  such  abandoned  vehicles,  be sold at public auction after
  having been advertised in "the City Record" for a period of ten days and
  the proceeds of  such  sale  shall  be  paid  into  such  fund.  In  the
  alternative,  any  such property may be used or converted to use for the
  purpose of  any  city,  state  or  federal  agency,  or  for  charitable
  purposes,  upon consultation with the human resources administration and
  other appropriate city  agencies,  and  the  commissioner  shall  report
  annually  to  the  city  council  on  the distribution of such property.
  Notwithstanding the foregoing, all  property  or  money  of  a  deceased
  person  that  shall come into the custody of the property clerk shall be
  delivered to a representative of the estate  of  such  decedent  and  if
  there  be  no  such  representative,  to the public administrator of the
  county where the decedent resided. Where moneys or  property  have  been
  unlawfully  obtained or stolen or embezzled or are the proceeds of crime
  or derived through crime or derived through the conversion of unlawfully
  acquired property or money  or  derived  through  the  use  or  sale  of
  property  prohibited  by law from being held, used or sold, or have been
  used as a means of committing crime or employed in aid or in furtherance
  of crime or held, used or sold in violation of law, or are the  proceeds
  of  or  derived  through  bookmaking, policy, common gambling, keeping a
  gambling place or device, or any other form of illegal gambling activity
  or have been employed in or in connection with or in furtherance of  any
  such  gambling  activity,  a person who so obtained, received or derived
  any such moneys or property, or who so used, employed, sold or held  any
  such  moneys  or  property or permitted or suffered the same to be used,
  employed, sold or held, or who was a participant or  accomplice  in  any
  such act, or a person who derives his or her claim in any manner from or
  through  any  such person, shall not be deemed to be the lawful claimant
  entitled to any such moneys or property  except  that  as  concerns  any
  vehicle  taken  into custody in the manner provided for in subdivision b
  of section 20-519 of the code, the authorized tow company shall  receive
  from  the  department  the  cost of towing and storage as provided under
  subdivision c of section 20-519.
    2. The commissioner, however,  where  the  property  consists  of  any
  property  that  has been used as a means of committing crime or employed
  in aid or in furtherance of crime or held, used or sold in violation  of
  law,  or gambling apparatus or any property employed in or in connection


  with or in furtherance of any gambling activity, or burglar tools of any
  description, or  firearms,  cartridges  or  explosives,  or  armored  or
  bullet-proof  clothing  or  motor  vehicles, or instruments, articles or
  medicines   for   the   purpose  of  procuring  abortion  or  preventing
  conception, or wines, fermented liquors and  other  alcoholic  beverages
  and  the  receptacles thereof, or soiled, bloody or unsanitary clothing,
  or solids and liquids of unknown or  uncertain  composition,  or  opium,
  morphine,  heroin,  cocaine or any of its admixtures or derivatives, and
  other  narcotics,  or  hypodermic  syringes  and  needles,  or   obscene
  pictures,  prints,  books,  publications,  effigies  or  statues, or any
  poisonous, noxious, or deleterious solids or liquids,  or  any  property
  which in the opinion of the commissioner, is of slight value or the sale
  of  which might result in injury to the health, welfare or safety of the
  public, may direct and empower the property clerk to  destroy  each  and
  every  article  of  such nature. If, in the opinion of the commissioner,
  any such property may be used or converted to use for the purpose of the
  department or any city, state or federal agency, such  property  may  in
  the  discretion  of the commissioner be used or converted to use for any
  such purpose, and the same need not be sold  or  destroyed  as  in  this
  section provided.
    3.  Perishable property may be sold as soon as practicable on the best
  terms available and the proceeds of such sale shall be disposed of as in
  this section provided.
    f.  Lawful  property  right  to  be  established.  In  any  action  or
  proceeding  against the property clerk for or on account of any property
  or money in his or her custody, a claimant from  whose  possession  such
  property  or  money  was taken or obtained, or any other claimant, shall
  establish that he or she has a lawful title or property  right  in  such
  property or money and lawfully obtained possession thereof and that such
  property  or  money  was  held  and used in a lawful manner. In any such
  action or proceeding, a claimant who derives his or her title  or  right
  by  assignment,  transfer  or  otherwise from or through the person from
  whose possession such property or money was  taken  or  obtained,  shall
  further  establish that such person had a lawful title or property right
  in such property or money and lawfully obtained possession  thereof  and
  that such property or money was held and used in a lawful manner.
    g.  No  action  for  property  or money held as evidence. No action or
  proceeding may be brought against the property clerk for or  on  account
  of  any property or money held as evidence in any criminal investigation
  or proceeding until the termination thereof.
    h. Preservation of property. Where the property consists  of  furs  or
  other  valuable  property that may be subject to deterioration or damage
  if stored by the property clerk,  the  property  clerk  in  his  or  her
  discretion may store such property with a private concern having special
  facilities  for  such storage, and the cost thereof shall be a lien upon
  such property to be paid by the owner thereof prior to the  recovery  of
  such property.
    i. Removal and storage charges for motor vehicles and boats.
    1.  Whenever an abandoned motor vehicle or boat, or a motor vehicle or
  boat involved in an accident, or a boat found adrift and unoccupied upon
  the waters of the city of New York  which  is  in  the  custody  of  the
  property  clerk,  shall be claimed by the owner or other person lawfully
  entitled to possession thereof, such owner or other person shall not  be
  entitled  to  the return thereof unless he or she shall first pay to the
  property clerk a removal charge of twenty-five  dollars  and  a  storage
  charge of five dollars for each day, or fraction thereof, except that in
  the  case  of  a boat found adrift and unoccupied upon the waters of the
  city of New York, such storage charge shall not be applied  until  three


  days  after  notice  to  the  owner by registered mail from the property
  clerk that such boat is in police custody.
    2. Whenever a stolen motor vehicle or boat, which is in the custody of
  the  property  clerk,  shall not be removed by the owner or other person
  lawfully entitled to possession thereof within three days  after  notice
  by  registered  mail from the property clerk, such owner or other person
  shall not be entitled to the return thereof unless he or she shall first
  pay to the property clerk a storage charge of five dollars for each day,
  or fraction thereof, after the expiration of such three-day period.
    3. Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraphs one and  two  of  this
  subdivision,  where  the department has incurred charges for removal and
  storage of an abandoned or stolen motor vehicle pursuant  to  subchapter
  thirty-one of chapter two of title twenty of the code, an owner or other
  person  lawfully  entitled to possession of such motor vehicle shall not
  be entitled to the return thereof unless he or she shall first  pay  all
  such  charges  incurred  by  the  department pursuant to such subchapter
  thirty-one together with any applicable storage charge provided  for  in
  this subdivision.
    4.  The  removal  and storage charges provided by this subdivision, or
  incurred by the department pursuant to subchapter thirty-one of  chapter
  two  of  title  twenty of such code, as applicable, shall be a lien upon
  such motor vehicle or boat and the property clerk shall refuse to return
  such motor vehicle or boat until such  charges  are  paid,  except  that
  where  such  motor  vehicle  or  boat  is  the  property  of  an  estate
  administered by a public  administrator,  the  removal  charge  and  the
  storage  charge  shall  be  general  claims  against  the  estate of the
  deceased.
    5. The property clerk shall not require the  payment  of  any  charges
  provided  by  this  subdivision  for the removal or storage of any motor
  vehicle or boat in his or her custody while it is held as evidence in  a
  criminal investigation or proceeding.
    6.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of the property clerk to keep a complete
  record of the moneys collected pursuant to this subdivision. Such moneys
  shall be paid into the general fund of the city established pursuant  to
  section one hundred nine of the charter.
    j. Property and money desired to be produced in criminal court. If any
  property  or  money placed in the custody of the property clerk shall be
  desired to be produced as evidence in any criminal court, such  property
  or money shall be delivered to any officer who shall present an order to
  that  effect  from such court. Property or money used as evidence in any
  criminal court shall not be retained in such court but shall  be  turned
  over  as  soon  as  practicable  to the property clerk to be disposed of
  according to the provisions of this section.
    k. Public administrators not affected. Nothing in this  section  shall
  in  any  way contravene, modify or repeal any existing provision of law,
  general,  special  or  local,  relating  to  the  jurisdiction,  powers,
  privileges, personnel, duties and functions of any public administrator.