2021 Louisiana Laws
Revised Statutes
Title 15 - Criminal Procedure
§86.1. Unclaimed bail bonds; disposition; return to owner

RS 86.1 - Unclaimed bail bonds; disposition; return to owner

A. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, any sheriff having possession or control of cash bail bonds which have been discharged and which remain unclaimed for more than three years, or which belong to an owner who is unknown or who has not been heard from for more than three years, shall deposit the same into the general fund of the sheriff, and thereafter the sheriff shall assume liability therefor. However, in the parishes of Caddo, East Baton Rouge, Bossier, and St. Mary, the sheriff shall pay such funds to the treasurer of the governing authority, who shall collect and receive this money and deposit it to the credit of the general fund, and thereafter the sheriff shall be relieved of all liability therefor.

B. Any owner who claims a cash bail bond which has been deposited in the general fund of the sheriff or, in Caddo, East Baton Rouge, Bossier, and St. Mary parishes, in the governing authority's general fund, pursuant to this Section shall be reimbursed from the sheriff's general fund or said governing authority's general fund upon establishing his claim thereto by a judgment of a court of competent jurisdiction. Upon being presented with a certified copy of the judgment, the sheriff or, in Caddo, East Baton Rouge, Bossier, and St. Mary parishes, the treasurer, shall draw a warrant and pay out of the general fund of the sheriff or, in Caddo, East Baton Rouge, Bossier, and St. Mary parishes, the general fund of the governing authority, the amount of the judgment.

Added by Acts 1970, No. 349, §1. Amended by Acts 1981, No. 875, §1; Acts 1982, No. 631, §1; Acts 2011, No. 151, §1.