Section 1413 Of Chapter 12. Disposal Of Property Stolen Or Embezzled From California Penal Code >> Title 10. >> Part 2. >> Chapter 12.
1413
. (a) The clerk or person having charge of the property section
for any police department in any incorporated city or town, or for
any sheriff's department in any county, shall enter in a suitable
book a description of every article of property alleged to be stolen
or embezzled, and brought into the office or taken from the person of
a prisoner, and shall attach a number to each article, and make a
corresponding entry thereof. He may engrave or imbed an
identification number in property described in Section 537e for the
purposes thereof.
(b) The clerk or person in charge of the property section may,
upon satisfactory proof of the ownership of property held pursuant to
Section 1407, and upon presentation of proper personal
identification, deliver it to the owner. Such delivery shall be
without prejudice to the state or to the person from whom custody of
the property was taken or to any other person who may have a claim
against the property. Prior to such delivery such clerk or person in
charge of the property section shall make and retain a complete
photographic record of such property. The person to whom property is
delivered shall sign, under penalty of perjury, a declaration of
ownership, which shall be retained by the clerk or person in charge
of the property section. This subdivision shall not apply to any
property subject to forfeiture under any provision of law. This
subdivision shall not apply unless the clerk or person in charge of
the property section has served upon the person from whom custody of
the property was taken a notice of a claim of ownership and a copy of
the satisfactory proof of ownership tendered and has allowed such
person reasonable opportunity to be heard as to why the property
should not be delivered to the person claiming ownership.
If the person upon whom a notice of claim and proof of ownership
has been served does not respond asserting a claim to the property
within 15 days from the date of receipt of the service, the property
may be disposed of in a manner not inconsistent with the provisions
of this section.
(c) The magistrate before whom the complaint is laid, or who
examines the charge against the person accused of stealing or
embezzling the property, or the court before which a trial is had for
stealing or embezzling it, shall upon application by the person from
whom custody of the property was taken, review the determination of
the clerk or person in charge of the property section, and may order
the property taken into the custody of the court upon a finding that
the person to whom the property was delivered is not entitled
thereto. Such court shall make its determination in the same manner
as a determination is made when the matter is before the court
pursuant to Sections 1408 to 1410, inclusive.
(d) The clerk or person in charge of the property section is not
liable in damages for any official action performed hereunder in good
faith.