00 CS FOR HOUSE BILL NO. 318(JUD)                                                                                        
01 "An Act relating to property disposal by law enforcement agencies."                                                     
02 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:                                                               
03    * Section 1.  AS 12.36.040(a) is amended to read:                                                                  
04  (a)  When the owner of property is unknown and the property comes into the                                            
05 possession of a law enforcement agency as suspected evidence of a crime but is not                                      
06 used in a criminal proceeding or a children's court proceeding, or when the property                                    
07 comes into the possession of a law enforcement agency by other means, the property                                      
08 shall be held for  one year  [TWO YEARS].  If the property is not claimed within  one                                
09 year  [TWO YEARS] of the date it comes into the possession of a law enforcement                                        
10 agency, the property shall be disposed of as provided in AS 12.36.030(b).                                               
11    * Sec. 2.  AS 12.36 is amended by adding a new section to read:                                                    
12  Sec. 12.36.045.  When finder of property is considered the owner.  (a)                                              
13 When a private individual obtains property of another that is lost, mislaid, or delivered                               
14 to the individual by mistake, the individual delivers that property to a law enforcement                                
01 agency, and the true owner of the property remains unknown for a period of one year                                     
02 or does not claim the property within one year, the individual delivering the property                                  
03 shall be considered the owner of the property under this chapter if possession of the                                   
04 property by the individual is otherwise legal.  If, after the one-year period, the private                              
05 individual who delivered the property to the law enforcement agency cannot be found                                     
06 or does not want the property, the property shall be disposed of by the agency as if the                                
07 owner is unknown.                                                                                                       
08  (b)  This section does not apply to property that comes into the custody of a                                         
09 law enforcement agency of a municipality that has adopted an ordinance providing for                                    
10 the custody and disposition of property that meets the requirements specified in                                        
11 AS 12.36.030(c).