05 LC
14 8940
House
Bill 109
By:
Representatives Lucas of the
139th
and Graves of the
137th
A
BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
AN ACT
To
amend Chapter 1 of Title 50 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating
to state government in general, so as to prescribe procedures which a state
agency shall follow in order to identify and notify the owner of any property
impounded by the agency prior to the sale or disposition of the property; to
provide a minimum period of time for an innocent owner to reclaim impounded
property or the proceeds of its sale; to define terms; to provide for
relationship to other laws; to provided for related matters; to provide for an
effective date and applicability; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other
purposes.
BE
IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:
SECTION
1.
Chapter
1 of Title 50 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to state
government in general, is amended by adding a new Code Section 50-1-8 to read as
follows:
"50-1-8.
(a)
As used in this Code section, the term:
(1)
'Impounded' or 'impoundment' refers to any property over which a state agency
assumes control under any law of this state authorizing privately owned personal
property to be impounded, confiscated, seized, or otherwise made subject to
control of the state.
(2)
'Innocent owner' means a person who has an ownership interest in impounded real
property and whose ownership interest has not been legally forfeited or
condemned and is not subject to legal forfeiture or condemnation.
(3)
'State agency' includes all departments, agencies, boards, bureaus, commissions,
authorities, and other units of state government, by whatever name
called.
(b)
Prior to the sale or other disposition of any impounded property, a state agency
shall take reasonable measures to identify and notify the owner of the property
and, if the owner is an innocent owner, return the property to the owner. Unless
the owner is known with reasonable certainty, the reasonable measures taken by
the agency shall include, at a minimum, the following:
(1)
Inquiry to any person from whose custody or control the property was
seized;
(2)
Inquiry to any other person likely to have knowledge of the ownership of the
property;
(3)
A search of any public records or publicly accessible records which may identify
the owner on the basis of a serial number or other identifying marking on the
property;
(4)
Written notification to the news media in the area of the impoundment, together
with a request that the media publicize the fact of the impoundment and the fact
that the agency is seeking information concerning the ownership of the property;
and
(5)
Written notice to any address determined to be a probable address for the owner;
e-mail notice and e-mail address determined to be a probable address for the
owner; and at least two telephone calls to any telephone number determined to be
a probable telephone number for the owner.
The
reasonable measures required under this subsection shall be in addition to and
not in lieu of any measures required under any other more specific
law.
(c)
When any impounded property is sold by a state agency and the owner of the
property is not known with reasonable certainty, the agency shall have in place
procedures which allow an innocent owner a period of two years from the date of
the sale to claim the proceeds of the sale, unless a longer period is prescribed
by a more specific law. When any impounded property is disposed of by a state
agency other than through sale or destruction, the agency shall have in place
procedures which allow an innocent owner a period of two years from the date of
disposition to reclaim the property, unless a longer period of time is
prescribed by a more specific
law."
SECTION
2.
This
Act shall become effective on July 1, 2005, and shall apply with respect to any
impounded property which is sold or disposed of on or after that
date.
SECTION
3.
All
laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.