§261-17.7 Lost and found money or property at airports. (a) All money or property found at an airport owned or controlled by the department shall be reported or delivered by the finder to the airport lost and found, and when so delivered shall be held by the department for forty-five days or until claimed by some person who establishes title or right of custody thereto to the satisfaction of the department. In the event of the establishment of title or right of custody, the money or property shall be delivered to the claimant by the director or the director's agent. If within forty-five days no claimant establishes a right to the money or property, the money or property, except as provided in subsection (d) with regard to electronic devices, shall be returned to the person who delivered it to the airport lost and found; provided that if the person who delivered it to the airport lost and found fails to claim the money or property within thirty days after being notified by the director, the director shall deposit the money into the state treasury to the credit of the airport revenue fund or shall dispose of the property by public auction.

(b) At least once annually, the director shall give public notice giving details as to time and place of the auction and giving notice to all persons interested or claiming the property that unless claims are made by persons who can provide satisfactory proof of ownership before a specified date, the property will be sold at public auction to the highest bidder. On the day and at the place specified in the notice, all property for which no satisfactory proof of ownership is made shall be sold by auction by or under the direction of the director.

If any property that is of a perishable nature or unreasonably expensive to keep or safeguard remains unclaimed at the airport, the director may sell that property at public auction, at a time and after notice that is reasonable under the circumstances. The director shall immediately after the sale of any property pay to the airport revenue fund all moneys received by the director upon sale.

(c) For the purpose of this section, notice by regular mail to the last known address of the person who delivered the money or property to the airport lost and found shall be deemed sufficient.

(d) Before an electronic device that allows for storage of personal information is returned to the finder or disposed of by public auction or other means, the device shall be sanitized by the director or the director's agent in accordance with guidance provided by the information privacy and security council to ensure removal of personal information. If removal of personal information is not possible or cannot be verified without unreasonable expense, the device shall be destroyed in a manner sufficient to eliminate the information, and then disposed of or recycled. The director or the director's agent shall make reasonable efforts to notify the finder that the device was destroyed and disposed of or recycled because personal information could not be removed.

For purposes of this subsection, "personal information" shall have the same meaning as in section 487N-1. [L 1980, c 81, §1; gen ch 1985; am L 1998, c 2, §76; am L 2018, c 82, §3]