1. Except as otherwise provided by specific statute:

(a) And except as otherwise provided in paragraph (b), a law enforcement agency which has custody of property shall, if the agency knows or can reasonably discover the name and address of the owner or the person entitled to possession of the property, notify the owner or the person entitled to possession of the property by letter of the location of the property and the method by which the owner or the person entitled to possession of the property may claim it.

(b) If the property was obtained from a pawnbroker pursuant to NRS 646.047, the law enforcement agency shall, in addition to notifying the persons described in paragraph (a), notify the pawnbroker from whom it was obtained.

(c) With respect to stolen or embezzled property, the notice must be mailed by certified or registered mail:

(1) Upon the conviction of the person who committed the offense;

(2) Upon the decision of the police or district attorney not to pursue or prosecute the case; or

(3) When the case is otherwise terminated.

(d) If the property is not claimed by the owner or the person entitled to possession of the property before the expiration of 6 months after the date the notice is mailed or, if no notice is required, after the date notice would have been sent if it were required, the magistrate or other officer having it in custody shall, except as otherwise provided in this paragraph, on payment of the necessary expenses incurred for its preservation, deliver it to the county treasurer, who shall dispose of the property as provided in paragraph (e). If a metropolitan police department which is organized pursuant to chapter 280 of NRS has custody of the property, the sheriff of the department may take any of the actions set forth in paragraph (f) or deliver the property to the county treasurer and accept the net proceeds, if any, from the disposition of the property pursuant to paragraph (e) in lieu of the payment of expenses incurred for the property’s preservation.

(e) Upon receiving property pursuant to paragraph (d), the county treasurer shall petition the district court for an order authorizing the county treasurer to:

(1) Conduct an auction for the disposal of salable property;

(2) Dispose of property not deemed salable by donations to charitable organizations or by destruction;

(3) Destroy property the possession of which is deemed illegal or dangerous; or

(4) Dispose of property not purchased at an auction by donations to charitable organizations or by destruction.

(f) A sheriff of a metropolitan police department may:

(1) Conduct an auction for the disposal of salable property;

(2) Dispose of property not deemed salable by donations to charitable organizations or by destruction;

(3) Destroy property the possession of which is deemed illegal or dangerous; or

(4) Dispose of property not purchased at an auction by donations to charitable organizations or by destruction.

(g) Before disposing of any property pursuant to paragraph (f), a metropolitan police department shall file a sworn affidavit with the district court attesting that the metropolitan police department:

(1) Knows or has made a reasonable effort to discover the name and address of the owner or the person entitled to possession of the property;

(2) Has made a reasonable effort to notify the owner or the person entitled to possession of the property of the location of the property and the method by which the owner or the person entitled to possession of the property may claim the property; and

(3) Has complied with all requirements of this section pertaining to disposal of the property.

(h) Records of the property disposed of by sale, destruction or donation and an accounting of the cash received by the county treasurer from the sales must be filed with the county clerk.

(i) A metropolitan police department which disposes of property pursuant to paragraph (f) shall:

(1) Perform an annual audit of the disposition of that property; and

(2) Present a report of that audit to the metropolitan police committee on fiscal affairs created pursuant to NRS 280.130.

2. As used in this section, “property” means any property that is owned by another person or that another person is entitled to possess which:

(a) Is in the custody of a law enforcement agency;

(b) Has been stolen, embezzled, lost, found, abandoned or unclaimed; and

(c) Is otherwise unrelated to an active criminal case.

(Added to NRS by 1967, 1461; A 1973, 565; 1989, 382; 1999, 753; 2017, 367)