Ordinance No. 81-37 CITY OF TIGARD, OREGON
• ORDINANCE NO. 81- 3?
AN ORDINANCE PROVIDING FOR DISPOSITION OF ABANDONED, FOUND, SEIZED
.AND STOLEN PROPERTY.
The City of Tigard does ordain as follows:
'Section 1: Custody of Property. Whenever any personal property
other than a motor vehicle is taken into the custody
of any department of the City by reason of its having been abandoned,
found, seized, or for any other reason, the personal property .shall
be turned over to and held by the Police Department at the expense
and risk of the owner or person lawfully entitled to possession of
Section 2: Surrender to True Owner. Except when the property in
question has been confiscated or is being held as
evidence the owner or person lawfully entitled to possession may
reclaim it upon application to the Police Department. The department
� ._ shall require satisfactory proof of ownership or right to posssession,
and the department shall further require the payment of any charges
and expenses incurred in the storage, preservation and custody of
the property.
Section 3 Sale of Property.
(a) At any time after the expiration of 60 days from
the time the property comes into the possession
of the Police Department, the ChiefofPolice may
sell the property at public auction. He shall not
y sell any such property held in evidence in any court
proceeding until the need for its use in that
proceeding has passed. Notice of the sale shall
be given once by publication in a newspaper of
general circulation in the City of Tigard at least
ten days before the date of sale. The notice shall
give the time and place of the sale and shall
describe generally the property to be sold at the
sale.
(b) All sales of property under this ordinance shall
be for cash .and shall be made to the highest and
best bidder, provided, however, that any person
appearing at or prior to the, sale and proving
ownership or-right of possession to the property
in question shall be entitled to reclaim it upon
the payment of the charges and expenses incurred
by the City in the storage, preservation and
custody of the property and a proportionate share
of the costs of advertising for the sale.
(c) If no bids are entered for the property or if
: . the highest bid is less than the costs incurred
by the City the Chief of Police may enter a bid
on behalf of the City in an amount equal to such
A costs. If bid in by the City, the property shall
; . become the property of the City as compensation
for the costs incurred.
(d) The proceeds of the sale shall be applied first
to payment of the costs of the sale and any
expenses incurred in the preservation, storage
a tody e of the property, and anv balance
anu custodya a
shall be credited to the General Fund of the City.
(e) The sale of property pursuant to this ordinance
shall be without right of redemption.
Section 4: Certificate of Sale. At the time of the payment of the
—` purchase price, the Chief of Police shall sign a
certificate of sale in duplicate, the original to be delivered to
the purchaser, and a copy to be kept on file in the office of the
finance director, which certificate shall contain the date of sale,
the consideration paid, a brief description of the property and a
stipulation that the City does not warrant the condition or title
of the property other than the return of the purchase price in the
event the title should prove for any reason to be invalid. The
certificate of sale shall be in substantially the following form:
CERTIFICATE OF SALE
This is to certify that under the provisions of Ordinance
No. 81m and pursuant to due notice of time and place of sale, I
did on the day of 19 sell at publ_ ^ auction
to for the sum of $ , cash,
the named person being the highest and best bidder, the following
described personal property: (brief description of property).
In consideration of the payment of the sum identified
above I have on this date delivered the described property to the
named purchaser.
Dated this day of , 19r
CHIEF OF POLICE
NOTICE TO PURCHASER
The City of Tigard assumes no responsibility as to the
condition of the title to the property which is the subject of this,
transaction. In the event this sale should for any reason be
invalid the liability of the City is limited to the return of the
purchase price,
Section 5: Dangerous or Perishable Property. The Chief, of Police
may order the destruction or other disposal of any
property coming into his possession which is, in his judgment,
dangerous or perishable.
Section 6: Scope. This ordinance shall apply to all personal
property, except motor vehicles, now or hereafter in
the custody of the City of Tigard.
Section 7: Effective Date. This ordinance shall become effective
on the 31st day following its passage.
PASSED: By 11 namivr7o.a <, vote of the City Council on
the day of NI , 1981.
s
RECORDER, CITY F TIGAR
APPROVED: 3y the Mayor this �_ day of /�E , 1 8
1.
MAYOR, CITY OF TIGARD
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LANDIs, AEBI & BAILEY {
LAWYERS
1516 GEORGIA-PACIFIC BUILDING
PORTLAND,OREGON 97204 4
TELEPHONE(503)224-6532
DAVID C.LANDIS
FRED M.AE61
JOE D.BAILEY
JOHN C.MERCER
JAMES M.CALLAWAN
ANNA W MORAN I 1
K ELIZABET/i GOEBEL April 8, 19 81 p.
DAVID R.FOSTER
LC' CF
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Mr. Robert B. Adams `
E
Chief of Police
City of Tigard
9020 SW Burnham Road
Tigard, Oregon 97223
RE: Unclaimed Stolen, Abandoned, Etc. Property :
Dear Bob:
c
We have talked several times about how to dispose
of your accumulating mass of unclaimed stolen and abandoned
property.. As I recall the problem first came up last summer
when we tried to get a circuit judge to sign an order author-
izing us to sell it, and the judge pointed out to the officer
who approached him that there was no statutory provision
giving us the right to conduct a sale.
i
We waited for some time, hoping that one of the
other Washington County municipalities would take a trial r
run at conducting its own sale, but we have waited long enough. k
As I told you on the telephone .last week, Beaverton has not
done the work it had at first anticipated doing in that area.
My own conclusion is that the Oregon Revised Statutes
deprive us of the authority to conduct a sale and keep the i
proceeds., ORS Chapter 98, dealing with lost and unclaimed
property and ORS Chapter 142, dealing with stolen goods,
contain very specific provisions giving the rights to these
proceeds to the county. It is my opinion that in the face
of this clear language we would violate the law if we attempted
to empower ourselves to conduct the sale and keep the proceeds.
1
I
Mr. Robert B. Adams
Chief of Police
April €3, 1981
Paae Two
My suggestion is that we make arrangements to deliver
our accumulated unclaimed stolen and abandoned property to
Washington County for disposal in accordance with the statutes.
Very truly yours,
Joe D. Bailey
JDB/lmc
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