§805-12  Unclaimed articles used as
evidence, disposition of.  Whenever an article, not subject to forfeiture
or other disposition under any other law, which has been offered or admitted in
evidence in any trial of a criminal case heard by a district judge, remains in
the possession of the judge for a continuous period of one year after the final
disposition of the matter in which the article was received in evidence, the
district judge may deliver the article to the chief of police of the county in
which the judge's circuit lies, together with such data as is available in the
judge's files relating to the names of the defendants or other persons who
might be the owners of the article, or of their attorneys.  Thereupon the chief
of police shall give notice by postcard or other ordinary mail to each such
person or attorney whose address or last known address is available, stating
briefly that the article (briefly describing the article in general terms) was
offered or admitted in evidence, the approximate date of the offer or
admission, the name and number of the case and the name of the court, and that,
unless the article is called for and proof of ownership made within three
months from the date of mailing the notice, the same shall be disposed of for
the use of the county.  In addition, the chief of police of the county shall
publish a notice once in a newspaper of general circulation published in the
county, which notice may relate to any number of different items and may be in
substantially the following form:



Notice of
Proposed Forfeiture of Unclaimed



Articles
Offered or Admitted in Evidence



in Criminal
Cases in District Courts.



All unclaimed articles which were offered or
admitted in evidence in the hereinafter mentioned criminal cases in district
courts in this county have been delivered to the undersigned for forfeiture
according to law unless claimed by the owners thereof.  Notice is hereby given
that any articles not claimed within three months from the date of publication
of this notice will be forfeited to and disposed of for the use of the county. 
The criminal cases in which the articles were so offered or admitted in
evidence are as follows:



Title of Case



State v.
Richard Roe and John Brown, Etc.



District Court of No.
of Case



Second Circuit
55



Dated.........................
........................



Chief of Police,
County of Maui.



Any article not claimed within the time
required by this section by a person giving evidence satisfactory to the chief
of police of ownership or right to possession of the article, shall
automatically be forfeited to the county, and shall be sold by the chief of
police at public auction, after publication of a brief notice of sale of
unclaimed articles (without describing the articles or setting forth the names
of the cases or courts mentioned in the notice of proposed forfeiture) once,
more than two days prior to the sale, in a newspaper of general circulation published
in the county, and the proceeds of the sale shall be paid into the general fund
of the county as a county realization.  The notice of sale may be included in
the notice first hereinabove mentioned, provided the date therein noticed for
sale shall be more than thirty days after the date of the publication.  Any
article upon which no bid is received, may by the county chief of police be
either destroyed or given to any department or the county or to any charitable
institution desiring the same. [L 1941, c 257, §1; RL 1945, §10782; am L 1949,
c 182, §1; RL 1955, §57-15; HRS §710-15; am L 1970, c 188, §§39, 40; ren L
1972, c 9, pt of §1; gen ch 1985]