40 U.S.C. § 1306: Disposition of abandoned or forfeited personal property

The term “agency” includes any executive department, independent establishment, board, commission, bureau, service, or division of the Federal Government, and any corporation in which the Government owns at least a majority of the stock. The term “property” means all personal property, including vessels, vehicles, and aircraft. order the agency to deliver the property to another agency that requests the property and that the Administrator believes should be given the property; or order disposal of the property as otherwise provided by law. An agency that seizes property that has been forfeited to the Government other than by court decree may retain the property and devote it only to official use instead of disposing of the property as otherwise provided by law if competent authority does not order the property returned to any claimant. if not ordered by competent authority to be returned to any claimant, or disposed of as otherwise provided by law, shall be delivered by the agency, on order of the Administrator given within a reasonable time, to another agency that requests the property and that the Administrator believes should be given the property; or on order of the Administrator given within a reasonable time, shall be disposed of as otherwise provided by law. If a proceeding has begun for the forfeiture of any property by court decree, the agency that seized the property immediately shall notify the Administrator and at the same time may file with the Administrator a request for the property for its official use. Before entry of a decree, the Administrator shall apply to the court to order delivery of the property in accordance with this paragraph. If the agency that seized the property files a request for the property under paragraph (1), the Administrator shall apply to the court to order delivery of the property to the agency that seized the property. If the agency that seized the property does not file a request for the property under paragraph (1) but another agency requests the property, the Administrator shall apply to the court to order delivery of the property to the requesting agency if the Administrator believes that the requesting agency should be given the property. deliver the property to another agency that requests the property and that the Administrator believes should be given the property; or dispose of the property as otherwise provided by law. If forfeiture is decreed and the property is not ordered by competent authority to be returned to any claimant, the court shall order delivery as provided in paragraph (2). The court shall dispose of property for which no application is made in accordance with law. Retention or delivery of forfeited or abandoned property under this section is deemed to be a sale of the property for the purpose of laws providing for informer’s fees or remission or mitigation of a forfeiture. Property acquired under this section when no longer needed for official use shall be disposed of in the same manner as other surplus property. the payment of expenses of operation, maintenance, and repair of property of the same kind the agency receives under this section for official use; the payment of a lien recognized and allowed under law; the payment of amounts found to be due a person on the authorized remission or mitigation of a forfeiture; and reimbursement of other agencies as provided in paragraph (2). The agency that receives property under this section shall pay the cost of hauling, transporting, towing, and storing the property. If the property is later delivered to another agency for official use under this section, the agency to which the property is delivered shall make reimbursement for all of those costs incurred prior to the date the property is delivered. With the approval of the Secretary of the Treasury, the Administrator may require an agency to make a report of all property abandoned to it or seized and the disposal of the property. With the approval of the Secretary, the Administrator may prescribe regulations necessary to carry out this section. This section does not repeal any other laws relating to the disposition of forfeited or abandoned property, except provisions of those laws directly in conflict with this section which were enacted prior to August 27, 1935 . narcotic drugs, as defined in the Controlled Substances Act ( 21 U.S.C. 801 et seq.). firearms, as defined in section 5845 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 ( 26 U.S.C. 5845 ). other classes or kinds of property the disposal of which the Administrator, with the approval of the Secretary, may consider in the public interest, and may by regulation provide.