§52D-14 Duty and right of finders. (a) Except as provided in section 261-17.7, all money or property found shall be reported or delivered by the finder to the chief of police of the county. When so delivered, it shall be held by the chief of police for forty-five days or until claimed by some person who establishes title or right of custody thereto to the satisfaction of the chief of police. If title or right of custody is established, the money or property shall be delivered to the claimant by the chief of police.

(b) If no claim is made or no such right is established within the forty-five days, the money or property shall be returned to the person who delivered it to the chief of police, except as provided in subsection (c); provided that if the person who delivered it to the chief of police fails to claim the money or property within thirty days after being notified by the chief of police that the person is entitled to possession, the chief of police shall dispose of the money or property in accordance with the procedures established in section 52D-10. For the purpose of this section, notice by regular mail to the person's last known address shall be sufficient.

(c) 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 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 chief of police 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 1989, c 136, pt of §2; am L 2018, c 82, §2]