H.B. No. 772
    1-1                                AN ACT
    1-2  relating to the disposition of abandoned or unclaimed property.
    1-3        BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
    1-4        SECTION 1.  Article 18.17, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
    1-5  amended by adding Subsection (h) to read as follows:
    1-6        (h)  If the abandoned or unclaimed personal property is
    1-7  money, the municipal or county purchasing agent, or the sheriff of
    1-8  the county, as appropriate, may, after giving notice under
    1-9  Subsection (b) or (c) of this article, deposit the money in the
   1-10  treasury of the municipality or county giving notice without
   1-11  conducting the sale as required by Subsection (d) of this article.
   1-12        SECTION 2.  Subsection (f), Article 18.17, Code of Criminal
   1-13  Procedure, is amended to read as follows:
   1-14        (f)  For the purposes of this article, "purchasing agent of
   1-15  the municipality" means the person who is primarily responsible for
   1-16  making purchases on behalf of a municipality or a person designated
   1-17  by the municipality.  "Person designated by a municipality" means
   1-18  an officer or employee of a municipality who is designated by the
   1-19  municipality to be primarily responsible for the disposition of
   1-20  property under this article.
   1-21        SECTION 3.  Subsections (c) and (d), Article 18.17, Code of
   1-22  Criminal Procedure, are amended to read as follows:
   1-23        (c)  If the property has a fair market value of $500 or more
   1-24  and the owner <of such property is unknown> or <if> the address of
    2-1  the owner is unknown, <then> the municipal or county purchasing
    2-2  agent or the sheriff, as the case may be, shall cause to be
    2-3  published once in a paper of general circulation in the
    2-4  municipality or county a notice containing a description of the
    2-5  property held, the name of the owner if known, the name and address
    2-6  of the officer holding such property, and a statement that if the
    2-7  owner does not claim such property within 90 days <six months> from
    2-8  the date of the publication such property will be sold and the
    2-9  proceeds of such sale, after deducting the reasonable expense of
   2-10  keeping such property and the costs of the sale, placed in the
   2-11  treasury of the municipality or county selling the property.  If
   2-12  the property has a fair market value of less than $500 and the
   2-13  owner or the address of the owner is unknown, the municipal or
   2-14  county purchasing agent or the sheriff may sell or donate the
   2-15  property.  The purchasing agent or the sheriff shall deposit the
   2-16  sale proceeds, after deducting the reasonable expense of keeping
   2-17  the property and costs of the sale, in the treasury of the
   2-18  municipality or county selling or donating the property.
   2-19        (d)  The sale under this article of any property that has a
   2-20  fair market value of $500 or more <hereunder> shall be preceded by
   2-21  a notice published once at least three weeks prior to the date of
   2-22  such sale in a newspaper of general circulation in the municipality
   2-23  or county where the sale is to take place, stating the description
   2-24  of the property, the names of the owner if known, and the date and
   2-25  place that such sale will occur.  <If the municipal or county
   2-26  purchasing agent or sheriff, as the case may be, shall consider any
   2-27  bid as insufficient, he need not sell such property but may decline
    3-1  such bid and reoffer such property for sale.>
    3-2        SECTION 4.  Article 18.17, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
    3-3  amended by adding Subsection (i) to read as follows:
    3-4        (i)  While offering the property for sale under this article,
    3-5  if a municipal or county purchasing agent or sheriff considers any
    3-6  bid as insufficient, the agent or sheriff may decline the bid and
    3-7  reoffer the property for sale.
    3-8        SECTION 5.  The importance of this legislation and the
    3-9  crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
   3-10  emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
   3-11  constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
   3-12  days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
   3-13  and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
   3-14  passage, and it is so enacted.