HB1261

HB1261 allows certain notices about abandoned or unclaimed seized property to be posted once on both the seizing law-enforcement agency’s website and its social-networking website, instead of using the specified certified-mail or newspaper route. It applies to property seized on or after September 1, 2025; earlier seizures stay under prior law. Final law

For an owner notice, officials may use certified mail to the last known address or the two online postings. The notice must identify the property and the officer holding it, and explain that the owner must claim it before the 90th day after the notice to avoid disposition and the described handling of proceeds. For property worth $500 or more whose owner or owner’s address is unknown, the alternative is a newspaper notice or those same two online postings. A sale of property worth $500 or more also requires its own notice at least 14 days before the sale, in a newspaper or on both online sites, identifying the property, known owner, sale date and place.

These rules concern the existing disposition process after property has remained unclaimed for 30 days; they are not new authority to seize property. The covered category excludes Chapter 59 forfeiture contraband, the listed alcoholic beverages, pending-case evidence, and property a magistrate has ordered destroyed or returned. The existing rule permits sale or donation of property worth less than $500 when its owner or address is unknown. The act also clarifies references to sale proceeds after storage/disposition expenses and states that disposition need not be by sale.