Retrieving Confiscated Property After a Violation

September 23, 2010

Question: When a person is caught in the act of a violation, given a citation to appear in court, and then has his equipment (firearms, rods, reels, camping gear, vehicles, etc.) confiscated, can the property taken by the game wardens ever be retrieved? What if charges are then dismissed by the Superior Court judge? If the citation lists the model number and brand name as evidence, can the equipment taken by the officers then be retrieved?

Do the DFG officers have the ability to take equipment home for themselves if the person that committed crime never tries or gets the chance to get their property released back to them?

Otherwise, after a certain amount of time, is all confiscated property sold in public auction? If so, when and where does this take place and is there a website? Is there an itemized list of what’s available and/or the prices if not sold by auction? (DMB, West Sacramento)

Answer: Once the case is adjudicated, the judge decides to have the gear either returned to the defendants or forfeited to DFG. If the judge forfeits the gear to DFG, then there are two options: If the gear is in poor condition and not safe to use, it is destroyed; if it is in good condition, it may be distributed to our scientists or game wardens in need of equipment for use in the field, and for work-related use only.

For all other gear confiscated and not returned to defendants as ordered by judges, DFG basically has three options: 1) put the gear into work-related use, 2) destroy it, or 3) sell it at a public auction.

Confiscated fishing gear is usually donated to DFG’s “Fishing in the City” or “California Fishing Passport” programs for use by the public during promotional fishing events. All confiscated firearms not returned by the courts are ordered by law to be destroyed unless they have collector value, in which case they may be donated to a museum or educational facility for display. Public auctions for confiscated gear are not frequently held, but when they are, DFG is required to provide public notice through local newspapers.