                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

DISPOSAL OF CERTAIN OTHER PROPERTY (§ 2.2-1108)

Personal property, including drugs, not subject to be disposed of under §
2.2-1107, which has been submitted to the Division for analysis or examination
and that has not been reclaimed by the agency submitting the property for
analysis or examination, may be disposed of by the Division in accordance with
this section if, after the expiration of 120 days after the receipt by the
Division of the property, (i) the Director notifies the circuit court of the
county or city from which the property was taken, in writing, that the analysis
or examination has been completed and (ii) a report is given to the submitting
agency that the property has not been reclaimed by the agency and the Division
proposes to dispose of the property. The notice shall state the nature and
quantity of the property, the location where seized, the name of the accused, if
known, and the proposed method of disposing of the property. When the ownership
of the property is known, a copy of the notice shall be sent simultaneously with
the notice to the court to the owner, or, if any criminal charge is pending in
any court relating to the property, the copy shall be sent to the accused at his
last known address. Notice shall be by certified mail. The court, within thirty
days after receipt of the notice, may direct that the property be disposed of by
the Division by an alternative method designed to preserve the property, at the
expense of the agency submitting the property to the Division. If the court does
not so direct within such thirty-day period, then the Division may dispose of
the property by the method set out in the notice. Copies of the analysis report
and notice shall be made a part of the record of any criminal prosecution. The
report, if sworn to, shall be admissible as evidence to the same extent as the
disposed of property would have been admissible.

HISTORY: 1978, c. 317, § 2.1-432.1; 1990, c. 825; 2001, c. 844.