Louisiana Revised Statutes 15:86.3 – City courts: unclaimed bail bonds; disposition; return to owner
Terms Used In Louisiana Revised Statutes 15:86.3
- Appropriation: The provision of funds, through an annual appropriations act or a permanent law, for federal agencies to make payments out of the Treasury for specified purposes. The formal federal spending process consists of two sequential steps: authorization
- Bail: Security given for the release of a criminal defendant or witness from legal custody (usually in the form of money) to secure his/her appearance on the day and time appointed.
- Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
A. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, any city court having in its control or possession cash bail bonds which have been discharged and which remain unclaimed for more than three years, after notice by certified mail, or which belong to an owner who is unknown or has not been heard from for more than three years, shall pay the same, in cases involving the violation of state law, to the treasurer of the governing authority of the parish in which the city court is located for deposit in the criminal court’s fund of the parish, or in cases involving a violation of a city ordinance, to the treasurer or chief financial officer of the city for deposit in the general fund of the city, and in both instances thereafter the city court shall be relieved of all liability therefor.
B. If the cash bail bond involves the violation of a state law the treasurer of the governing authority of the parish in which the city court is located shall collect and receive this money and shall deposit it to the credit of the parish’s criminal court’s fund. If the cash bail bond involves the violation of a city ordinance, the treasurer or chief financial officer of the city shall collect and receive this money and shall deposit it to the credit of the general fund of the city.
C. Any owner who claims a cash bail bond which has been deposited in either a parish criminal court’s fund or the general fund of a city pursuant to this Section shall be reimbursed from the general fund or the criminal court’s fund involved, upon establishing his claim thereto by a judgment of a court of competent jurisdiction. Upon being presented with a certified copy of the judgment either the treasurer or chief financial officer, as the case may be, shall draw a warrant and pay out of the appropriate general fund the amount of the judgment without the necessity of an appropriation by the respective governing authority.
Acts 1995, No. 996, §1.