§ 9.28.030. Confiscation and disposition of weapons.

A.

Upon conviction of a violation of Section 9.28.010, any weapon seized shall be confiscated by the trial court.

B.

Any stolen weapon so confiscated, when no longer needed for evidentiary purposes, shall be returned to the person entitled to possession if known. All other confiscated weapons when no longer needed for evidentiary purposes, shall, in the discretion of the trial court, be destroyed, or preserved as property of the governmental body whose police agency seized the weapon. After the disposition of a criminal case or in any criminal case where a final judgment in the case was not entered due to the death of the defendant, and when a confiscated weapon is no longer needed for evidentiary purposes, and when in due course no legitimate claim has been made for the weapon, the court may transfer the weapon to the sheriff of the county who may proceed to destroy it, or may in its discretion order the weapon preserved as property of the governmental body whose police agency seized the weapon, or may in its discretion order the weapon to be transferred to the Department of State Police for use by the crime laboratory system, for training purposes, or for any other application as deemed appropriate by the Department. If, after the disposition of a criminal case, a need still exists for the use of the confiscated weapon for evidentiary purposes, the court may transfer the weapon to the custody of the State Department of Corrections for preservation. The court may not order the transfer of the weapon to any private individual or private organization other than to return a stolen weapon to its rightful owner.

(Prior Code, § 10:24-6; Code 1996, § 9.28.030)

State law reference

Similar provisions, 720 ILCS 5/24-6.