State Treasurer Riley Moore today announced his Office’s recent unclaimed property firearms auction raised more than $9,200 for the Moundsville Police Department – funds to be put towards improving safety and law enforcement efforts in the local community.
“It’s critical for the brave men and women who serve in our state’s law enforcement to be able to purchase equipment and invest in training programs to ensure our communities remain a safe place to live and raise a family,” Treasurer Moore said. “It’s an honor to raise funds for state and local law enforcement agencies through auctioning off outdated and unclaimed firearms, and I look forward to more agencies from around the state participating in this program.”
The Moundsville Police Department received $9,265.50 from the State Treasurer’s Office’s most recent auction, which occurred September 21 in Charleston. Treasurer Moore presented the check to Moundsville Police Chief Thomas Mitchell on Friday, December 8.
Moundsville Police Chief Thomas Mitchell receives a $9,265.50 check from State Treasurer Riley Moore, proceeds from the Treasurer's Office's recent unclaimed property firearms auction.
“We are going to put the money into our investigative fund, which is used to purchase items and safety equipment we could not overwise obtain,” Chief Mitchell said. “Before this program was offered through the State Treasurer’s Office, we used to destroy the unclaimed firearms in our inventory. Now, we can turn these firearms into funds that will inevitably benefit the law enforcement community.”
The firearms auction raised nearly $90,000 to benefit the 19 participating law enforcement agencies – a new record high number of police departments, sheriff’s offices and police detachments turning over property for the auction. The auction raises funds by selling outdated, unclaimed or old firearms, ammunition and related accessories in police inventory to qualified bidders.
The auctions are not open to the general public; only pre-registered Federal Firearms License Holders can attend and are eligible to bid.
Under West Virginia’s Unclaimed Property Code (Chapter 36, Article 8A), state and local law enforcement agencies are allowed to turn over any unclaimed, seized or outdated firearms in their possession to the State Treasurer’s Office for auction.
These include weapons that are older and no longer used by a department, or that have been seized as evidence and sitting in storage rooms for an extended amount of time following the disposition of a case. They can also include weapons taken from individuals who are not legally allowed to own firearms.
Once law enforcement certifies they cannot find a lawful owner of the firearms, they can be turned over to the Treasurer’s Office for auction.
The proceeds from the auction are then returned to the submitting agency for use.