The  Property Room: OAR and ORS  Pertaining to Law Enforcement Property

By Wendy Svaren, Lake Oswego PD &

Oregon Association of Property & Evidence Officers

Subchapter President

I frequently receive inquires from law enforcement personnel.  The questions range from how long do you have to hold property and under what statutory authority? What is the retention period on CRI/body wire tapes? Are most departments tracing seized firearms through ATF? How are you disposing of your ammunition, and is anyone turning in an unclaimed property report to Division of State Lands?   The good news here is that our subchapter is doing just what we set out to do. Helping each other find answers to these and other questions by holding meetings where we can bring common problems to the table and work through them. 

I surveyed a group of 45 evidence officers, asking them what their main concerns were in managing their evidence rooms.  The top three contenders were Oregon Laws applicable to property & evidence, purging processes for guns & narcotics and standard procedures for day-to-day operations.  These were followed by requests for more information on storage of DNA evidence, how to get dispositions from the courts and obtaining officer cooperation in regards to proper packaging and filling out paperwork. Here I will focus on “evidence” retention, and show where to find information that may help in building your retention schedule. 

Law Enforcement agencies are bound by law to protect property that comes into their custody. ORS. 133.537; an agency that seizes property shall take reasonable steps to safeguard that property from loss, damage and deterioration.  There are a lot of variables that go into making a decision as to how long you have to keep property.  First it will depend on whether you have found property, property for safekeeping or actual evidence in a criminal case.  Laws are open for interpretation; when setting up policy regarding disposal of law enforcement held property it is always a good idea to meet with your city attorney or county council for their input.  It is never a good idea to implement any policy or procedure without your supervisor's knowledge and approval.

Let's start at the beginning with the most frequently asked question.  How long do you have to hold property?

For evidence you will need to review ORS 131.125 Time Limitations.  Oregon Statute of Limitations for most felonies is three years, two years for most misdemeanors and six months for violations.  Be careful!  There is a list of felonies that carry a longer time limit.  A prosecution for arson in any degree may be commenced within six years after the commission of the crime.  Charges of rape, sodomy, sexual abuse and prostitution all hold longer time limits. There is a list of misdemeanors that may be commenced within four years after the commission of the crime. With the progress in DNA examinations a prosecution for rape in the first or second degree or sodomy in the first or second degree may be commenced within 12 years after the commission of the crime if the defendant is identified after the period described in subsection (2) on the basis of DNA sample comparisons. The point here is to become very familiar with ORS 131.125.  Build your purging policies and procedures around this statute and ALWAYS get approval from your supervisor before implementing. 

If the crime is unsolved you will most likely need to hold for the statute of limitations. If the prosecuting attorney has determined that no charges will be filed on the case do you still need to hold the evidence?  Say you are holding a coat from a shop lift at the local grocery store.  The suspect left it behind and the officer brought it in as evidence.  Do you need to hold for the 2-year statute of limitations?  Is the officer actively working the case, how much room do you have to store cold misdemeanor cases?   I am not saying you should dispose of it but it could be reviewed for possible disposal.  Would a photograph in the case file work for situations such as this?  This is where a good purging policy is needed to run an efficient evidence room.  If you review these types of cases it will leave you more room and time for the cases that are being actively investigated and prosecuted. Your department along with advice from your prosecuting attorney's office should set up a purging policy using ORS 131.125 as a guideline.  The property officer should never be the one making the final decision to dispose of property.  This should come from the case officer and/or the prosecutor's office.  The property officer may do the research to determine if the case has been adjudicated and ready for disposal but the officer or detective should be the one authorizing final disposal.

Next step in setting up a holding pattern for your evidence is to look at Oregon Administrative Rules Chapter 166-200-0100 Police Records.  Under these rules there are minimum retention periods for items that we may have in our property rooms.  For instance latent prints (cards) found at crime scenes without identification of suspects are to be held for:

(a) Cases involving crimes with no statute of limitations: 75 years after case is closed

(b) All other cases: 1 year after the statute of limitations expires

Other items you may have in your evidence rooms that have specific OAR retention criteria would be items listed under OAR 166-200-0100 (30) “Incident Case Files” to include photographs, fingerprint cards and  DUII test records.  If you hold evidence related to internal investigations you should review section (40) Internal Investigations Case Files.

‘How long do we hold recordings from body wires?  I heard it was 10 years” 

I researched this one and found that under ORS 133.729 it states that; They shall not be destroyed before the expiration of the minimum retention period set by the State Court Administrator under ORS 8.125".  The answer is in the Oregon Judicial Department, State Trial Court Records; section 2.510.  In this section it states that retention requirement for recordings of actual communications intercepted is 10 years.  All these years I have been hearing this and I have finally found it in writing!

The Evidence Officer's subchapter was organized in an effort to educate the law enforcement community on how to manage their evidence inventory in a safe and efficient manner while adhering to statutory and administrative rules from a variety of government authorities. If you are interested in a list of Oregon Revised Statutes pertaining to property and evidence or an example of an evidence retention schedule please e-mail me and I will get one to you.  Wendy Svaren,  Svaren@ci.oswego.or.us