Sec. 20-5.  Disposition of seized property.

 

Unless other disposition is specifically provided by law, when property seized or held is no longer required as evidence, it shall be disposed of on order of the court or such showing as the court may deem adequate, as follows:

 

(1)       Property stolen, embezzled, obtained by false pretenses, or otherwise obtained unlawfully from the rightful owner thereof shall be restored to the owner;

 

(2)       Money shall be restored to the owner unless it was used in unlawful gambling or lotteries in which case it shall be forfeited and disposed of as required by Article VII, section 7, Constitution of Nebraska;

 

(3)       Property which is unclaimed or the ownership of which is unknown shall be sold at a public auction held by the officer having custody thereof and the net proceeds disposed of as provided in subdivision (2) of this section, as shall any money which is unclaimed or the ownership of which is unknown;

 

(4)       Articles of contraband shall be destroyed, except that any such articles which may be capable of lawful use may in the discretion of the court be sold and the proceeds disposed of as provided in subdivision (2) of this section;

 

(5)       Firearms, ammunition, explosives, bombs, and like devices which have been used in the commission of crime shall be disposed of in the same manner as contraband; and

 

(6)       Unless otherwise provided by law, all other property shall be disposed of in such manner as the court in its sound discretion shall direct.