California Codes, Civil Code - CIV, Division 3 — Obligations, Part 4 — Obligations Arising from Particular Transactions, Title 6 — Service, Chapter 4 — Lost and Unclaimed Property, Article 1 — Lost Money and Goods, Section 2080.10

(a) When a public agency obtains possession of personal property from a person for temporary safekeeping, the public agency shall do all of the following:

(1) Take responsibility for the storage, documentation, and disposition of the property.

(2) Provide the person from whom the property was taken with a receipt and instructions for the retrieval of the property. The receipt and instructions shall either be given to the person from whom the property was taken at the time the public agency obtains the property or immediately mailed, by first-class mail, to the person from whom the property was taken.

(3) If the public agency has knowledge that the person from whom the property was taken is not the owner, the agency shall make reasonable efforts to identify the owner. If the owner is identified, the public agency shall mail, by first-class mail, a receipt and instructions for the retrieval of the property.

(b) The receipt and instructions shall notify the person from whom the property was taken that the property must be claimed within 60 days after the public agency obtains possession or the property will be disposed of in accordance with the disposal provisions of this article. Within 60 days, the person may do one of the following:

(1) Retrieve the property.

(2) Authorize in writing another person to retrieve the property.

(3) Notify the public agency in writing that he or she is unable to retrieve the property, because he or she is in custody, and request the public agency to hold the property. If a person notifies the public agency that he or she is unable to retrieve the property within 60 days, or have an authorized person retrieve the property, the public agency shall hold the property for not longer than 10 additional months.

(c) The public agency shall not be liable for damages caused by any official action performed with due care regarding the disposition of personal property pursuant to this section and the disposal provisions of this article.

(d) As used in this section, “public agency” means any state agency, any city, county, city and county, special district, or other political subdivision.