Edds, 051076 MSAGO, 1976-0005

Case DateMay 10, 1976
CourtMississippi
Honorable Stephen C. Edds
No. 1976-0005
Mississippi Attorney General Opinions
May 10, 1976
         Honorable Stephen C. Edds          Attorney at Law          P. O. Box 32          Columbus, Mississippi 39701          Dear Mr. Edds:          Attorney General A. F. Summer has received your letter of request and has assigned it to this writer for research and reply.
Your letter of May 3, 1976, states as follows: “As you are aware, our firm represents the City of Columbus. A question has recently arisen concerning the application of Miss. Code Ann. Section 97-37-3 (1972) . For a number of years, it has been the practice of our Municipal Court to allow any arresting officer, who at the time of an arrest confiscates a weapon, to retain that weapon subsequent to its use by the Court, if any. We understand that such a practice has also been followed by a number of municipalities, Justice of Peace Courts, etc. “Under Section 97-37-3, our Municipal Court appears to have wide discretion concerning disposition of such weapons. This particular practice has now been questioned in light of statutory prohibitions against gifts by or to public officials. We inquire whether or not such a practice is authorized under this Code Section and whether or not this gift prohibition statute in any way affects such a practice. “In addition, we also inquire whether or not there would be any prohibition for our Municipal Court to auction periodically these seized weapons or to merely destroy them.”
         Section 97-37-3, Mississippi Code of 1972, states as follows:
Any deadly weapon used in violation of section 97-37-1 shall be seized by the arresting officer, introduced in
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