The sheriff shall take charge of, safely keep, and keep a correct account of, all money and valuables found on each prisoner when delivered at the county jail. Except when otherwise ordered by a court of competent jurisdiction, the sheriff shall pay such money or sums therefrom and deliver such valuables or portions thereof as the prisoner directs and shall pay and deliver all the remainder of his money and valuables to the prisoner or to his order upon his release from the jail or to his legal representative in case of his death or legal incapacity to make decisions.
Cal. Gov. Code § 26640
Prisoners’ Property
Applied in 7 court decisions — leading case 34 Cal. 3d 711 - People v. Laiwa (1983)
Most recently applied in 49 Cal. App. 4th 1471 - People Ex Rel. Deputy Sheriffs' Ass'n v. County of Santa Clara (October 1996)
Amended by Stats. 2014, Ch. 144, Sec. 22
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
Official source: California Legislative Information. Reproduced from public-domain California statutes; confirm against the official source for the current text. Not legal advice.