Victim's home was burglarized. Insurance Co. makes cash settlement with victim less a deductible.

Later, 3 guns are recovered as part of investigation. Criminal case has been disposed of. Victim called insurance company asking to get the recovered guns back (was willing to pay a little bit). Insurance company says they aren't in business of selling guns and sends letter to Sheriff's Office asking that guns be destroyed.

My view is that the insurance company abandoned the property by saying they wanted it destroyed. The person with the next greatest right to ownership is the victim.

My question is can the SO give the guns back to the victim outright, or is a property hearing in one of our JP court's required?

Thanks for any help.

The answer to this question may turn on the kind of coverage the homeowner had. Many insurance companies will only cover certain types of contents such as guns and jewelry to a certain limit so that the homeowner must buy additional coverage to insure guns and jewelry to the full value. You will then need a copy of the claim submitted by the homeowner and a good fair market value of the guns recovered. Now bear in mind that once the homeowner accepts the settlement check title to the property covered by the settlement reverts to the insurance company. What I would suggest is figure out the amount of the deductable that the homeowner was out. If there is nothing in the insurance policy to the contrary, I would then compare values of the guns against the deductable. If a gun is within the amount of the deductable then I would say return that gun to the homeowner. If the value of the remaining guns exceeds the policy coverage then return any guns that goes over the policy limits. Any guns that are left that fall within the policy limits should be disposed in the manner directed by the current owner, the insurance company.