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Kokua Line June Watanabe |
Cash belongs to the
finder after 45 daysQuestion: I found a $20 bill at a restaurant and turned it in to the people who work there. Who is responsible for the money now?
Answer: Under state law, if you find money, you're supposed to turn it over to the chief of police of the county in which it was found (or, if it's found at a state airport, to the airports director).
So technically, the restaurant should turn it over to the police department.
We hope you left your name with the restaurant, because if no one claims the money within 45 days, it's yours.
Under Chapter 52D-14 of the Hawaii Revised Statutes, except for money found at state airports, "all money or property found shall be reported or delivered by the finder to the chief of police of the county. When so delivered, it shall be held by the chief of police for 45 days or until claimed by some person who establishes title or right of custody."
If no one claims it within that period, you then have 30 days in which to lay claim after being notified by police.
If neither the owner nor finder claims the money, it is turned over the city director of finance. Unclaimed stolen or found property is supposed to be put up for public auction, the proceeds of which are then forwarded to the finance director.
Money or property found at state airports is handled the same way, except that the airports director is authorized to deposit the money into the airport revenue fund if the finder does not claim it within 30 days of notification.
We checked with the Honolulu Police Department to find out how often money is turned in.
Not surprisingly, it rarely happens, although an officer with the HPD Evidence Division said his experience is that "there are still a lot of honest people out there."
More typical is someone turning in a wallet, which may contain some money.
"We're lucky if we get one a month," the officer said of cash being turned in. "It's very rare."
One recent case involved someone turning in $21 found at Kahala Mall.
The officer wasn't certain, but believes the money ended up being turned over to the finder because no one claimed it within 45 days.
Q: Now that Costco and Home Depot are in Iwilei, there is always a bottleneck during the day, including Saturdays and sometimes Sundays, at Dillingham Boulevard and King Street. Traffic inches along on Dillingham. Are there any plans to change the lights at Dillingham and King?
A: The city Department of Transportation Services is studying new timing plans for the traffic signal at the Dillingham-King intersection.
The plan is to "slightly increase the proportion of green time" for motorists traveling on Dillingham, according to Transportation Director Cheryl Soon.
However, she said it's difficult to make major changes in the signals at that intersection because of the heavy volume of traffic on all approaches, as well as the need to meet requirements for giving pedestrians adequate crossing time, Soon said.
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Call 529-4773, fax 529-4750, or write to Kokua Line,
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Honolulu 96813. As many as possible will be answered.
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