(Red Oak) The Montgomery County Board of Supervisors approved a resolution at Tuesday’s regular meeting to add a monthly fee for the safekeeping of firearms taken into custody by court order.
Pursuant to public law, when ordered by the court, the Sheriff’s Office is required to take possession of and securely store firearms. The safekeeping of these firearms imposes ongoing administrative and storage costs on the Sheriff’s Office. To recover a portion of these costs, an additional fee of $5.00 per firearm, per month, shall be assessed to the owner for each firearm held in safekeeping pursuant to a court order.
Montgomery County Sheriff Jon Spunaugle says this is for domestic assaults. The Sheriff’s Office is liable for storing the guns.
Sheriff Spunaugle says that sometime in the last 12 months, these fees began.
Spunaugle says each sheriff’s department can set its own fees up to a reasonable amount. He says they had extensive discussions about pricing.
The fee shall commence on the date the firearm is taken into custody and shall continue until the firearm is lawfully released or otherwise disposed of in accordance with applicable law. The Sheriff’s Office shall be responsible for maintaining records of all assessed and collected fees and for reporting such collections as required by county policy. This resolution shall take effect immediately.
