§ 252. Found property and found instruments to be deposited with\npolice; penalty for failure to deliver to police; delivery to persons in\npossession of premises where found. 1. Except as provided in subdivision\nfive of section two hundred fifty-six of this chapter or as otherwise\nprescribed pursuant to section two hundred fifty of the general\nmunicipal law, any person who finds lost property of the value of twenty\ndollars or more or comes into possession of property of the value of\ntwenty dollars or more with knowledge that it is lost property or found\nproperty shall, within ten days after the finding or acquisition of\npossession thereof, either return it to the owner or report such finding\nor acquisition of possession and deposit such property in a police\nstation or police headquarters of the city where the finding occurred or\npossession was acquired, but if the finding occurred or possession was\nacquired in buildings or on grounds or premises under the control and\nsupervision of the commissioner of general services as described in\narticle two of the public buildings law, then the property may also be\ndeposited in a station of the capital buildings police. If the finding\noccurred or possession was acquired outside a city, then such property\nshall be deposited in a station or substation of the state police or in\na police station or police headquarters, including a sheriff's office,\nof the county, town, or village where the finding occurred or possession\nwas acquired. If the finding occurred or possession was acquired in\nbuildings or on grounds or premises constituting a state park, parkway,\nrecreational facility or historic site under the jurisdiction of the\ncommissioner of parks, recreation and historic preservation, then such\nproperty may also be deposited in a station of the regional state park\npolice. If the finding occurred or possession was acquired in buildings\nor on the grounds or premises of the state-operated institutions in the\nstate university of New York, then such property may also be deposited\nwith a security officer or police officer appointed by the state\nuniversity. Property so deposited shall be retained and disposed of in\naccordance with procedures set forth in sections two hundred fifty-three\nthrough two hundred fifty-seven of this chapter except that the powers\nand duties in said sections mentioned to be performed by the police\nshall be performed by security officers or police officers appointed by\nthe state university.\n 2. Except as provided in subdivision five of section two hundred\nfifty-six of this chapter or as otherwise prescribed pursuant to section\ntwo hundred fifty of the general municipal law, any person who finds an\ninstrument or comes into possession of an instrument with knowledge that\nit has been found shall, within ten days after the finding or\nacquisition of possession thereof, either return it to a person entitled\nthereto or report the finding or acquisition of possession and deposit\nthe instrument in a police station or police headquarters, as provided\nin subdivision one of this section, as if such instrument were lost\nproperty having a value of ten dollars or more.\n 3. Except as provided in subdivision four of this section, any person\nwho shall refuse or wilfully neglect to comply with the provisions of\nsubdivision one or subdivision two of this section shall be guilty of a\nmisdemeanor and upon conviction thereof shall be punished by a fine of\nnot more than one hundred dollars or imprisonment not exceeding six\nmonths or both.\n 4. A person shall not be subject to criminal prosecution for failure\nto report a finding or acquisition of possession of found property or of\na found instrument to the police and deposit such property or instrument\nwith the police if, in lieu thereof, he delivers the property or\ninstrument to the person in possession of the premises where the\nproperty or instrument was found, provided he had no reason to
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