Bannock County Sheriff cleared to send seized firearms to public auction

Bannock County Commissioners on Tuesday authorized the sheriff's office to send a set of firearms seized in criminal cases to a general public auction, with proceeds deposited into the county's drug seizure account.

Sheriff Tony Imani asked the board to approve the sale, saying the items were seized primarily in drug investigations. "These guns are from our asset forfeitures. They were seized from usually drug cases," Imani said. County evidence custodian Maggie Gutierrez was present to answer questions about the items.

Commissioners discussed whether the county should require a Federal Firearms License (FFL) holder to handle sales, noting a prior prosecutor had recommended restricting sales to FFLs. Imani told the board that for this group of weapons the sheriff's office planned to use the county's general auction process and that the department had been advised that broader public bidding typically brings higher proceeds. "You get more money in the general auction than you do when you limit the number of people being able to bid on," a commissioner said; Imani agreed.

After a short discussion the commission member moved to authorize the items to go to auction. The board then voted in favor; the chair called for those in favor to say "aye," and the motion passed.

The board did not state a timeline for the auction in the public portion of the meeting. The sheriff's office indicated proceeds would be deposited into the county drug seizure account as required by law.