Lost & Found in the United States, State by State
There is no national lost and found office, and no single law. What happens to an item you lost depends on the state or territory it was lost in, and often on the single department, station or venue that picked it up. These pages set out what the law says where it says anything, who to contact where it does not, and how to put your loss on record.
How long found property is held, where the law says so
The states below have a rule we have read and referenced. A fixed period is a minimum: it starts when the item enters custody, not when you lost it. The remaining states are covered on their own page, with the local contacts that actually decide the outcome there.
| State | Holding period | What that means | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arizona | 30 days | Found property held by a public agency can change hands after just 30 days, the shortest official window of any large state. | Arizona Revised Statutes §12-941 |
| Washington | 60 days | The owner's claim window is 60 days, shorter than in most states, and a finder must report the find within 7 days. | RCW 63.21 |
| California | 90 days | Found property must be held by law enforcement for at least 90 days before it can pass to the finder, be auctioned or disposed of. | California Civil Code §2080.2 |
| Florida | 90 days | The legal window is 90 days once the item is in law enforcement custody. Hotels, airports and theme parks set their own, often much shorter, retention policies. | Florida Statutes ch. 705 |
| Puerto Rico | 3 months | A finder must hand the item to the municipal authority immediately, not to a police station, and the municipality publishes a public notice. Three months after that notice, an unclaimed item, or its value, is awarded to the finder, and an owner who gets the item back owes the finder one tenth of its value (31 L.P.R.A. §7966). | Civil Code of Puerto Rico, art. 749 (31 L.P.R.A. §7965) |
| Illinois | Scales with value | The holding period depends on value: six months for items under $100, one year above. | 765 ILCS 1020 |
| New York | Scales with value | The holding period scales with the item's value: the more it is worth, the longer the police must keep it. A finder must deposit an item worth $20 or more at a police station within 10 days. | New York Personal Property Law §§252-253 |
| Georgia | No statewide period | There is no statewide clock. Retention is decided by local policy, and Atlanta's airport runs its own separate circuit. | OCGA §16-8-6 |
| Ohio | No statewide period | Police must make reasonable efforts to identify the owner, but retention periods are set locally rather than statewide. | Ohio Revised Code §2933.41 |
| Pennsylvania | No statewide period | There is no single statewide holding period. Each department, transit agency and venue defines its own retention and claim procedure, often a few months, never guaranteed. | Set locally |
| Texas | No statewide period | There is no statewide holding period. Each police department, transit agency and venue sets its own retention policy, commonly around 90 days but different in every city. Contact the relevant organization to confirm its procedure. | Set locally |
Browse every state and territory
Each page explains how lost and found works there and lists the cities we cover, with the local desks, transit operators and venues to contact. Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico run their own circuits and have their own page. You can also browse the most recent reports filed across the country.
- Alabama149 cities
- Alaska33 cities
- Arizona112 cities · 30 days
- Arkansas92 cities
- California731 cities · 90 days
- Colorado136 cities
- Connecticut181 cities
- Delaware29 cities
- District of Columbia1 city
- Florida555 cities · 90 days
- Georgia207 cities · No statewide period
- Hawaii69 cities
- Idaho43 cities
- Illinois396 cities · Scales with value
- Indiana158 cities
- Iowa108 cities
- Kansas79 cities
- Kentucky110 cities
- Louisiana133 cities
- Maine104 cities
- Maryland232 cities
- Massachusetts298 cities
- Michigan224 cities
- Minnesota190 cities
- Mississippi87 cities
- Missouri185 cities
- Montana34 cities
- Nebraska41 cities
- Nevada38 cities
- New Hampshire109 cities
- New Jersey331 cities
- New Mexico58 cities
- New York376 cities · Scales with value
- North Carolina230 cities
- North Dakota16 cities
- Ohio358 cities · No statewide period
- Oklahoma90 cities
- Oregon119 cities
- Pennsylvania384 cities · No statewide period
- Puerto Rico129 cities · 3 months
- Rhode Island44 cities
- South Carolina130 cities
- South Dakota22 cities
- Tennessee144 cities
- Texas504 cities · No statewide period
- Utah105 cities
- Vermont48 cities
- Virginia223 cities
- Washington230 cities · 60 days
- West Virginia40 cities
- Wisconsin188 cities
- Wyoming23 cities
Lost something in the United States?
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Report my lost item →Lost & found in the United States: common questions
Is there one lost and found law for the whole United States?
No. Found property is governed state by state, and in several states not even at state level. California sets 90 days in its Civil Code, Arizona 30 days, Washington 60. Texas and Pennsylvania set no statewide period at all: each police department, transit agency and venue writes its own retention policy.
How long will the police keep an item I lost?
Where a statute exists, it sets a minimum, not a maximum, and the clock usually starts when the item reaches law enforcement custody rather than when it was lost. Where no statute exists, the only reliable answer comes from the desk actually holding the item, which is why our city pages list local contacts rather than a national number.
What happens to property nobody claims?
Once the holding period has run, unclaimed property is typically auctioned, transferred to the finder, or disposed of, depending on the state and the agency. Several police departments in the United States sell through public auction platforms, which is where recognisable items sometimes resurface months later.
Do hotels, airports and transit systems follow the same rules?
Rarely. Private venues and transit operators set their own retention windows, often much shorter than the statutory one, and they are usually the first place an item lands. That is why reporting the loss to the venue and to the local service matters more than the statute itself.
General information about lost and found practice in the United States, not legal advice. Statutes and local policies change; check with the agency holding your item before relying on a deadline. Last reviewed: September 2026.