During a visit to Wood County on Thursday, May 29, State Treasurer Larry Pack presented the Wood County Sheriff’s Office with an unclaimed property check worth more than $5,000 from his Office’s recent firearms auction and got a tour of their facility including evidence rooms.

“My Office is proud to return this money to our state and local law enforcement agencies so they can better serve their communities,” Treasurer Pack said. “The Wood County Sheriff’s Department sold 35 firearms during our most recent auction in Charleston on March 27. It’s great to put money back into the hands of our officers so they can make necessary improvements to protect the public.” 

The Wood County Sheriff’s Office received a check valued at $5,078.75 on Thursday afternoon. Sheriff Rick Woodyard said the funding will be used toward new equipment, particularly for a new gymnasium.

“The Commission a few months ago gave us the old 911 Center to set up a gym. We bought several pieces of gym equipment to go out there for our physical fitness for our law enforcement personnel. Our SWAT team also purchased a response vehicle, so it’s a place we can use to store supplies,” Sheriff Woodyard said. “We’ll be able to show that to the Treasurer to show some of the things we’re buying with this money.”

In their evidence room, Sheriff Woodyard said they were also able to use funds to purchase new lockers, new gun racks, and other equipment.

State and local law enforcement agencies are allowed to turn over any unclaimed, seized or outdated firearms in their possession to the Treasurer’s Office for auction. These include weapons that are older and no longer used by a department, or that have been seized as evidence and sitting in storage rooms for an extended amount of time.  

Treasurer Pack recently announced the March firearms auction raised $132,495 to benefit the 18 participating law enforcement agencies, including the Wood County Sheriff’s Office. There were 277 lots up for bid consisting of 624 firearms and 700 pounds of ammunition, which made it the largest firearms auction by volume in Office history.

Over the last month, Treasurer Pack has returned funds from the March firearms auction to other law enforcement agencies including the Bluefield Police Department, the Bridgeport Police Department, the Wyoming County Sheriff’s Office, the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office, and the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office.

Since the fiscal year began on July 1, 2024, the Office’s Unclaimed Property Division has returned nearly $40 million to rightful owners, surpassing the $28 million that was returned to rightful owners during Fiscal Year 2024.

For more information about the unclaimed property program or to find out if the Office is holding any money for you, visit www.WVUnclaimedProperty.gov.