10 U.S.C. § 7663 : US Code - Section 7663: Prize property appropriated for the use of the United States

Search 10 U.S.C. § 7663 : US Code - Section 7663: Prize property appropriated for the use of the United States

(a) Any officer or agency designated by the President may
appropriate for the use of the United States any captured vessel,
arms, munitions, or other material taken as prize. The department
or agency for whose use the prize property is appropriated shall
deposit the value of the property with the Treasurer of the United
States or with the public depositary nearest to the court in which
the proceedings are to be had, subject to the orders of the court.
(b) Whenever any captured vessel, arms, munitions, or other
material taken as prize is appropriated for the use of the United
States before that property comes into the custody of the prize
court, it shall be surveyed, appraised, and inventoried by persons
as competent and impartial as can be obtained, and the survey,
appraisal, and inventory sent to the court in which the proceedings
are to be had. If the property is appropriated after it comes into
the custody of the court, sufficient notice shall be given to
enable the court to have the property appraised for the protection
of the rights of the claimants.
(c) Notwithstanding subsections (a) and (b), in any case where
prize property is appropriated for the use of the United States, a
prize court may adjudicate the cause on the basis of an inventory
and survey and an appropriate undertaking by the United States to
respond for the value of the property, without either an appraisal
or a deposit of the value of the prize with the Treasurer of the
United States or a public depositary.