Photo by Eric Ayres The West Virginia Treasurer’s Office on Tuesday presented a check in excess of $26,000 to the Wheeling Police Department. The money represents proceeds generated from auctions of guns and ammunition turned over to the state after being released from evidence. From left are Deputy Chief Josh Sanders, Forensic Specialist DeAnna Ryan, W.Va. Treasurer Larry Pack and Police Chief Shawn Schwertfeger.

WHEELING — The West Virginia Treasurer’s Office is bringing money back to local police departments across the state through its auction of unclaimed firearms and ammunition.

On Tuesday, State Treasurer Larry Pack visited the Wheeling Police Department to personally deliver a check in the amount of $26,343.58 – proceeds from the latest auction in the program.

“It’s a great day to be in Wheeling,” said Pack, who explained how the relatively new program is coordinated. “Basically, what we do is get the guns and ammo out of police evidence rooms after they’re finished with them and bring them to Charleston. We put all of the information together and sell them to licensed firearm dealers, and we bring the money back to local law enforcement agencies.”

Pack said the state has been busy conducting an auction every other month or so, and the program has expanded to include not only in-person auctions but also online auctions, which opens the bidding to a much larger pool of potential buyers. Participation from buyers across the country results in higher prices for the items, Pack explained.

“Overall, we returned about $500,000 to local police departments all around the state of West Virginia last year, and we hope we can beat that number this year,” Pack said, noting that not only are the auctions reaching an expanded pool of participants, police departments are making an effort to turn over firearms more quickly and efficiently.

“Today we’re bringing back $26,000 to the Wheeling Police Department,” Pack said. “We know they need the money – all budgets are tight. So we hope they’ll put it to good use, and we’re sure they will.”

Wheeling Police Chief Shawn Schwertfeger said the department has seized a number of firearms through investigations and various cases over the years. He said the department was honored to have the state treasurer on hand in person for this unique check presentation.

“We very much appreciate working with the state treasurer’s office,” Schwertfeger said.

“I want to give a shout out to DeAnna Ryan. She manages our evidence program. She’s primarily responsible for us abiding by state code and making sure we’re doing the right things.”

Ryan, forensic specialist at the Wheeling Police Department, is a member of the civilian support staff at the department. The police chief said the members of the civilian support staff do vital work, and in this case, makes it easy to work with the state to recoup funds from seized firearms and other evidence.

“This check here will go into the city coffers and will be earmarked for city of Wheeling Police operations,” Schwertfeger said, commending Ryan and Det. Sgt. Rob Safreed for playing instrumental roles in evidence collection and maintenance.

Ryan said dealing with the many items in the evidence room is a key part of her position.

“My primary duty is running the property and evidence room, so I file the annual report with the treasurer’s office for any unclaimed property,” Ryan said. “Once evidence is no longer deemed ‘evidence,’ we try to return it to the owner – if they’re allowed to have it back. If not, then it becomes unclaimed property, and it gets turned over to the state treasurer’s office.”

Pack said a lot of work goes into the firearm and ammunition auctions, and the state keeps track of all of the evidence that is turned over from each police agency across the state. So proceeds from the auctions directly correspond with the amount of items submitted from each department.

“You get what you bring to us,” Pack said. “A lot of work goes into it.”

According to the state treasurer’s office, the winning bid from the September online firearms auction was $130,100, placed from a federal firearm licensed dealer in West Virginia. There were 584 firearms that came from 20 different law enforcement agencies, including the Wheeling Police Department, that were up for bid.

So far in 2025, the treasurer’s office has sold 1,928 firearms and 600 pounds of ammunition for a total of $400,000 from one in-person live auction and four online auctions.

For more information about the unclaimed property program or to find out if the office is holding any money that may belong to any certain individual, visit www.wvunclaimedproperty.gov.