Experience

• Property clerks must have a high school diploma or a GED. To qualify for the position, applicants must pass local, state and federal criminal background checks. They must also pass random drug screenings.
  
  

Skills

• Property clerks must be meticulously organized. They should have pleasant demeanors and interpersonal skills, as they deal with police officers checking property in and out.
  
  

Responsibilities

• Property clerks are responsible for evidence seized from prisoners or crime scenes. They must document the intake of each item, including a description of the item, the name of the owner, the name of the officer who retained the item, and the reason for it. Property clerks must store these items safely according to procedure. When an officer fills out the proper paperwork, the property clerk can release the evidence.
  
  Property clerks can also release evidence to owners in the case of property being stolen. Owners must present proof of ownership to the property clerk to claim their property.
  
  When authorized, they also dispose of drugs and other articles, such as weapons, that are required to be destroyed. Evidence must be destroyed in front of a witness.
  
  Property clerks must prepare lists of unclaimed articles so that they may either be sold at auction or donated to charity. They also list and send unclaimed money to the office of the auditor.
  
  

Compensation

• The average annual salary for property clerks in January 2010 was $32,000, according to Simply Hired. Salaries vary based on location; for example, according to Salary Expert, property clerks in Chicago, Illinois earned $70,282, while those in Charlotte, North Carolina earned $46,338.
  
  Full-time property clerks are eligible for medical benefits and retirement packages.
  
  

Environment

• Property clerks work in warehouses. They maintain offices where they must greet police officers and handle paperwork and property.