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obi <br />132-5 CN. 132. PUBLIC RECI)Itl)S ~ 132-5.1 <br />• • be guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction imprisoned for a <br />term not exceeding two years or fined not exceeding one thousand <br />dollars ($1,000) or both. (1935, c. 265, s. 4; 1943, c. 237; 1973, c. 476, <br />s. 48; 1975, c. 696, s. 1.) <br />§ 132-5. Demanding custody. <br />Whoever is entitled to the. custody of public records shall demand <br />them from any person having illegal possession of them, who shall <br />forthwith deliver the same to him. If the person who unlawfully <br />possesses public records shall without just cause refuse or neglect <br />for 10 days after a request made in writing by any citizen of the <br />• • State to deliver such records to their lawful custodian, he shall be <br />guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction imprisoned for a term <br />not exceeding two years or fined not exrceeding one thousand dollars <br />($1,000) or both. (1935, c. 265, s. 5; 1975, c. 696, s. 2.) <br />§ 132-5.1. Regaining custody; civil remedies. <br />(a) The Secretary of the Department of Cultural Resources or his <br />designated representative or any public official who is the custo- <br />dian of public records which are in the possession of a person or <br />agency not authorized by the custodian or by law to possess such <br />public records may petition the superior court in the county in <br />which the person holding such records resides or in which the mate- <br />rials in issue, or any part thereof, are located for the return of such <br />public records. The court may order such public records to be deliv- <br />ered to the petitioner upon finding that the materials in issue are <br />public records and that such public records are in the possession of <br />a person not authorized by the custodian of the public records or by <br />law to possess such public records. If the order of delivery does not <br />receive compliance, the petitioner may request that the court en- <br />force such order through its contempt power and procedures. <br />(b) At any time after the filing of the petition set out in subsec- <br />tion (a) or contemporaneous with such filing, the public official <br />seeking the return of the public records may by ex pane petition <br />request the judge or the court in which the action was filed to grant <br />one of the following provisional remedies: <br />(1) An order directed at the sheriff commanding him to seize <br />the materials which are the subject of the action and de- <br />. • liver the same to the court under the circumstances herein- <br />after set forth; or <br />(2) A preliminary injunction preventing the sale, removal, dis- <br />posal or destruction of or damage to such public records <br />pending a final judgment by the court. <br />(c) The judge or court aforesaid shall issue an order of seizure or <br />grant a preliminary injunction upon receipt of an affidavit from the <br />petitioner which alleges that the materials at issue are public <br />records and that unless one of said provisional remedies is granted, <br />there is a danger that such materials shall be sold, secreted, re- <br />. moved out of the State or otherwise disposed of so as not to be <br />forthcoming to answer the final judgment of the court respecting <br />. the same; or that such property may be destroyed or materially <br />damaged or injured if not seized or if injunctive relief is not <br />i granted. <br />• 5 <br />