(a) The Department of Administration shall take possession of obsolete or surplus property of the state, including recyclable property, for which there is no immediate or prospective use, except abandoned or obsolete school buildings and other school property. It shall also take possession of property, including recyclable property, remaining in the control of a commission or board of the state government after the commission or board stops functioning. The Department of Administration shall sell, lease, license, or dispose of the property on the terms it considers for the best interests of the state in conformance with regulations adopted under AS 36.30 (State Procurement Code). In this section, “recyclable property” means property that cannot be used for its intended purpose in its present form, but that can be used to create new property.
(b) Before a state agency transfers obsolete or surplus property to the Department of Administration for sale, lease, licensing, or other disposition under (a) of this section, the state agency shall reconfigure or erase all functions, including electronic functions, of the property as necessary to prevent the property from producing indicators that the property, or a product generated by the property, is property of the state or is generated by a state agency.
(c) A group of volunteers that is organized to provide search and rescue services in the state, including participation in a search and rescue party under AS 18.60.120, may exercise a right of first refusal with respect to obsolete or surplus state property that may assist in carrying out search and rescue services before the property is sold, leased, licensed, or disposed of under (a) of this section. To qualify under this subsection, the group shall be organized as a nonprofit corporation under AS 10.20 or exercise the right of first refusal through and in the name of the municipality in which the group is located or a Native village council operating in the area in which the group is located that agrees to accept the property and use the property for search and rescue services. If the group exercises the right of first refusal through and in the name of a municipality or Native village council, the municipality or Native village council shall own the property. The Department of Administration shall provide public notice of the availability of obsolete or surplus state property that may assist in carrying out search and rescue services before the property is sold, leased, licensed, or disposed of under (a) of this section, as provided by regulation. In this subsection, “search and rescue services” means a search for a person who is lost, injured, killed, or in need of immediate rescue, the provision of aid to a person who is in distress or in immediate danger, or the retrieval of a person's remains.