The coroner shall, within forty (40) days after an inquest on a dead body, deliver to the county trustee any money or other property found on the body, unless used for burial, or claimed in the meantime by the legal representatives of the deceased. If the coroner fails so to do, the trustee may, by motion before any tribunal having cognizance of the amount, upon ten (10) days' notice to the coroner, recover from the coroner and the coroner's official sureties the amount or value of the money or property, with interest, and twelve and one half percent (12.5%) damages.
T.C.A. § 38-5-119