(a) Except as provided in subsection (b) of Code Section 16-12-24, every gambling device is declared to be contraband and subject to seizure and confiscation by any state or local authority within whose jurisdiction the same may be found.

(b) At such time as there shall be a final judgment entered in any case or cases in which a seized gambling device is necessary evidence or at such time as the state shall determine that the continued physical existence of the seized gambling device is no longer necessary, the same shall be turned over by that person having custody of the device to the sheriff of the county wherein the device was confiscated. The sheriff shall within ten days after receiving the device destroy the same in the presence of the district attorney of the circuit in which such county is located and shall forward to the state revenue commissioner a certificate so stating which shall include the serial number of the device so destroyed.