Texas Code of Criminal Procedure

§ 59.02 — FORFEITURE OF CONTRABAND

CR § 59.02Title 1. CODE OF CRIMINAL PROCEDURE · Ch. 59. FORFEITURE OF CONTRABAND

Statute text

(a)Property that is contraband is subject to seizure and forfeiture under this chapter.

(b)Any property that is contraband other than property held as evidence in a criminal investigation or a pending criminal case, money, a negotiable instrument, or a security that is seized under this chapter may be replevied by the owner or interest holder of the property, on execution of a good and valid bond with sufficient surety in a sum equal to the appraised value of the property replevied. The bond may be approved as to form and substance by the court after the court gives notice of the bond to the authority holding the seized property. The bond must be conditioned:

(1)on return of the property to the custody of the state on the day of hearing of the forfeiture proceedings; and

(2)that the interest holder or owner of the property will abide by the decision that may be made in the cause.

(c)An owner or interest holder's interest in property may not be forfeited under this chapter if the owner or interest holder proves by a preponderance of the evidence that the owner or interest holder acquired and perfected the interest:

(1)before or during the act or omission giving rise to forfeiture or, if the property is real property, he acquired an ownership interest, security interest, or lien interest before a lis pendens notice was filed under Article 59.04(g) of this code and did not know or should not reasonably have known of the act or omission giving rise to the forfeiture or that it was likely to occur at or before the time of acquiring and perfecting the interest or, if the property is real property, at or before the time of acquiring the ownership interest, security interest, or lien interest; or

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Legislative history

Acts 2009, 81st Leg., R.S., Ch. 87 (S.B. 1969), Sec. 25.043, eff. September 1, 2009.