§ 36-365. Insurance-related crime property - Forfeiture - Replevin.

A.  The following are subject to forfeiture:

1.  Any tool used to commit an insurance-related crime;

2.  Any implement of an insurance-related crime;

3.  Any instrumentality of an insurance-related crime; and

4.  Any fruit of an insurance-related crime.

B.  A forfeiture of an item or other conveyance encumbered by a bona fide security interest is subject to the interest of the secured party where the secured party neither had knowledge of nor consented to the act or omission forming the ground for the forfeiture.

C.  Property, described in subsection A of this section, seized and held for forfeiture shall not be subject to replevin and is subject only to the order and judgments of a court of competent jurisdiction hearing the forfeiture proceedings.

D.  1.  The district attorney in the county where the seizure occurs or the Attorney General or the Insurance Department shall bring an action for forfeiture in a court of competent jurisdiction.  The forfeiture action shall be brought within sixty (60) days from the date of seizure except where the attorney prosecuting the forfeiture in the sound exercise of discretion determines that no forfeiture action should be brought because of the rights of property owners, lienholders or secured creditors or because of exculpatory, exonerating or mitigating facts and circumstances.

2.  The attorney prosecuting the forfeiture shall give notice of the forfeiture proceeding by mailing a copy of the complaint in the forfeiture proceeding to each person whose right, title, or interest of record in the Oklahoma Tax Commission, the Department of Public Safety, the Federal Aviation Agency, or any other department of the state or any other state or territory of the United States, or of the federal government, if the property is required to be registered in any such department.

3.  Notice of the proceeding shall be given to any other person as may appear, from the facts and circumstances, to have any right, title or interest in or to the property.

4.  The owner of the property or any person having or claiming right, title or interest in the property may, within sixty (60) days after the mailing of the notice, file a verified answer to the complaint and may appear at the hearing on the action for forfeiture.

5.  The attorney prosecuting the forfeiture shall show at a forfeiture hearing, by a preponderance of the evidence, that the property was used in the commission of a violation of an insurance-related crime, or was the fruit of an insurance-related crime.

6.  The owner of property may show by a preponderance of the evidence that the owner did not know and did not have reason to know that the property was to be used or possessed in the commission of any violation or that any of the exceptions to forfeiture are applicable.

7.  Unless the attorney prosecuting the forfeiture shall make the showing required of it, the court shall order the property released to the owner.  Where the attorney prosecuting the forfeiture has made such a showing, the court may order:

a.the property to be destroyed by the agency which seized it or some other agency designated by the court,

b.the property be delivered and retained for use by the Insurance Department, or

c.the property be sold at public sale.

E.  A copy of a forfeiture order shall be filed with the sheriff of the county in which the forfeiture occurs and with each federal or state department with which the property is required to be registered.  The order, when filed, constitutes authority for the issuance to the Insurance Department of a title certificate, registration certificate or other special certificate as may be required by law considering the condition of the property.

F.  Proceeds from sale at public auction, after payment of all reasonable charges and expenses incurred by the agency designated by the court to conduct the sale in storing and selling the property, shall be paid to the Insurance Department Anti-Fraud Revolving Fund.

G.  Seizing agencies shall utilize their best efforts to arrange for the towing and storing of motor vehicles in the most economical manner possible.  The owner of a motor vehicle or a motor vehicle part shall not be required to pay more than the minimum reasonable costs of towing and storage.

H.  A seized item that is neither forfeited nor unidentifiable shall be held subject to the order of the court in which the criminal action is pending or, if a request for its release from the custody is made until the district attorney has notified the defendant or the defendant's attorney of the request and both the prosecution and defense have been afforded a reasonable opportunity for an examination of the property to determine its true value and to produce or reproduce, by photographs or other identifying techniques, legally sufficient evidence for introduction at trial or other criminal proceedings.  Upon expiration of a reasonable time for the completion of the examination which shall not exceed fourteen (14) days from the date of service upon the defense of the notice of request for return of property as provided, the property shall be released to the person making the request after satisfactory proof of the person's entitlement to the possession thereof.  Upon application by either party with notice to the other, the court may order retention of the property if it determines that retention is necessary in the furtherance of justice.

I.  When a seized item is forfeited, restored to its owner or disposed of as unidentifiable, the seizing agency shall retain a report of the transaction for a period of at least one (1) year from the date of the transaction.

J.  When an applicant for a certificate of title or salvage certificate presents to the Oklahoma Tax Commission proof that the applicant purchased or acquired an item at a public sale conducted pursuant to this section and the fact is attested to by the seizing agency, the Oklahoma Tax Commission shall issue the appropriate certificate of title upon receipt of the statutory fee and properly executed application for a certificate of title.

Added by Laws 2012, c. 235, § 7, eff. July 1, 2012.