Texas Code of Criminal Procedure - Article 59.05. Forfeiture Hearing
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Art. 59.05. FORFEITURE HEARING. (a) All parties must comply
with the rules of pleading as required in civil suits.
(b) All cases under this chapter shall proceed to trial in
the same manner as in other civil cases. The state has the burden of
proving by a preponderance of the evidence that property is subject
to forfeiture.
(c) It is an affirmative defense to forfeiture under this
chapter of property belonging to the spouse of a person whose acts
gave rise to the seizure of community property that, because of an
act of family violence, as defined by Section 71.004, Family Code,
the spouse was unable to prevent the act giving rise to the seizure.
(d) A final conviction for an underlying offense is not a
requirement for forfeiture under this chapter. An owner or
interest holder may present evidence of a dismissal or acquittal of
an underlying offense in a forfeiture proceeding, and evidence of
an acquittal raises a presumption that the property or interest
that is the subject of the hearing is nonforfeitable. This
presumption can be rebutted by evidence that the owner or interest
holder knew or should have known that the property was contraband.
(e) It is the intention of the legislature that asset
forfeiture is remedial in nature and not a form of punishment. If
the court finds that all or any part of the property is subject to
forfeiture, the judge shall forfeit the property to the state, with
the attorney representing the state as the agent for the state,
except that if the court finds that the nonforfeitable interest of
an interest holder in the property is valued in an amount greater
than or substantially equal to the present value of the property,
the court shall order the property released to the interest holder.
If the court finds that the nonforfeitable interest of an interest
holder is valued in an amount substantially less than the present
value of the property and that the property is subject to
forfeiture, the court shall order the property forfeited to the
state with the attorney representing the state acting as the agent
of the state, and making necessary orders to protect the
nonforfeitable interest of the interest holder. On final judgment
of forfeiture, the attorney representing the state shall dispose of
the property in the manner required by Article 59.06 of this code.
(f) On forfeiture to the state of an amount greater than
$2,500, the clerk of the court in which the forfeiture proceeding
was held is entitled to court costs in that proceeding as in other
civil proceedings unless the forfeiture violates federal
requirements for multijurisdictional task force cases authorized
under Chapter 362, Local Government Code. The procedure for
collecting the costs is the procedure established under Subsections
(a) and (c), Article 59.06.
(g) If property is seized at a federal checkpoint, the
notice of seizure and intended forfeiture may be filed in and the
proceeding may be held in:
(1) the county in which the seizure occurred; or
(2) with the consent of the owner, operator, or agent in
charge of the property, a county that is adjacent to the county in
which the seizure occurred, if both counties are in the same
judicial district.
Added by Acts 1989, 71st Leg., 1st C.S., ch. 12, Sec. 1, eff. Oct.
18, 1989. Subsec. (d) amended by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 780,
Sec. 2, eff. Sept. 1, 1993; Subsec. (e) amended by Acts 1995, 74th
Leg., ch. 533, Sec. 2, eff. Sept. 1, 1995; Subsec. (f) added by Acts
1999, 76th Leg., ch. 582, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1999; Subsec. (c)
amended by Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 1276, Sec. 7.002(l), eff. Sept.
1, 2003; Subsec. (g) added by Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 1153, Sec.
1, eff. Sept. 1, 2003.
Article: 57.01 57.02 57.03 59.01 59.02 59.03 59.04 59.05 59.06 59.07 59.08 59.09 59.10 59.11 59.12
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Last modified: August 10, 2007
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