(a) All conveyances and vehicles of transportation including trailers and semitrailers, equine or equidae, or any other equipment, together with all harness or other accessories, which have been used, or are used in the commission of theft of livestock, as defined in Section 13A-8-4(f), shall be contraband, and in the discretion of the circuit court, may be forfeited to the state Department of Agriculture and Industries, as hereinafter provided.
(b) Livestock theft investigators, appointed under Section 2-2-14, or any other officer authorized to enforce those laws pertaining to the theft of livestock, who finds any vehicle, conveyance or equipment, listed above, which is being, or has been, used in the perpetration of the crime of theft of livestock, shall seize said vehicle, conveyance or equipment listed above, and report said seizure to the district attorney in the county where the seizure was made. The report made to the district attorney shall include a full description of the property seized along with a full explanation of the circumstances under which the property was seized.
(c) The district attorney or other prosecuting officer of the judicial circuit, upon receiving such report may at once institute, or cause to be instituted condemnation proceedings in the circuit court, in the same manner that he is directed by law to institute proceedings for the condemnation and forfeiture of automobiles and other vehicles used in the illegal transportation of alcoholic beverages. The provisions of Sections 28-4-286 and 28-4-287, so long as they are in compliance with this section shall apply.
(d) The proceeds of the sale of any property condemned and forfeited to the state Department of Agriculture and Industries under authority of this section, after payment of all expenses in the cause, including the cost of seizure and a keeping of the property pending the proceedings, shall be paid into the State Treasury to the credit of the Agricultural Fund.
(e) Any lienholder with a perfected security interest recorded in accordance with the Uniform Commercial Code may recover the property in kind or may recover the balance remaining after deduction of any costs of recovery and sale.
Last modified: May 3, 2021