NOTICE Upon issuance of a forfeiture warrant, present law requires the judge to retain the affidavit relied upon in support of the warrant and the officer to, within seven working days, send the warrant, a copy of the affidavit and the notice of seizure to the applicable agency. By signing and issuing the forfeiture warrant, the judge is affirming that the required finding of probable cause necessary to issue the warrant has been made. Upon receipt of the documents, the applicable agency must notify any other owner, as may be determined from public records of titles, registrations or other recorded documents, or secured party that a forfeiture warrant has been issued. Upon receipt of the notice of seizure and forfeiture warrant and after interviewing any witnesses, the applicable agency must release the property if there is no legal and factual basis for forfeiture. The seizing agency must maintain a copy of the notice of seizure for all property seized at its main office and the notices and receipts shall be public records. SECURITY INTERESTS If a secured party with a duly perfected security interest receives notification as described above that a forfeiture warrant has been issued with regard to the secured property, then present law requires the secured party to submit proof of the security interest to the applicable agency within 30 days of receipt of the notification in order for the provisions in this heading to apply. A secured party with a duly perfected interest or any successor in interest to the secured party who does not receive notice of intent to forfeit the interest, need not file a claim to preserve any right the party may have to the property. Upon receiving proof of a security interest, no cost bond or other pleadings need be filed by the secured party or successor in interest in order to protect its interest in the seized property or to assert a claim to the property as described below. For seizures occurring on or after July 1, 2025, this bill removes that no cost bond needs to be so filed. CLAIMS Present law authorizes a person asserting a claim to property seized, and described on the notice of seizure, to within 30 days of being notified by the applicable agency that a forfeiture warrant has issued, file with the agency a written claim requesting a hearing and stating the person's interest in the seized property for which a claim is made. Except as provided in the Security Interests heading above, present law requires, with the claim, the claimant to also file a cash bond or attorney or corporate surety bond in the sum of $350, the bond being made payable to the state of Tennessee. However, an indigent person may file a claim in forma pauperis by filing with the claim an affidavit stating that the person is unable to bear the cost of the proceeding. For seizures occurring on or after July 1, 2025, this bill removes these requirements.

Statutes affected:
Introduced: 40-33-206, 40-33-205(a), 40-33-205