Bill Text: CA SB820 | 2023-2024 | Regular Session | Amended

California Senate Bill 820 (Prior Session Legislation)

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

Bill Title: Cannabis: enforcement: seizure of property.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2024-08-15 - August 15 hearing: Held in committee and under submission. [SB820 Detail]

Download: California-2023-SB820-Amended.html

Amended IN Senate March 21, 2023

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2023–2024 REGULAR SESSION

Senate Bill

No. 820

Introduced by Senator Alvarado-Gil

February 17, 2023

~~An act to amend Section 326 of the Business and Professions Code, relating to consumer complaints.~~ An act to add Section 26038.2 of the Business and Professions Code, relating to cannabis.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

SB 820, as amended, Alvarado-Gil. ~~Consumer complaints.~~ Cannabis: enforcement: seizure of property.

The Control, Regulate and Tax Adult Use of Marijuana Act (AUMA), an initiative measure approved as Proposition 64 at the November 8, 2016, statewide general election, authorizes a person who obtains a state license under AUMA to engage in commercial adult-use cannabis activity pursuant to that license and applicable local ordinances. Existing law, the Medicinal and Adult-Use Cannabis Regulation and Safety Act (MAUCRSA), among other things, consolidates the licensure and regulation of commercial medicinal and adult-use cannabis activities. MAUCRSA establishes the Department of Cannabis Control within the Business, Consumer Services, and Housing Agency to administer the act, and requires the department to be under the supervision and control of a director. MAUCRSA provides that a person engaging in commercial cannabis activity without a license is subject to civil penalties, as specified.
The bill would authorize the department or any local jurisdiction to seize specified property in the place or building, or within any yard or enclosure, where commercial cannabis activity is conducted without a license required by MAUCRSA, and to seize any vehicle used to conceal, convey, carry, deliver, or transport cannabis or cannabis products by or for a person engaging in commercial cannabis activity without that license. The bill would impose requirements for notice of seizure, forfeiture proceedings, and the sale and distribution of proceeds upon a judgment in favor of the forfeiture.
The Consumer Affairs Act requires the Director of the Department of Consumer Affairs to administer and enforce that act to protect and promote the interests of consumers regarding the purchase of goods or services. The director, upon receipt of a consumer complaint relating to specified violations, is required to transmit any valid complaint to the local, state, or federal agency whose authority provides the most effective means to secure the relief. The act requires the director to advise the consumer of the action taken on the complaint, as appropriate, and of any other means that may be available to the consumer to secure relief.
~~This bill would make nonsubstantive changes to those consumer complaint provisions.~~

Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: NOYES Local Program: NO

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.

Section 26038.2 is added to the Business and Professions Code, to read:

26038.2.
(a) (1) The department or any local jurisdiction may seize implements, instruments, vehicles, currency, or personal property in the place or building, or within any yard or enclosure, where commercial cannabis activity is conducted without a license required by this division.
(2) The department or any local jurisdiction may seize an automobile or other vehicle used to conceal, convey, carry, deliver, or transport cannabis or cannabis products by or for a person engaging in commercial cannabis activity without a license required by this division.
(b) When property is seized pursuant to this section, the property shall be subjected to a forfeiture proceeding in the superior court as provided in this section, and these forfeitures are hereby declared to be statutory forfeitures.
(c) Notice of the seizure and of the intended forfeiture proceeding shall be filed with the clerk of the court and shall be served on all persons, firms, or corporations having a right, title, or interest in the property seized. If the owner or owners are unknown or cannot be found, notice of the seizure and intended forfeiture proceedings shall be made upon those owners by publication pursuant to Section 6061 of the Government Code in the county where the seizure was made.
(d) Within 20 days after service of the notice of seizure and intended forfeiture proceedings, or within 20 days after the date of publication, the owner or owners of the property seized may file a verified answer to the fact of the alleged use of the property as described in subdivision (a). The claimant of a right, title, or interest in the property seized may make a verified answer to establish the claimant’s claim as provided in paragraph (1) of subdivision (g). An extension of time shall not be granted for the purpose of making the verified answer.
(e) If, at the end of 20 days after the notice has been mailed or published, there is no verified answer on file, the court shall hear evidence upon the fact of use of the property as described in subdivision (a) and, upon proof thereof, shall order the property forfeited to the State of California.
(f) (1) If a verified answer has been filed, the forfeiture proceeding may be set for hearing on a day within 30 days from the date of filing, and notice of this proceeding shall be given to the owner or owners filing verified answers.
(2) At the time set for the hearing, an owner who has verified answers on file may show by competent evidence that the property was not in fact used in the manner described in subdivision (a).
(3) If the fact is determined that property was not used as described in subdivision (a), the court shall order the property released to the owner or owners of the property.
(g) (1) At the time set for the hearing the claimant of a right, title, or interest in the property under a lien, mortgage, or conditional sales contract that is officially of record may prove that the lien, mortgage, or conditional sales contract is bona fide and was created after a reasonable investigation of the moral responsibility, character, and reputation of the lienor, mortgagor, or vendee and without any knowledge that the property was being, or was to be, used in the manner set forth in subdivision (a).
(2) If the lienholder, mortgagee, or vendor proves the facts set forth in paragraph (1), the court shall order the property released to them if the amount due to them is equal to, or in excess of, the value of the property. If the amount due to them is less than the value of the property, the property shall be sold at public auction by the department or the local jurisdiction, and the remainder of the proceeds of the sale, after payment of the balance due on the purchase price, mortgage, or lien, shall be distributed pursuant to subdivision (h).
(h) Upon a judgment in favor of the forfeiture, the property shall be sold at public auction by the department or the local jurisdiction. The proceeds of that sale shall be distributed as follows:
(1) To the department or local jurisdiction for all expenditures made or incurred by it in connection with the seizure, forfeiture, and sale of the property, including expenditures for any necessary repairs, storage, or transportation of any property seized under this section.
(2) The remaining funds shall be distributed as follows:
(A) In the case of property seized by the department, the funds shall be shall be paid to the Treasurer for deposit into the General Fund.
(B) In the case of property seized by a local jurisdiction, the funds shall be paid one-half to the local jurisdiction and one-half to the Treasurer for deposit into the General Fund.
(i) The remedies or penalties provided by this section are cumulative to the remedies or penalties available under other law.

SECTION 1.Section 326 of the Business and Professions Code is amended to read:
326.
(a)Upon receipt of a complaint pursuant to Section 325, the director may notify the person against whom the complaint is made of the nature of the complaint and may request appropriate relief for the consumer.
~~(b)(1)The director shall also transmit any valid complaint to the local, state, or federal agency whose authority provides the most effective means to secure the relief.~~
~~(2)The director shall, if appropriate, advise the consumer of the action taken on the complaint and of any other means that may be available to the consumer to secure relief.~~
(c)If the director receives a complaint or receives information from any source indicating a probable violation of any law, rule, or order of any regulatory agency of the state, or if a pattern of complaints from consumers develops, the director shall transmit any complaint the director considers to be valid to any appropriate law enforcement or regulatory agency and any evidence or information the director may have concerning the probable violation or pattern of complaints or request the Attorney General to undertake appropriate legal action. It shall be the continuing duty of the director to discern patterns of complaints and to ascertain the nature and extent of action taken with respect to the probable violations or pattern of complaints.