Bill Text: MS SB2629 | 2013 | Regular Session | Engrossed
Bill Title: Controlled Substance Law; revise notice for administrative forfeiture.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Failed) 2013-04-01 - Died In Conference [SB2629 Detail]
Download: Mississippi-2013-SB2629-Engrossed.html
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2013 Regular Session
To: Judiciary, Division B
By: Senator(s) Wiggins
Senate Bill 2629
(As Passed the Senate)
AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 41-29-176, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO AUTHORIZE THE USE OF AN INTERNET SITE BY THE BUREAU OF NARCOTICS FOR NOTICE FOR ADMINISTRATIVE FORFEITURE UNDER THE UNIFORM CONTROLLED SUBSTANCES LAW; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:
SECTION 1. Section 41-29-176, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
41-29-176. (1) When any property other than a controlled substance, raw material or paraphernalia, the value of which does not exceed Twenty Thousand Dollars ($20,000.00), is seized under the Uniform Controlled Substances Law, the property may be forfeited by the administrative forfeiture procedures provided for in this section.
(2) The attorney for or any representative of the seizing law enforcement agency shall provide notice of intention to forfeit the seized property administratively, either by certified mail, return receipt requested, or by personal delivery, to all persons who are required to be notified pursuant to Section 41-29-177(2), Mississippi Code of 1972.
(3) In the event that
notice of intention to forfeit the seized property administratively cannot be
given as provided in subsection (2) of this section because of refusal, failure
to claim, insufficient address or any other reason, the attorney for or
representative of the seizing law enforcement agency shall provide notice by
publication in a newspaper of general circulation in the county in which the
seizure occurred for once a week for three (3) consecutive weeks * * *, or by posting a notice on an official
state government forfeiture site for at least thirty (30) consecutive days.
The site shall be created and maintained by the Mississippi Bureau of
Narcotics. Should other seizing law enforcement agencies choose to utilize the
site for Internet publication, the bureau may charge a reasonable fee for such
usage.
(4) Notice pursuant to subsections (2) and (3) of this section shall include the following information:
(a) A description of the property;
(b) The approximate value of the property;
(c) The date and place of the seizure;
(d) The connection between the property and the violation of the Uniform Controlled Substances Law;
(e) The instructions for filing a request for judicial review; and
(f) A statement that the property will be forfeited to the seizing law enforcement agency if a request for judicial review is not timely filed.
(5) Any person claiming an interest in property which is the subject of a notice under this section may, within thirty (30) days after receipt of the notice or of the date of the first publication of the notice, file a petition to contest forfeiture signed by the claimant in the county court, if a county court exists, or otherwise in the circuit court of the county in which the seizure is made or the county in which the criminal prosecution is brought, in order to claim an interest in the property. Upon the filing of the petition and the payment of the filing fees, service of the petition shall be made on the attorney for or representative of the seizing law enforcement agency, and the proceedings shall thereafter be governed by the rules of civil procedure.
(6) If no petition to contest forfeiture is timely filed, the attorney for the seizing law enforcement agency shall prepare a written declaration of forfeiture of the subject property and the forfeited property shall be used, distributed or disposed of in accordance with the provisions of Section 41-29-181, Mississippi Code of 1972.
SECTION 2. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2013, and shall stand repealed from and after June 30, 2013.
