Procedure for seizure of property

(a) Any property subject to forfeiture under this part may be seized by the attorney general, the attorney general’s agents, or any law enforcement officer, when acting pursuant to a lawful arrest or search, the execution of a search warrant, a petition to abate a nuisance, or a court order. When property is seized under this part, it may be removed by the seizing agency or official to a place to secure the property, it may be preserved as evidence, it may be padlocked as ordered by a court of record, it may be secured by depositing in an interest bearing account as approved by a court of record or it may be secured as otherwise authorized by law regarding the maintenance, storage, or disposition of seized property. (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.Law enforcement officer: includes a sheriff, sheriff's deputy, and, only for purposes of the enhancement of a crime, a deputy jailer. See Tennessee Code 39-11-106Lien: A claim against real or personal property in satisfaction of a debt.Owner: means a person, other than an interest holder, who has an interest in property. See Tennessee Code 39-11-702Person: includes the singular and the plural and means and includes any individual, firm, partnership, copartnership, association, corporation, governmental subdivision or agency, or other organization or other legal entity, or any agent or servant thereof. See Tennessee Code 39-11-106Personal property: All property that is not real property.Personal property: includes money, goods, chattels, things in action, and evidences of debt. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105Probable cause: A reasonable ground for belief that the offender violated a specific law.Property: means anything of value, and includes any interest in property, including any benefit, privilege, claim or right with respect to anything of value, whether real or personal, tangible or intangible. See Tennessee Code 39-11-702Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.real property: include lands, tenements and hereditaments, and all rights thereto and interests therein, equitable as well as legal. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105Record: means information that is inscribed on a tangible medium or that is stored in an electronic or other medium and is retrievable in a perceivable form. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the several territories of the United States. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105written: includes printing, typewriting, engraving, lithography, and any other mode of representing words and letters. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105(b) Upon seizure of property for forfeiture under this part, the seizing agency or official shall cause to be delivered a written receipt and notice of seizure to the possessor, owner and interest holder as determined from public records. The notice shall list and describe generally the property seized, the agency or official responsible for the seizure and shall state the procedure for obtaining return of the property. The seizing agency shall deliver a copy of the notice to the district attorney general of the judicial district where the seizing agency is located or of the judicial district where the seizure occurred. (c) Upon the seizure of personal property for forfeiture, the seizing agency shall within five (5) working days, apply ex parte for a forfeiture warrant from a judge authorized to issue a search warrant. Upon a finding that probable cause for forfeiture exists, a forfeiture warrant shall issue. The warrant shall be based upon proof by affidavit that there is probable cause that the owner’s interest in the seized property is subject to forfeiture. In the event a forfeiture warrant is not issued, then the property shall immediately be returned unless the property is to be retained for evidence in a criminal proceeding. No forfeiture action for personal property may be filed without the issuance of a forfeiture warrant. (d) No claim need be filed by an interest holder and no interest holder may have interest forfeited without service of a complaint for forfeiture under this part. (e) The attorney general may file a notice of lien lis pendens against any real property subject to forfeiture under this part. The lien shall generally describe the real property and the reason for forfeiture. The notice shall specify the court and jurisdiction in which the action is pending and, if known at the time of the filing of the notice, the case number of the action. After the filing of the notice of lien lis pendens the state shall, as soon as is practicable, serve a copy of the notice upon any person who has a duly recorded interest in the property as reflected in public records. (f) The filing of a noti