Arizona Laws 13-4307. Notice of pending forfeiture
A. Within sixty days after making a seizure for forfeiture or simultaneously on filing a related criminal indictment, the state shall file a notice of pending forfeiture proceeding or return the property to the person from whom it was seized. A notice of pending forfeiture proceeding must include all of the following:
Terms Used In Arizona Laws 13-4307
- Attorney for the state: means an attorney designated by the attorney general, by a county attorney or by a city attorney to investigate, commence and prosecute an action under this chapter. See Arizona Laws 13-4301
- Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
- including: means not limited to and is not a term of exclusion. See Arizona Laws 1-215
- Indictment: The formal charge issued by a grand jury stating that there is enough evidence that the defendant committed the crime to justify having a trial; it is used primarily for felonies.
- Interest holder: means a person in whose favor there is a security interest or who is the beneficiary of a perfected encumbrance pertaining to an interest in property. See Arizona Laws 13-4301
- Lien: A claim against real or personal property in satisfaction of a debt.
- Owner: means a person who is not a secured party as defined in section 47-9102 and who has an interest in property, whether legal or equitable. See Arizona Laws 13-4301
- Person: means a human being and, as the context requires, an enterprise, a public or private corporation, an unincorporated association, a partnership, a firm, a society, a government, a governmental authority or an individual or entity capable of holding a legal or beneficial interest in property. See Arizona Laws 13-105
- Property: means anything of value, tangible or intangible. See Arizona Laws 13-105
- Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.
- Seizing agency: means any department or agency of this state or its political subdivisions that regularly employs peace officers and that employs the peace officer who seizes property for forfeiture, or such other agency as the seizing agency may designate in a particular case by its chief executive officer or the chief executive officer's designee. See Arizona Laws 13-4301
- Seizure for forfeiture: means seizure of property by a peace officer and either:
(a) There is an assertion by the seizing agency or by an attorney for the state that the property is subject to forfeiture. See Arizona Laws 13-4301
- Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.
- Vehicle: means a device in, upon or by which any person or property is, may be or could have been transported or drawn upon a highway, waterway or airway, excepting devices moved by human power or used exclusively upon stationary rails or tracks. See Arizona Laws 13-105
1. A description of the property seized.
2. The date and place of seizure of the property.
3. The name and address of the law enforcement agency making the seizure.
4. The specific statutory and factual grounds for the seizure.
B. If the property sought to be forfeited is real property, including fixtures, the attorney for the state may file a lis pendens or a notice of pending forfeiture with respect to the property with the county recorder of the county where the property is located, in addition to any lien provided by Section 13-2314.02 without a filing fee or other charge.
C. A notice of pending forfeiture proceeding must be delivered as follows:
1. If the owner‘s or interest holder‘s name and current address are known, by either:
(a) Personal service.
(b) Mailing a copy of the notice by certified mail to the address.
2. If the owner’s or interest holder’s interest is required by law to be on record with a county recorder’s office, the secretary of state, the motor vehicle division of the department of transportation, the Arizona game and fish department or another state or federal licensing agency in order to perfect an interest in the property, but his current address is not known, by mailing a copy of the notice by certified mail to any address on the record.
3. If the owner’s or interest holder’s address is not known, and is not on record as provided in paragraph 2 of this subsection, or if his interest is not known, by publication in one issue of a newspaper of general circulation in the county in which the seizure occurs.
D. The notice of pending forfeiture proceeding must also be served on the person’s attorney of record and all persons known or reasonably believed by the state to claim an interest in the property.
E. An owner of or interest holder in the property may file a claim against the property at any time within sixty days after the notice or sixty days before a criminal trial, whichever is later, requesting a hearing to adjudicate the validity of the claimed interest in the property. An owner or interest holder may not be charged a filing fee or any other charge for filing the claim. Copies of the claim shall be mailed to the seizing agency and to the attorney for the state.
F. The claim shall be signed by the claimant under penalty of perjury and shall set forth all of the following:
1. The caption of the proceeding as set forth on the notice of pending forfeiture or complaint and the name of the claimant.
2. The address at which the claimant will accept future mailings from the court or the attorney for the state.
3. The nature and extent of the claimant’s interest in the property.
4. All facts supporting the claimant’s claim in the property and its return to the claimant.
5. The precise relief sought.