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HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES - FLOOR VERSION
STATE OF OKLAHOMA
2nd Session of the 58th Legislature (2022)
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
HOUSE BILL NO. 3752 By: Fetgatter of the House
and
Leewright of the Senate
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
An Act relating to crimes and punishments; making
certain acts unlawful; provid ing penalties; amending
21 O.S. 2021, Section 1738, which relates to the
seizure and forfeiture of property used in crimes;
providing for the se izure and forfeiture of real
property under certain circumstances; providing for
codification; and declaring an emergency.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA:
SECTION 1. NEW LAW A new section of law to be codified
in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 1793 of Title 21, unless there
is created a duplication in numbe ring, reads as follows:
A. It shall be unlawful for the owner of real property which
has been used for the purpose of growing and harvesting marijuana
crops to willfully desert or abandon the real property without first
restoring the land to its previous condition.
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B. Any person who violates the provisions of this secti on
shall, upon conviction, be guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by
imprisonment in the c ounty jail for a term of one (1) year, by a
fine of One Hundred Thousand Dollars ($100,000.00), or by both fine
and imprisonment. In addition to or in lieu of a fine , the court
may order the person to reimburse the count y for the cost to
remediate any damage to the land caused by the property owner .
SECTION 2. AMENDATORY 21 O.S. 2021, Section 1738, is
amended to read as follows:
Section 1738. A. 1. Any commissioned peace office r of this
state is authorized to seize any equipmen t, vehicle, airplane,
vessel or any other conveyance that is used in the commission of any
armed robbery offense defined in Section 801 of this title, used to
facilitate the intentional discharge of any ki nd of firearm in
violation of Section 652 of this t itle, used in violation of the
Trademark Anti-Counterfeiting Act, used in the attempt or commiss ion
of any act of burglary in the first or second degree, motor vehicle
theft, unauthorized use of a vehicle, obliteration of distinguishing
numbers on vehicles or criminal possession of vehicles with altered,
removed or obliterated numbers as defined by S ections 1431, 1435,
1716, 1719 and 1720 of this title or Sections 4 -104 and 4-107 of
Title 47 of the Oklahoma Statutes, used in the commission of any
arson offense defined in Section 1401, 1402, 1403, 1404 or 1405 of
this title, used in any manner to facil itate or participate in the
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commission of any human trafficking offense in violation of Section
748 of this title, or used by any defendant when such vehicle or
other conveyance is used in any ma nner by a prostitute, pimp or
panderer to facilitate or parti cipate in the commission of any
prostitution offense in violation of Sections Section 1028, 1029 or
1030 of this title; provided, however, that the vehicle or
conveyance of a customer or anyone merely pr ocuring the services of
a prostitute shall not be include d.
2. No conveyance used by a person as a common carrier in the
transaction of business as a common carr ier shall be forfeited under
the provisions of this section unless it shall appear that the owner
or other person in charge of such conveyance was a co nsenting party
or privy to the unlawful use of the conveyance in violation of this
section.
3. No conveyance shall be forfeited under the provisions of
this section by reason of any act or omissio n established by the
owner thereof to have been committed o r omitted without the
knowledge or consent of such owner, and if the act is committed by
any person other than such owner, the owner shall establish further
that the conveyance was unlawfully in th e possession of a person
other than the owner in violation of the criminal laws of the United
States or of any state.
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B. In addition to the property described in s ubsection A of
this section, the following property is also subject to forfeiture
pursuant to this section:
1. Property used in the commission of thef t of livestock or in
any manner to facilitate the theft of livestock;
2. The proceeds gained from the co mmission of theft of
livestock;
3. Personal property acquired with proceeds gained from the
commission of theft of livestock;
4. All conveyances, inc luding aircraft, vehicles or vessels,
and horses or dogs which are used to transport or in any manner to
facilitate the transportation for the purpose of th e commission of
theft of livestock;
5. Any items having a counterfeit mark and all property that is
owned by or registered to the defendant that is employed or used in
connection with any violation of the Trademark Anti-Counterfeiting
Act;
6. Any weapon possessed, used or available for use in a ny
manner during the commission of a felony within the Stat e of
Oklahoma, or any firearm that is possessed by a convicted felon;
7. Any police scanner used in viol ation of Section 1214 of this
title;
8. Any computer and its components and peripherals, in cluding
but not limited to the central processing unit, mon itor, keyboard,
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printers, scanners, software, and hardware, when it is used in the
commission of any crim e in this state;
9. All property used in the commi ssion of, or in any manner to
facilitate, a violation of Section 1040.12a of this title;
10. All conveyances, including aircraft, vehicles or vessels,
monies, coins and currency, or other instrumentality used or
intended to be used, in any manner or part, to commit a violation of
paragraph 1 of subsection A of Section 1021 of this title, where the
victim of the crime is a minor child, subsection B of Section 1021
of this title, Section 1021.2 of this title , paragraph 1 of
subsection A of Section 1111 of th is title, or paragraphs 2 and 3 of
subsection A of Section 1123 of this title;
11. All conveyances, including aircraft, vehicles or vessels,
monies, coins and currency, or other instrumentality used in an y
manner or part, to commit any violation of the pr ovisions set forth
in Section 748 of this title;
12. Any and all property used in any manner or par t to
facilitate, participate or further the commission of a human
trafficking offense in violation of Sec tion 748 of this title, and
all property, including monies, real estate, or any other tangi ble
assets or property of or derived from or used by a prost itute, pimp
or panderer in any manner or part to facilitate, participate or
further the commission of any prostitution offense in violation of
Sections Section 1028, 1029 or 1030 of this title; provid ed,
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however, any monies, real estate or any other tangib le asset or
property of a customer or anyone merely procuring the services of a
prostitute shall not be i ncluded; and
13. Any vehicle, airplane, vessel, or parts of a vehicle whose
numbers have been removed, altered or obliterated so as to prevent
determination of the true identity or ownership of said property and
parts of vehicles which probable cause indi cates are stolen but
whose true ownership cannot be determined; and
14. Any real property used in any manner or part to commit any
violation of the provisions set forth in Section 1 of this act.
C. Property described in subsectio n A or B of this section may
be held as evidence until a forfeiture has been declared or a
release ordered. Forfeiture actions under this section may be
brought by the distric t attorney in the proper county of venue as
petitioner; provided, in the event t he district attorney elec ts not
to file such action, or fails to file such a ction within ninety (90)
days of the date of the seizure of such equipment, the property
shall be returned to the owner.
D. Notice of seizure and intended forfeiture proceeding sh all
be filed in the offic e of the clerk of the district court for the
county wherein such property is seized and shall b e given all owners
and parties in interest.
E. Notice shall be given according to one of the following
methods:
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1. Upon each owner or party in interest whose right, title, or
interest is of record in the Oklah oma Tax Commission or with the
county clerk for filings under the Uniform Commercial Code, served
in the manner of service of process in civil cases prescribed by
Section 2004 of Title 12 of the Oklahoma S tatutes;
2. Upon each owner or party in interest w hose name and address
is known, served in th e manner of service of process in civil cases
prescribed by Section 2004 of Title 12 of the Oklahoma Statutes; or
3. Upon all other own ers, whose addresses are unknown, but who
are believed to have an interest i n the property by one publication
in a newspaper of general circulation in the county where the
seizure was made.
F. Within sixty (60) days after the mailing or publication of
the notice, the owner of the property and any other party in
interest or claimant may file a verified answer and claim to t he
property described in the notice of seizure and of th e intended
forfeiture proceeding.
G. If at the end of sixty (60) days after the notice has been
mailed or published there is no verified answer on file, th e court
shall hear evidence upon the fact of the unlawful use and may order
the property forfeited t o the state, if such fact is proven.
H. If a verified answer is filed, the forf eiture proceeding
shall be set for hearing.
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I. At the hearing the petitione r shall prove by clear and
convincing evidence that property was used in the attempt or
commission of an act specified in subsection A of this section or is
property described in s ubsection B of this secti on with knowledge by
the owner of the property.
J. The claimant of any right, title, or intere st in the
property may prove the lien, mortgage, or cond itional sales contract
to be bona fide and that the right, title, or interest cr eated by
the document was created without any knowledge or reason to believe
that the property was being, or was to be, used for the purpose
charged.
K. In the event of such p roof, the court may order the property
released to the bona fide or innocent own er, lien holder, mortgage e,
or vendor if the amount due such person is equal to, or in excess
of, the value of the prope rty as of the date of the seizure, it
being the intention of this section to forfeit only the right,
title, or interest of the purchaser , except for items bearin g a
counterfeit mark or used exclusively to manufac ture a counterfeit
mark.
L. If the amount due to such person is less than the value of
the property, or if no bona fide claim is established, the property
may be forfeited to the state and may be sold pur suant to judgment
of the court, as on sale upon exe cution, and as provided in Section
2-508 of Title 63 of the Oklahoma Statutes, except as otherwise
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provided for by law and for property bearing a counterfeit mark
which shall be destroyed.
M. Property taken or detained pursuant to this section shall
not be repleviable, but shall be deemed to be in the custody of the
petitioner or in the custody of the l aw enforcement agency as
provided in the Trademark Anti -Counterfeiting Act. Exc ept for
property required to be destroyed pursuant to the Trademark Anti -
Counterfeiting Act, the petitioner shall releas e said property to
the owner of the property if it is de termined that the owner had no
knowledge of the illegal use of the property or i f there is
insufficient evidence to sustain the burden of showing illegal us e
of such property. If the owner of the pro perty stipulates to the
forfeiture and waives the hearin g, the petitioner may determine if
the value of the property is equal to or less than the outstanding
lien. If such lien exceeds the value of the property, the property
may be released to the lien ho lder. Property which has not been
released by the petit ioner shall be subject to the orders and
decrees of the court or the official ha ving jurisdiction thereof .
N. The petitioner, or the law enforcement agency holding
property pursuant to the Trademark Anti-Counterfeiting Act, shall
not be held civilly liabl e for having custody of the seized property
or proceeding with a forfeiture acti on as provided for in thi s
section.
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O. Attorney fees shall not be assessed against the state or the
petitioner for any actions or proceeding pursuant to Section 1701 et
seq. of this title.
P. The proceeds of the sale of any property shall be
distributed as follows, in the order indicated:
1. To the bona fide or innocent purchas er, conditional sales
vendor, or mortgagee o f the property, if any, up to the amount of
such person's interest in the property, when the court declaring the
forfeiture orders a dis tribution to such person;
2. To the payment of the actual reasonable expens es of
preserving the property;
3. To the victim of the crime to compensate said victim for any
loss incurred as a result of the act for which such property was
forfeited; and
4. The balance to a revolvin g fund in the office of the county
treasurer of the county wherein the property was seized, to be
distributed as follows: one -third (1/3) to the invest igating law
enforcement agency; one-third (1/3) of said fund to be used and
maintained as a revolving fun d by the district attorney to be used
to defray any lawful expenses of the office of the distri ct
attorney; and one-third (1/3) to go to the jail maint enance fund,
with a yearly accounting to the board of county commissioners in
whose county the fund is es tablished. If the petitioner is not the
district attorney, then the one -third (1/3) which woul d have been
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designated to that office shall be distribut ed to the petitioner.
Monies distributed to the jail maintenance fund shall be used to pay
costs for the storage of such property if such property is order ed
released to a bona fide or innocent owner , lien holder, mortgagee,
or vendor and if such funds ar e available in said fund.
Q. If the court finds that the property was not used in the
attempt or commission of an act specified in subsection A of this
section and was not property subject to forfeit ure pursuant to
subsection B of this section and is not property bearing a
counterfeit mark, the court shall order the property released to the
owner as the right, title, or interest appears on record in the Tax
Commission as of the seizure.
R. No vehicle, airplane, or vessel used by a person as a common
carrier in the transaction of business as a common carrier shall be
forfeited pursuant to the provisions of th is section unless it shall
be proven that the owner or other person in charge of such
conveyance was a consenting party or privy to the attempt or
commission of an act specified in subsection A or B of this section.
No property shall be forfeited pursuant to the provisions of this
section by reason of any act or omission established by the owner
thereof to have been committed or omitted without the know ledge or
consent of such owner, and by any person other than such owner while
such property was unlawfull y in the possession of a person other
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than the owner in violation of the criminal laws of the U nited
States or of any state.
S. Whenever any property is forfeited pursuant to this section,
the district court having jurisdiction of the proceeding may order
that the forfeited property may be retained for it s official use by
the state, county, or muni cipal law enforcement agency which seized
the property.
SECTION 3. It being immediately necessary for the preservation
of the public peace, heal th or safety, an emergency is hereby
declared to exist, by reason whereof this act shall take e ffect and
be in full force from and after its passage an d approval.
COMMITTEE REPORT BY: COMMITTEE ON ALCOHOL, TOBACCO AND CONTROLLED
SUBSTANCES, dated 03/03/2022 - DO PASS, As Amended and Coauthored.