Okla. Stat. tit. 47, § 47-1505

identity of rightful owner - Disposition of forfeited property -

Issuance of new certificate of title or salvage certificate.

A. The following are subject to forfeiture unless obtained by

theft, fraud or conspiracy to defraud and the rightful owner is

known or can be identified and located:

1. Any tool;

2. Any implement; or

3. Any instrumentality, including but not limited to, real

estate, any motor vehicle or motor vehicle part, whether owned or

unowned by the person from whose possession or control it was

seized, which is used or possessed either in violation of Section

1503 of this title or to promote or facilitate a violation of

Section 1503 of this title.

B. Any motor vehicle, other conveyance, or motor vehicle part

used by any person as a common carrier is subject to forfeiture

under this section where the owner or other person in charge of the

motor vehicle, other conveyance, or motor vehicle part is a

consenting party to a violation of Section 1503 of this title.

Oklahoma Statutes - Title 47. Motor Vehicles Page 1456

C. Any motor vehicle, motor vehicle part, other conveyance,

tool, implement, or instrumentality is not subject to forfeiture

under this section by reason of any act or omission which the owner

proves to have been committed or omitted without the owner's

knowledge or consent.

D. 1. Seizing agencies will utilize their best efforts to

identify any seized motor vehicle or motor vehicle part to determine

ownership or the identity of any other person having a right or

interest in a seized motor vehicle or motor vehicle part. In its

reasonable identification and owner location attempts, the seizing

agency will cause the stolen motor vehicle files of the state police

to be searched for stolen or wanted information on motor vehicles

similar to the seized motor vehicle or consistent with the seized

motor vehicle part.

2. Where a motor vehicle or motor vehicle part has an apparent

value in excess of One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00),

a. the seizing agency shall consult with an expert of the

type specified in paragraph 4 of Section 1502 of this

title,

b. the seizing agency shall also request searches of the

on-line and off-line files of the National Crime

Information Center (NCIC) and the National Automobile

Theft Bureau (NATB) when the state police files have

been searched with negative results.

E. A forfeiture of a motor vehicle, motor vehicle part, or

other conveyance encumbered by a bona fide security interest is

subject to the interest of the secured party where the secured party

neither had knowledge of nor consented to the act or omission

forming the ground for the forfeiture.

F. Property, described in subsection A of this section, seized

and held for forfeiture, shall not be subject to replevin and is

subject only to the order and judgments of a court of competent

jurisdiction hearing the forfeiture proceedings.

G. 1. The district attorney in the county where the seizure

occurs, or the attorney for the Oklahoma State Bureau of

Investigation (OSBI) in cases investigated by the OSBI, or the

attorney for the Department of Public Safety in cases investigated

by the Department shall bring an action for forfeiture in a court of

competent jurisdiction. The forfeiture action shall be brought

within sixty (60) days from the date of seizure except where the

attorney prosecuting the forfeiture in the sound exercise of

discretion determines that no forfeiture action should be brought

because of the rights of property owners, lienholders, or secured

creditors, or because of exculpatory, exonerating, or mitigating

facts and circumstances.

2. The attorney prosecuting the forfeiture shall give notice of

the forfeiture proceeding by mailing a copy of the complaint in the

Oklahoma Statutes - Title 47. Motor Vehicles Page 1457

forfeiture proceeding to each person whose right, title, or interest

is of record in Service Oklahoma, the Department of Public Safety,
use of exculpatory, exonerating, or mitigating

facts and circumstances.

2. The attorney prosecuting the forfeiture shall give notice of

the forfeiture proceeding by mailing a copy of the complaint in the

Oklahoma Statutes - Title 47. Motor Vehicles Page 1457

forfeiture proceeding to each person whose right, title, or interest

is of record in Service Oklahoma, the Department of Public Safety,

the Federal Aviation Agency, or any other department of the state,

or any other state or territory of the United States, or of the

federal government if such property is required to be registered in

any such department.

3. Notice of the proceeding shall be given to any such other

person as may appear, from the facts and circumstances, to have any

right, title, or interest in or to the property.

4. The owner of the property, or any person having, or

claiming, right, title, or interest in the property may within sixty

(60) days after the mailing of such notice file a verified answer to

the complaint and may appear at the hearing on the action for

forfeiture.

5. The attorney prosecuting the forfeiture shall show at a

forfeiture hearing, by a preponderance of the evidence, that such

property was used in the commission of a violation of Section 1503

of this title, or was used or possessed to facilitate such

violation.

6. The owner of property may show by a preponderance of the

evidence that the owner did not know, and did not have reason to

know, that the property was to be used or possessed in the

commission of any violation or that any of the exceptions to

forfeiture are applicable.

7. Unless the attorney prosecuting the forfeiture shall make

the showing required of it, the court shall order the property

released to the owner. Where the attorney prosecuting the

forfeiture has made such a showing, the court may order:

a. the property be destroyed by the agency which seized

it or some other agency designated by the court,

b. the property be delivered and retained for use by the

agency which seized it or some other agency designated

by the court, or

c. the property be sold at public sale.

H. A copy of a forfeiture order shall be filed with the sheriff

of the county in which the forfeiture occurs and with each federal

or state department with which such property is required to be

registered. Such order, when filed, constitutes authority for the

issuance to the agency to whom the property is delivered and

retained for use or to any purchaser of the property of a title

certificate, registration certificate, or other special certificate

as may be required by law considering the condition of the property.

I. Proceeds from sale at public auction, after payment of all

reasonable charges and expenses incurred by the agency designated by

the court to conduct the sale in storing and selling the property,

shall be paid to the general fund of the county of seizure, the

special agency account of the Oklahoma State Bureau of

Oklahoma Statutes - Title 47. Motor Vehicles Page 1458

Investigation, or treasury of the governmental unit employing the

seizing agency.

J. No motor vehicle, either seized under Section 1504 of this

title or forfeited under this section, shall be released by the

seizing agency or used or sold by an agency designated by the court

unless any altered, counterfeited, defaced, destroyed, disguised,

falsified, forged, obliterated, or removed vehicle identification

number is corrected by the issuance and affixing of either an

assigned or replacement vehicle identification number plate as may

be appropriate under laws or regulations of this state.

K. No motor vehicle part having any altered, counterfeited,

defaced, destroyed, disguised, falsified, forged, obliterated, or

removed vehicle identification number shall be disposed of upon

forfeiture except by destruction thereof, except that this provision

shall not apply to any such motor vehicle part which is assembled
plate as may

be appropriate under laws or regulations of this state.

K. No motor vehicle part having any altered, counterfeited,

defaced, destroyed, disguised, falsified, forged, obliterated, or

removed vehicle identification number shall be disposed of upon

forfeiture except by destruction thereof, except that this provision

shall not apply to any such motor vehicle part which is assembled

with and constitutes part of a motor vehicle.

L. No motor vehicle or motor vehicle part shall be forfeited

under this section solely on the basis that it is unidentifiable.

Instead of forfeiture, any seized motor vehicle or motor vehicle

part which is unidentifiable shall be the subject of a written

report sent by the seizing agency to the Department of Public Safety

which report shall include a description of the motor vehicle or

motor vehicle part, its color, if any, the date, time and place of

its seizure, the name of the person from whose possession or control

it was seized, the grounds for its seizure, and the location where

the same is held or stored.

M. When a seized unidentifiable motor vehicle or motor vehicle

part has been held for sixty (60) days or more after the notice to

the Department of Public Safety specified in subsection L of this

section, has been given, the seizing agency, or its agent, shall

cause the motor vehicle or motor vehicle part to be sold at public

sale to the highest bidder. Notice of the time and place of sale

shall be posted in a conspicuous place for at least thirty (30) days

prior to the sale on the premises where the motor vehicle or motor

vehicle part has been stored.

N. When a seized unidentifiable motor vehicle or motor vehicle

part has an apparent value of One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00) or

less, the seizing agency shall authorize the disposal of the motor

vehicle or motor vehicle part, provided that no such disposition

shall be made less then sixty (60) days after the date of seizure.

O. The proceeds of the public sale of an unidentifiable motor

vehicle or motor vehicle part shall be deposited in the special

agency account of the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation, or

treasury of the governmental unit employing the seizing agency after

deduction of any reasonable and necessary towing and storage

charges.

Oklahoma Statutes - Title 47. Motor Vehicles Page 1459

P. Seizing agencies will utilize their best efforts to arrange

for the towing and storing of motor vehicles and motor vehicle parts

in the most economical manner possible. In no event shall the owner

of a motor vehicle or a motor vehicle part be required to pay more

than the minimum reasonable costs of towing and storage.

Q. A seized motor vehicle or motor vehicle part that is neither

forfeited nor unidentifiable shall be held subject to the order of

the court in which the criminal action is pending or, if a request

for its release from such custody is made until the district

attorney has notified the defendant or the defendant's attorney of

such request and both the prosecution and defense have been afforded

a reasonable opportunity for an examination of the property to

determine its true value and to produce or reproduce, by photographs

or other identifying techniques, legally sufficient evidence for

introduction at trial or other criminal proceedings. Upon

expiration of a reasonable time for the completion of the

examination which in no event shall exceed fourteen (14) days from

the date of service upon the defense of the notice of request for

return of property as provided herein, the property shall be

released to the person making such request after satisfactory proof

of such person's entitlement to the possession thereof.

Notwithstanding the foregoing, upon application by either party with

notice to the other, the court may order retention of the property

if it determines that retention is necessary in the furtherance of

justice.
turn of property as provided herein, the property shall be

released to the person making such request after satisfactory proof

of such person's entitlement to the possession thereof.

Notwithstanding the foregoing, upon application by either party with

notice to the other, the court may order retention of the property

if it determines that retention is necessary in the furtherance of

justice.

R. When a seized vehicle is forfeited, restored to its owner,

or disposed of as unidentifiable, the seizing agency shall retain a

report of the transaction for a period of at least one (1) year from

the date of the transaction.

S. When an applicant for a certificate of title or salvage

certificate presents to Service Oklahoma proof that the applicant

purchased or acquired a motor vehicle at a public sale conducted

pursuant to this section and such fact is attested to by the seizing

agency, Service Oklahoma shall issue a certificate of title, salvage

certificate for the motor vehicle upon receipt of the statutory fee,

properly executed application for a certificate of title, or other

certificate of ownership, and the affidavit of the seizing agency

that a state-assigned number was applied for and affixed to the

motor vehicle prior to the time that the motor vehicle was released

by the seizing agency to the purchaser.