Okla. Stat. tit. 63, § 63-4255

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

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

vessel or motor or vessel or motor 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 4253 of this title

or to promote or facilitate a violation of Section 4253 of this

title.

B. Any vessel or motor, other conveyance, or vessel or motor

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

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

consenting party to a violation of Section 4253 of this title.

C. No vessel or motor, vessel or motor part, other conveyance,

tool, implement, or instrumentality is 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 shall utilize their best efforts to

identify any seized vessel or motor or vessel or motor part to

determine ownership or the identity of any other person having a

right or interest in a seized vessel or motor or vessel or motor

part. In its reasonable identification and owner location attempts,

the seizing agency shall cause the National Crime Information Center

(NCIC) to be searched for stolen or wanted information on vessels or

motors similar to the seized vessel or motor or consistent with the

seized vessel or motor part.

2. Where a vessel or motor or vessel or motor 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 Section 4252 of this title, and

b. the seizing agency shall also request searches of the

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

Information Center (NCIC) when the state law

enforcement files have been searched with negative

results.

E. A forfeiture of a vessel or motor, vessel or motor 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 shall bring an action for forfeiture in a court of competent

jurisdiction. The forfeiture action shall be brought within sixty
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 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 district

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attorney 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 district attorney shall give notice of the forfeiture

proceeding by mailing a copy of the complaint in the 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 district attorney 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 4253 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 district attorney shall make the showing required

of it, the court shall order the property released to the owner.

Where the prosecutor 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.

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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 or

treasury of the governmental unit employing the seizing agency.

J. No vessel or motor, either seized under Section 4254 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 hull identification
re or

treasury of the governmental unit employing the seizing agency.

J. No vessel or motor, either seized under Section 4254 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 hull identification

number, manufacturer’s serial number or other identification number

is corrected by the issuance and affixing of either an assigned or

replacement hull identification number plate, manufacturer’s serial

number plate or other identification number plate as may be

appropriate under laws or regulations of this state.

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

destroyed, disguised, falsified, forged, obliterated, or removed

hull identification number, manufacturer’s serial number or other

identification number shall be disposed of upon forfeiture except by

destruction thereof, except that this provision shall not apply to

any vessel or motor part which is assembled with and constitutes

part of a vessel or motor.

L. No vessel or motor or vessel or motor part shall be

forfeited under this section solely on the basis that it is

unidentifiable. Instead of forfeiture, any seized vessel or motor

or vessel or motor 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 vessel

or motor or vessel or motor 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 vessel or motor or vessel or

motor 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 vessel or motor or vessel or motor 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 vessel or

motor or vessel or motor part has been stored.

N. When a seized unidentifiable vessel or motor or vessel or

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

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

vessel or motor or vessel or motor part, provided that no such

disposition shall be made less than sixty (60) days after the date

of seizure.

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

or motor or vessel or motor part shall be deposited in the General

Revenue Fund of the state, or treasury of the governmental unit

employing the seizing agency after deduction of any reasonable and

necessary towing and storage charges.

P. Seizing agencies shall utilize their best efforts to arrange

for the towing and storing of vessels or motors and vessel or motor

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

owner of a vessel or motor or a vessel or motor part be required to

pay more than the minimum reasonable costs of towing and storage.

Q. A seized vessel or motor or vessel or motor 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
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.

R. When a seized vessel or motor 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 vessel or motor 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 vessel or motor 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 vessel or motor prior to the time that the vessel or motor was

released by the seizing agency to the purchaser.