(1) The Legal
Division is designated by the commissioner to receive for filing all pleadings
in contested case proceedings under the Act, to maintain the record in
contested case proceedings under the Act, and to administer the Act as set out
in these rules.
(2) Upon receipt of
a Notice of Seizure, Affidavit and Forfeiture Warrant the Legal Division shall:
(a) Search for potential claimants and
secured parties by:
1. Reviewing the Notice
of Seizure and the Forfeiture Warrant,
2. Checking the vehicle's identification
number, registration, and title in appropriate public data bases,
3. Checking the secured party address file
created under subparagraph 2(g) of this Rule, and
4. Checking other sources of indicia of
ownership as may be appropriate for the property seized.
(b) Take steps to notify each potential
claimant and secured party unearthed through the search performed under
subparagraph (2)(a) of this Rule, reflected on a Notice of Seizure, or related
by a seizing agency after the filing of a Notice of Seizure.
(c) All potential claimants and secured
parties shall be sent notification to their last known address that Forfeiture
Warrant has been issued. The notice shall state the name of the potential
claimant or secured party, the name of the person(s) in possession of the
seized property, give a general description of the seized property, the reasons
for the seizure, the procedure by which recovery of the property may be sought,
including the time period in which a claim or proof of security interest shall
be filed with the Legal Division, and the consequences of failing to file
within the time period.
(d) Any
potential claimant who is not notified by the department and who could not
reasonably be discovered pursuant to a search of the applicable public records
shall have thirty (30) days from the date of the Forfeiture Warrant to file a
claim.
(e) Notice to a potential
claimant or secured party shall be given in accordance with state and federal
constitutional requirements. Such notice to a potential claimant or a secured
party may be proven by any method used by the United States Postal Service to
inform its users of the date of delivery of certified mail.
1. When the potential claimant or secured
party or an agent or other representative of the potential claimant or secured
party refuses to accept delivery and it is so stated in the return receipt of
the United States Postal Service, the written return receipt if returned and
filed in the case shall be deemed an actual and valid service of the notice.
Service by mail is complete upon mailing. For purposes of these rules, the
United States Postal Service notation that a properly addressed registered or
certified letter is "unclaimed," or other similar notation, is sufficient
evidence of the potential claimant's refusal to accept delivery.
(f) If no claim or proof of
security interest is received by the conclusion of the thirtieth (30th) day
after the date of the potential claimant's or secured party's receipt of the
Notice of Forfeiture Warrant sent by the Legal Division, seized property shall
be forfeited to the state for disposition under the Act. A final order shall be
issued. The final order shall be sent to each potential claimant and secured
party and the person in possession of seized property.
(g) A secured party may at any time notify
the Legal Division - Nashville in writing of any address or addresses that it
wishes the Legal Division to use when sending a Notice of Forfeiture Warrant to
that secured party. The Legal Division shall keep the requested address or
addresses on file until notified otherwise in writing by the secured party.
Upon receiving written notification of address or addresses from a secured
party in accordance with this rule, that shall be the primary address or
addresses that the Legal Division shall use when sending a Notice of Forfeiture
Warrant to that secured party until notified otherwise in writing by the
secured party.
(3) Upon
receipt of a claim, the Legal Division shall within thirty (30) days of such
receipt establish a hearing date and set such case on a docket. Nothing in
these Rules shall be construed as requiring the hearing to be conducted within
the thirty (30) day period. Only the cases on the docket may be heard on the
merits on that day and at that time.
(4) The commissioner designates the Legal
Division to administer the forfeiture of seized property, to make settlements
on behalf of the department and seizing agency, and to prosecute on behalf of
the department all contested cases under the Act. The Legal Division, in its
discretion, may associate with third party attorneys, e.g., district attorneys,
seizing agency attorneys, etc., to prosecute the contested cases under the
Act.
