Cite as: 21 CNCA § 2503

A. The following shall be subject to forfeiture:

1. All controlled dangerous substances which have been manufactured, distributed, dispensed, acquired, concealed or possessed in violation of the Uniform Controlled Dangerous Substances Act;

2. All raw materials, products and equipment of any kind and all drug paraphernalia as defined by the Uniform Controlled Dangerous Substances Act, which are used, or intended for use, in manufacturing, compounding, processing, delivering, importing or exporting, injecting, ingesting, inhaling, or otherwise introducing into the human body any controlled dangerous substance in violation of the provisions of the Uniform Controlled Dangerous Substances Act;

3. All property which is used, or intended for use, as a container for property described in paragraphs 1 and 2 of this subsection;

4. All conveyances, including aircraft, vehicles, vessels, or farm implements which are used to transport, conceal, or cultivate for the purpose of distribution as defined in 21 CNCA § 2101, or in any manner to facilitate the transportation or cultivation for the purpose of sale or receipt of property described in paragraphs 1 or 2 of this subsection or when such property is unlawfully possessed by an occupant thereof, except that:

a. No conveyance used by a person as a common carrier in the transaction of business as a common carrier shall be forfeited under the provisions of the Uniform Controlled Dangerous Substances Act unless it shall appear that the owner or other person in charge of such conveyance was a consenting party or privy to a violation of the Uniform Controlled Dangerous Substances Act; and

b. No conveyance shall be forfeited under 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 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 the possession of a person other than the owner in violation of the criminal laws of the United States, or of any state or Indian nation or tribe;

5. All books, records and research, including formulas, microfilm, tapes and data which are used in violation of the Uniform Controlled Dangerous Substances Act;

6. All things of value furnished, or intended to be furnished, in exchange for a controlled dangerous substance in violation of the Uniform Controlled Dangerous Substances Act, all proceeds traceable to such an exchange, and all monies, negotiable instruments, and securities used, or intended to be used, to facilitate any violation of the Uniform Controlled Dangerous Substances Act;

7. All moneys, coin and currency found in close proximity to forfeitable substances, to forfeitable drug manufacturing or distribution paraphernalia or to forfeitable records of the importation, manufacture or distribution of substances, which are rebuttably presumed to be forfeitable under this act. The burden of proof is upon claimants of the property to rebut this presumption;

8. All real property, including any right, title, and interest in the whole of any lot or tract of land and any appurtenance or improvement thereto, which is used, or intended to be used, in any manner or part, to commit, or to facilitate the commission of, a violation of the Uniform Controlled Dangerous Substances Act which is punishable by imprisonment for more than one (1) year, except that no property right, title or interest shall be forfeited pursuant to this paragraph, by reason of any act or omission established by the owner thereof to have been committed or omitted without the knowledge or consent of that owner.

9. All weapons possessed, used or available for use in any manner to facilitate a violation of the Uniform Controlled Dangerous Substances Act.

B. Any property or thing of value of a person is subject to forfeiture if it is established by a preponderance of the evidence that such property or thing of value was acquired by such person during the period of the violation of the Uniform Controlled Dangerous Substances Act or within a reasonable time after such period and there was no likely source for such property or thing of value other than the violation of the Uniform Controlled Dangerous Substances Act.

C. Any property or thing of value of a person is subject to forfeiture if it is established by a preponderance of the evidence that the person has not paid all or part of a fine imposed pursuant to the provisions of 21 CNCA § 2415.

D. All items forfeited in this section shall be forfeited under the procedures established in 21 CNCA § 2506. Whenever any item is forfeited pursuant to this section the Cherokee Nation District Court shall order that such item, money, or monies derived from the sale of such item be deposited by the law enforcement agency which seized the item in the revolving fund provided for in 21 CNCA § 2107; provided, such item, money or monies derived from the sale of such item forfeited due to nonpayment of a fine imposed pursuant to the provisions of 21 CNCA § 2415 shall be apportioned as provided in 21 CNCA § 2416. Items, money or monies seized pursuant to subsections (A) and (B) of this section shall not be applied or considered toward satisfaction of the fine imposed by 21 CNCA § 2415. All raw materials used or intended to be used by persons to unlawfully manufacture or attempt to manufacture any controlled dangerous substance in violation of the Uniform Controlled Dangerous Substances Act shall be summarily forfeited pursuant to the provisions of 21 CNCA § 2505.

E. All property taken or detained under this section shall not be repleviable, but shall remain in the custody of Cherokee Nation, subject only to the orders and decrees of a court of competent jurisdiction. The Attorney General of Cherokee Nation shall follow the procedures outlined in 21 CNCA § 2506 dealing with notification of seizure, intent of forfeiture, final disposition procedures, and release to innocent claimants with regard to all property included in this section detained by Cherokee Nation.

Historical Data

LA 03–91, eff. February 9, 1991. Amended LA 29-21, eff. June 18, 2021.

Renumbered from 63 CNCA § 2–503.