Section 600.4707 - Notice of seizure of property or filing of lien and intent to begin forfeiture and disposal proceedings; time limitation; filing claim; civil action for forfeiture; burden of proof.
REVISED JUDICATURE ACT OF 1961 (EXCERPT)
Act 236 of 1961
600.4707 Notice of seizure of property or filing of lien and intent to begin forfeiture and disposal proceedings; time limitation; filing claim; civil action for forfeiture; burden of proof.
Sec. 4707.
(1) If property subject to forfeiture under this chapter has a total value of less than $100,000.00, within 7 days after the conviction of a person of a crime, the state or local unit of government seeking forfeiture of the property shall give notice of the seizure of the property or, if a lien has been filed, the filing of the lien, and the intent to begin proceedings to forfeit and dispose of the property according to this chapter to each of the persons to whom notice is required to be given under section 4704. Notice shall be given in the same manner as required under section 4704.
(2) Within 21 days after receipt of the notice or of the date of the first publication of the notice under subsection (1), a person claiming an interest in property subject to the notice may file a claim with the local unit of government or the state expressing his or her interest in the property.
(3) If no claim is filed within the 21-day period as described in subsection (2), the local unit of government or the state shall declare the property forfeited and shall dispose of the property according to section 4708.
(4) If a claim is filed within the 21-day period as described in subsection (2), the local unit of government or the state shall transmit the claim with a list and description of the property to the attorney general or to the prosecuting attorney or the city or township attorney for the local unit of government in which the personal property was seized or the real property is located. The attorney general, the prosecuting attorney, or the city or township attorney shall institute a civil action for forfeiture within 7 days after the expiration of the 21-day period.
(5) If property subject to forfeiture under this chapter has a total value of more than $100,000.00, the attorney general, or the prosecuting attorney or the city or township attorney for the local unit of government in which the personal property was seized or the real property is located, shall institute a civil action for forfeiture within 7 days after the conviction of a person of a crime.
(6) At the forfeiture proceeding, the plaintiff shall prove the following by a preponderance of the evidence:
(a) If the property is personal property, that the property is the proceeds of a crime, the substituted proceeds of a crime, or an instrumentality of a crime.
(b) If the property is real property, that the property is the proceeds of a crime or the substituted proceeds of a crime.
(c) If a person, other than the person convicted of the crime, claims an ownership or security interest in the property, that the person claiming the interest in the property had prior knowledge of, or consented to the commission of, the crime.
(7) If the plaintiff fails to meet the burden of proof under subsection (6), the property shall be returned to the owner within 7 days.
History: Add. 1988, Act 104, Eff. June 1, 1988