§ 14-86.1. Seizure and forfeiture of conveyances used in committing larceny and similar crimes.
§ 14‑86.1. Seizure andforfeiture of conveyances used in committing larceny and similar crimes.
(a) All conveyances,including vehicles, watercraft or aircraft, used to unlawfully conceal, conveyor transport property in violation of G.S. 14‑71, 14‑71.1, or 20‑106,or used by any person in the commission of armed or common‑law robbery,or used in violation of G.S. 14‑72.7, or used by any person in thecommission of any larceny when the value of the property taken is more than twothousand dollars ($2,000) shall be subject to forfeiture as provided herein,except that:
(1) No conveyance usedby any person as a common carrier in the transaction of the business of thecommon carrier shall be forfeited under the provisions of this section unlessit shall appear that the owner or other person in custody or control of suchconveyance was a consenting party or privy to a violation that may subject theconveyance to forfeiture under this section;
(2) No conveyance shallbe forfeited under the provisions of this section by reason of any act oromission committed or omitted while such conveyance was unlawfully in thepossession of a person other than the owner in violation of the criminal lawsof the United States, or any state;
(3) No conveyance shallbe forfeited pursuant to this section unless the violation involved is afelony;
(4) A forfeiture of aconveyance encumbered by a bona fide security interest is subject to theinterest of the secured party who neither had knowledge of nor consented to theact or omission;
(5) No conveyance shallbe forfeited under the provisions of this section unless the owner knew or hadreason to believe the vehicle was being used in the commission of any violationthat may subject the conveyance to forfeiture under this section;
(6) The trial judge inthe criminal proceeding which may subject the conveyance to forfeiture mayorder the seized conveyance returned to the owner if he finds forfeitureinappropriate. If the conveyance is not returned to the owner the proceduresprovided in subsection (e) shall apply.
As used in this sectionconcerning a violation of G.S. 14‑72.7, the term "conveyance"includes any "instrumentality" as defined in that section.
(b) Any conveyancesubject to forfeiture under this section may be seized by any law‑enforcementofficer upon process issued by any district or superior court having originaljurisdiction over the offense except that seizure without such process may bemade when:
(1) The seizure isincident to an arrest or subject to a search under a search warrant; or
(2) The property subjectto seizure has been the subject of a prior judgment in favor of the State in acriminal injunction or forfeiture proceeding under this section.
(c) The conveyanceshall be deemed to be in custody of the law‑enforcement agency seizingit. The law‑enforcement agency may remove the property to a placedesignated by it or request that the North Carolina Department of Justice orDepartment of Crime Control and Public Safety take custody of the property andremove it to an appropriate location for disposition in accordance with law;provided, the conveyance shall be returned to the owner upon execution by himof a good and valid bond, with sufficient sureties, in a sum double the valueof the property, which said bond shall be approved by an officer of the agencyseizing the conveyance and shall be conditioned upon the return of saidproperty to the custody of said officer on the day of trial to abide thejudgment of the court.
(d) Whenever aconveyance is forfeited under this section, the law‑enforcement agencyhaving custody of it may:
(1) Retain theconveyance for official use; or
(2) Transfer theconveyance which was forfeited under the provisions of this section to theNorth Carolina Department of Justice or to the North Carolina Department ofCrime Control and Public Safety when, in the discretion of the presiding judgeand upon application of the North Carolina Department of Justice or the NorthCarolina Department of Crime Control and Public Safety, said conveyance may beof official use to the North Carolina Department of Justice or the NorthCarolina Department of Crime Control and Public Safety; or
(3) Upon determinationby the director of any law‑enforcement agency that a conveyancetransferred pursuant to the provisions of this section is of no further use tosaid agency, such conveyance may be sold as surplus property in the same manneras other conveyances owned by the law‑enforcement agency. The proceedsfrom such sale, after deducting the cost thereof, shall be paid to the schoolfund of the county in which said conveyance was seized. Any conveyancetransferred to any law‑enforcement agency under the provisions of thissection which has been modified or especially equipped from its originalmanufactured condition so as to increase its speed shall be used in theperformance of official duties only. Such conveyance shall not be resold,transferred or disposed of other than as junk unless the special equipment ormodification has been removed and destroyed, and the vehicle restored to itsoriginal manufactured condition.
(e) All conveyancessubject to forfeiture under the provisions of this section shall be forfeitedpursuant to the procedures for forfeiture of conveyances used to conceal,convey, or transport intoxicating beverages found in G.S. 18B‑504.Provided, nothing in this section or G.S. 18B‑504 shall be construed torequire a conveyance to be sold when it can be used in the performance ofofficial duties of the law‑enforcement agency. (1979, c. 592; 1983, c. 74;c. 768, s. 2; 1991, c. 523, s. 4; 2007‑178, s. 2.)