40-33-101 - Conveyances subject to forfeiture.
40-33-101. Conveyances subject to forfeiture.
Any conveyance, including a vehicle, aircraft or vessel used in the commission of an offense under title 39, chapter 13, part 5, or used to transport, conceal or store money or goods that were the subject of a robbery offense under title 39, chapter 13, part 4, or felony theft under title 39, chapter 14, part 1, where there is a final judgment of conviction is, in the discretion of the court, subject to forfeiture except that:
(1) No conveyance used by any person as a common carrier in the transaction of business as a common carrier is subject to forfeiture under §§ 40-33-101 40-33-106, unless it appears that the owner or other person in charge of the conveyance is a consenting party or privy to a robbery offense under title 39, chapter 13, part 4, or felony theft under title 39, chapter 14, part 1.
(2) No conveyance is subject to forfeiture under §§ 40-33-101 40-33-106 by reason of any act or omission established by the owner thereof to have been committed or omitted without the owner's knowledge or consent; provided, that if the conveyance belongs to an automobile or truck rental company, the burden of proof shall be on the state to prove that the automobile or truck rental company knew, or had reason to know, that the conveyance was or would be used in the commission of an offense for which this part provides for forfeiture of the conveyance; and
(3) A forfeiture of a conveyance encumbered by a bona fide security interest is subject to the interest of the secured party if the secured party neither had knowledge of nor consented to the act or omission.
[Acts 1977, ch. 81, § 1; T.C.A., § 40-4101; Acts 1992, ch. 838, §§ 1, 2; 2006, ch. 960, § 4.]