4.1-340 - Notice to Commissioner of Department of Motor Vehicles; proceedings by attorney for the Commonwealth; filing of information; procedures in lieu of filing information.
§ 4.1-340. Notice to Commissioner of Department of Motor Vehicles;proceedings by attorney for the Commonwealth; filing of information;procedures in lieu of filing information.
A. The procedure for notification of the Commissioner of the Department ofMotor Vehicles of the seizure of a vehicle pursuant to § 4.1-339 shall be inaccordance with § 19.2-375.
B. Within sixty days after receiving notice of the seizure of a motor vehiclepursuant to § 4.1-339, the attorney for the Commonwealth shall file, in thename of the Commonwealth, an information against the seized property in theclerk's office of the circuit court of the county or city wherein the seizurewas made.
Such information shall be in the form and contain those provisions requiredby §§ 19.2-370 and 19.2-371.
The attorney for the Commonwealth shall notify, in accordance with §19.2-376, the owner, purchaser, lienor, and all other persons who are in anymanner then indebted or liable for the purchase price of the property.
C. In lieu of filing an information, the attorney for the Commonwealth may,upon payment of costs incident to the custody of the seized property, returnthe seized property to the owner or lienor, without requiring that such owneror lienor file bond as provided in § 4.1-341, if he believes that (i) suchowner was the actual bona fide owner of the conveyance or vehicle at the timeof the seizure, that he was ignorant of such illegal use thereof, and thatsuch illegal use was without his connivance or consent or (ii) such lienorwas ignorant of the fact that the conveyance or vehicle was being used forillegal purposes when it was seized, that such illegal use was without suchlienor's connivance or consent, that he held a bona fide lien on suchproperty and had perfected the lien in the manner prescribed by law prior toseizure, and that the lien is equal to or more than the value of theconveyance or vehicle.
In the event the conveyance or vehicle was sold to a bona fide purchasersubsequent to the arrest but prior to seizure in order to avoid theprovisions of § 4.1-339, the Commonwealth shall have a right of actionagainst the seller for the proceeds of the sale.
(Code 1950, § 4-56; 1954, c. 504; 1968, c. 763; 1971, Ex. Sess., c. 155;1973, c. 16; 1978, cc. 434, 436; 1981, c. 365; 1983, c. 271; 1984, c. 52;1993, c. 866.)