By: Rangel H.B. No. 3377
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the filing of a notice of seizure and intended
forfeiture in an asset forfeiture case and the location of a hearing
in the case
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Article 59.04, Code of Criminal Procedure,
Subsection (b) is amended to read as follows:
(b) A forfeiture proceeding commences under this chapter
when the attorney representing the state files a notice of the
seizure and intended forfeiture in the name of the state with the
clerk of the district court in the county in which the seizure is
made. The attorney representing the state must attach to the notice
the peace officer's sworn statement under Article 59.03 of this
code, or if the property has been seized under Article 59.12(b), the
statement of the terms and amount of the depository account or
inventory of assets provided by the regulated financial institution
to the peace officer executing the warrant in the manner described
by Article 59.12(b). Except as provided by Subsection (c) of the
article, the attorney representing the state shall cause certified
copies of the notice to be served on the following persons in the
same manner as provided for the service of process by citation in
civil cases: (1) the owner of the property; and (2) any interest
holder in the property. Forfeiture cases arising from the Sarita
Federal Checkpoint in Sarita, Kenedy County, Texas, may be filed in
the county where the property was seized and with consent of the
Respondent, in a county that is adjacent to and in the same judicial
district as the county where the property was seized.
SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2003.