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HB 0233 -
Georgia Uniform Civil Forfeiture Procedure Act; enact
Tracking Level:
Monitor
Sponsor:
Atwood, Alex 179th
Last Action:
7/1/2015 - Effective Date
State Code Titles:
3, 5, 7, 9, 10, 12, 15, 17, 27, 36, 38, 40, 45, 46, 48, 49, 52
House Committee:
Judy
Senate Committee:
JUDYNC
Assigned To:
05. Superior Courts
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06. State Courts
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Staff Analysis of the Legislation
House Bill 233 is the equivalent to HB 1 from the 2013-2014 General Assembly Sessions. HB 233 consolidates forfeiture and condemnation laws in a new chapter of Title 16 of the O.C.G.A. The bill provides for non-judicial civil forfeiture for personal property valued at less than $25,000, and civil forfeiture actions for both in rem and in personam actions. HB 233 authorizes all types of property to be seized if probable cause exists to believe that the property is subject to forfeiture. The bill also eliminates the current taxpayer standing to file a lawsuit against a law enforcement agency that fails to file an annual forfeiture report that identifies forfeited property and specifies its use. The proposed Georgia Uniform Civil Forfeiture Procedure Act retains the state's burden of proof in civil forfeiture actions as a preponderance of evidence standard. The bill allows the court to provide for limited discovery in contested civil forfeiture actions. It also sets forth procedures regarding how seized property must be reported, what agencies are responsible for the reporting, and how seized property can be used, sold or transferred to other government entities. Language from HB 418 was added to HB 233. The language prohibits certain individuals from serving as grand jurors: 1. Any individual in a pretrial release program, a pretrial release and diversion program, or a pretrial intervention and diversion program; 2. Any individual sentenced under a conditional discharge for possession of controlled substances as first offense and certain nonviolent property crimes and has not completed the terms of their sentence; 3. Any individual on first offender probation; or 4. Any individual who is participating in a drug court, mental health court, veterans court, or similar federal court program.
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