I 
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2835 
To amend title 18, United States Code, to reform certain forfeiture 
procedures, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 17, 2019 
Mr. SENSENBRENNER (for himself, Mr. COLLINS of Georgia, Mr. SCOTT of 
Virginia, Mr. KATKO, Mr. COHEN, Mr. CHABOT, Mr. DAVID P. ROE of 
Tennessee, and Ms. NORTON) introduced the following bill; which was re-
ferred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Commit-
tees on Financial Services, and Energy and Commerce, for a period to 
be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consider-
ation of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee 
concerned 
A BILL 
To amend title 18, United States Code, to reform certain 
forfeiture procedures, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘DUE PROCESS Act 
of 2019’’ or the ‘‘Deterring Undue Enforcement by Pro-
tecting Rights Of Citizens from Excessive Searches and 
Seizures Act of 2019’’. 
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SEC. 2. GENERAL RULES FOR CIVIL FORFEITURE PRO-
CEEDINGS. 
Section 983(a) of title 18, United States Code, is 
amended— 
(1) in the subsection heading, by striking 
‘‘COMPLAINT’’ and inserting ‘‘COMPLAINT; INITIAL 
HEARING’’; 
(2) in paragraph (1)— 
(A) in subparagraph (A)— 
(i) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘60 days’’ 
and inserting ‘‘30 days’’; 
(ii) by striking clause (ii); 
(iii) in clause (iii)— 
(I) in the matter preceding sub-
clause (I)— 
(aa) by striking ‘‘60-day’’ 
and inserting ‘‘30-day’’; and 
(bb) by striking ‘‘does not 
file’’ and all that follows through 
‘‘obtain’’ and inserting ‘‘obtains’’; 
and 
(II) in subclause (I), by striking 
‘‘60 days’’ and inserting ‘‘30 days’’; 
(iv) in clause (iv), by striking ‘‘90 
days’’ and inserting ‘‘60 days’’; 
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(v) in clause (v), by striking ‘‘60 
days’’ and inserting ‘‘30 days’’; and 
(vi) by adding at the end the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(vi) The notice under this subparagraph shall 
include an address, which shall also be widely pub-
lished, at which the seizing agency can receive until 
5 p.m. on any business day an interested party’s 
claim contesting a seizure or forfeiture. The inter-
ested party may send such a claim to that address 
by courier or overnight mail. For the purpose of de-
termining compliance with any deadlines in filing 
such a claim, an interested party completes the filing 
by placing the communication making the claim in 
the control of an independent third party delivery 
service such as a courier company or the United 
States mail. In determining whether any legal dead-
line for the filing of such a claim has been met a 
court shall allow for the equitable tolling of the 
deadline in appropriate cases. 
‘‘(vii) The seizing agency shall make publicly 
available for each nonjudicial forfeiture, with respect 
to which a request for mitigation or remission is 
made, a statement of the agency’s disposition of that 
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request, redacted if necessary, including the reasons 
for the decision.’’; 
(B) in subparagraph (C)— 
(i) by striking ‘‘60’’ and inserting 
‘‘30’’; and 
(ii) by striking ‘‘which period may’’ 
and all that follows through ‘‘as nec-
essary,’’; 
(C) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(G) Any notice described in subparagraph (A) 
that is provided to a party shall include notice of— 
‘‘(i) the right of the party to request an 
initial hearing in accordance with paragraph 
(5); 
‘‘(ii) the right of the party to be rep-
resented by counsel at the initial hearing de-
scribed in clause (i) and any civil forfeiture pro-
ceeding under a civil forfeiture statute; and 
‘‘(iii) the right of the party to request that 
the party be represented by counsel at the ini-
tial hearing described in clause (i) and any civil 
forfeiture proceeding under a civil forfeiture 
statute if the party meets the requirements de-
scribed in subsection (b).’’; and 
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(D) by striking ‘‘nonjudicial’’ each place it 
appears; 
(3) in paragraph (2)(A), by striking ‘‘non-
judicial’’; 
(4) in paragraph (2)(B)— 
(A) by striking ‘‘35 days’’ and inserting 
‘‘65 days’’; and 
(B) by striking ‘‘30 days’’ and inserting 
‘‘60 days’’; 
(5) so that subparagraph (A) of paragraph (3) 
reads as follows: 
‘‘(A) Not later than 90 days after a claim has 
been filed, the Government shall file a complaint for 
forfeiture in the manner set forth in the Supple-
mental Rules for Certain Admiralty and Maritime 
Claims or return the property pending the filing of 
a complaint, except that a court in the district in 
which the complaint has been filed may extend the 
period for filing a complaint upon agreement of the 
parties.’’; and 
(6) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(5)(A) A party claiming property seized in a 
civil forfeiture proceeding under a civil forfeiture 
statute may request, not later than 30 days after the 
date on which a notice described in paragraph 
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(1)(A) is received or if notice is not received, not 
later than 30 days after the date of final publication 
of notice of seizure, an initial hearing to take place 
before a magistrate judge in the appropriate United 
States district court not later than the date on 
which a civil forfeiture proceeding under a civil for-
feiture statute relating to the seized property com-
mences. 
‘‘(B) If a party makes a request under subpara-
graph (A), a magistrate judge shall conduct an ini-
tial hearing not later than 10 days after the date on 
which the request is made. 
‘‘(C) At the initial hearing— 
‘‘(i) the magistrate judge shall— 
‘‘(I) inform the party in easily under-
stood terms of— 
‘‘(aa) the right of the party to be 
represented by counsel at the initial 
hearing and any civil forfeiture pro-
ceeding under a civil forfeiture stat-
ute; 
‘‘(bb) the right of the party to re-
quest that the party be represented by 
counsel at the initial hearing and any 
civil forfeiture proceeding under a civil 
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forfeiture statute if the magistrate 
judge finds that the party meets the 
requirements described in subsection 
(b); 
‘‘(cc) sufficiently detailed facts 
regarding the seizure of the property 
if the property was seized pursuant to 
a warrant described in the matter pre-
ceding subparagraph (A) of section 
981(b)(2); and 
‘‘(dd) the right of the party to 
challenge the lawfulness of the seizure 
of the property, including on the 
grounds that at the time the property 
was seized— 
‘‘(AA) if the property was 
seized pursuant to a warrant de-
scribed in the matter preceding 
subparagraph 
(A) 
of 
section 
981(b)(2), the warrant was not 
supported by probable cause; or 
‘‘(BB) if the property was 
seized without a warrant de-
scribed in subitem (AA), none of 
the exceptions described in sub-
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981(b)(2) applies to the seizure of the 
property. 
‘‘(D) The magistrate judge shall enter an order 
for the immediate release of the seized property with 
prejudice to the right of the Government to com-
mence a civil forfeiture proceeding at a later time if 
the magistrate judge finds that— 
‘‘(i) the requirements described in subpara-
graphs (A) through (E) of subsection (f)(1) are 
met; and 
‘‘(ii) the Government did not meet the bur-
den 
of 
proof 
described 
in 
subparagraph 
(C)(ii).’’. 
SEC. 3. REPRESENTATION. 
Section 983(b) of title 18, United States Code, is 
amended— 
(1) in paragraph (1)(A), by striking ‘‘judicial’’; 
and 
(2) in paragraph (2)(A), by striking ‘‘judicial 
civil forfeiture proceeding under a civil forfeiture 
statute is financially unable to obtain representation 
by counsel, and the property subject to forfeiture is 
real property that is being used by the person as a 
primary residence’’ and inserting ‘‘civil forfeiture 
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proceeding under a civil forfeiture statute is finan-
cially unable to obtain representation by counsel’’. 
SEC. 4. BURDEN OF PROOF. 
Section 983(c) of title 18, United States Code, is 
amended— 
(1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘a preponder-
ance of the evidence’’ and inserting ‘‘clear and con-
vincing evidence’’; and 
(2) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘a preponder-
ance of the evidence’’ and inserting ‘‘clear and con-
vincing evidence’’. 
SEC. 5. RIGHT TO REQUEST HEARING ON PRETRIAL RE-
STRAINT OF PROPERTY TO RETAIN COUNSEL 
OF CHOICE. 
(a) TITLE 18.—Section 1963(d) of title 18, United 
States Code, is amended— 
(1) by striking paragraph (1) and inserting the 
following: 
‘‘(1)(A) Upon application of the United States, the 
court may enter a restraining order or injunction, require 
the execution of a satisfactory performance bond, or take 
any other action to preserve the availability of property 
described in subsection (a) for forfeiture under this sec-
tion— 
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‘‘(i) upon the filing of an indictment or infor-
mation charging a violation of section 1962 and al-
leging that the property with respect to which the 
order is sought would, in the event of conviction, be 
subject to forfeiture under this section; or 
‘‘(ii) prior to the filing of such an indictment or 
information, if, after notice to persons appearing to 
have an interest in the property and opportunity for 
a hearing, the court determines that— 
‘‘(I) there is a substantial probability that 
the United States will prevail on the issue of 
forfeiture and that failure to enter the order 
will result in the property being destroyed, re-
moved from the jurisdiction of the court, or 
otherwise made unavailable for forfeiture; and 
‘‘(II) the need to preserve the availability 
of the property through the entry of the re-
quested order outweighs the hardship on any 
party against whom the order is to be entered. 
‘‘(B)(i) Upon motion of a defendant charged with a 
violation of section 1962 for which criminal forfeiture is 
ordered under this section and against whom the order 
is entered, supported by an affidavit, the court shall hold 
a hearing to determine whether to modify or rescind, in 
whole or in part, an order entered under subparagraph 
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(A) to allow the defendant to use the property subject to 
the order to retain counsel of choice. 
‘‘(ii) At the hearing, the court shall consider— 
‘‘(I) the weight of the evidence against the de-
fendant with respect to the violation of section 1962 
for which criminal forfeiture is ordered under this 
section; 
‘‘(II) the weight of the evidence with respect to 
whether the property will be subject to forfeiture 
under this section; 
‘‘(III) the history and characteristics of the de-
fendant; and 
‘‘(IV) the nature and circumstances of the case. 
‘‘(C) An order entered pursuant to subparagraph 
(A)(ii) shall be effective for not more than 90 days, un-
less— 
‘‘(i) extended by the court for good cause 
shown; or 
‘‘(ii) an indictment or information described in 
subparagraph (A)(i) has been filed.’’; and 
(2) in paragraph (2), by inserting ‘‘that the de-
fendant committed a violation of section 1962 for 
which criminal forfeiture may be ordered under this 
section and probable cause to believe’’ after ‘‘be-
lieve’’. 
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(b) CONTROLLED SUBSTANCES ACT.—Section 413(e) 
of the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 853(e)) is 
amended— 
(1) by striking paragraph (1) and inserting the 
following: 
‘‘(1)(A) Upon application of the United States, the 
court may enter a restraining order or injunction, require 
the execution of a satisfactory performance bond, or take 
any other action to preserve the availability of property 
described in subsection (a) for forfeiture under this sec-
tion— 
‘‘(i) upon the filing of an indictment or infor-
mation charging a violation of this title or title III 
for which criminal forfeiture may be ordered under 
this section and alleging that the property with re-
spect to which the order is sought would, in the 
event of conviction, be subject to forfeiture under 
this section; or 
‘‘(ii) prior to the filing of such an indictment or 
information, if, after notice to persons appearing to 
have an interest in the property and opportunity for 
a hearing, the court determines that— 
‘‘(I) there is a substantial probability that 
the United States will prevail on the issue of 
forfeiture and that failure to enter the order 
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will result in the property being destroyed, re-
moved from the jurisdiction of the court, or 
otherwise made unavailable for forfeiture; and 
‘‘(II) the need to preserve the availability 
of the property through the entry of the re-
quested order outweighs the hardship on any 
party against whom the order is to be entered. 
‘‘(B)(i) Upon motion of a defendant charged with a 
violation of section 1962 for which criminal forfeiture is 
ordered under this section and against whom the order 
is entered, supported by an affidavit sufficient to dem-
onstrate a genuine need for the defendant to use the prop-
erty subject to an order entered under subparagraph (A) 
to retain counsel of choice, the court shall hold a hearing 
to determine whether to modify or rescind, in whole or 
in part, the order to allow the defendant to use the prop-
erty to retain counsel of choice. 
‘‘(ii) At the hearing, the court shall consider— 
‘‘(I) the weight of the evidence against the de-
fendant with respect to the violation of this title or 
title III for which criminal forfeiture is be ordered 
under this section; 
‘‘(II) the weight of the evidence with respect to 
whether the property will be subject to forfeiture 
under this section; 
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‘‘(III) the history and characteristics of the de-
fendant; and 
‘‘(IV) the nature and circumstances of the case. 
‘‘(C) An order entered pursuant to subparagraph 
(A)(ii) shall be effective for not more than 90 days, un-
less— 
‘‘(i) extended by the court for good cause 
shown; or 
‘‘(ii) an indictment or information described in 
subparagraph (A)(i) has been filed.’’; and 
(2) in paragraph (2), by inserting ‘‘that the de-
fendant committed a violation of this title or title III 
for which criminal forfeiture may be ordered under 
this section and probable cause to believe’’ after ‘‘be-
lieve’’. 
SEC. 6. RECOVERY OF ATTORNEYS FEES. 
Section 2465(b) of title 28, United States Code, is 
amended— 
(1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘substan-
tially’’; and 
(2) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(3) If the claim is resolved by a settlement in which 
the claimant prevails, the claimant is entitled to attorneys 
fees under this subsection to the same extent that the 
claimant would be if a judgment were issued in the pro-
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ceeding for the property recovered under the settlement. 
The payment of attorneys fees under this subsection may 
not be waived as a part of any settlement with the claim-
ant. That payment is not subject to any offset or deduc-
tion by the United States in connection with any claim 
the United States may have against the claimant. 
‘‘(4) For the purposes of this subsection, a claimant 
prevails if the claimant recovers more than 50 percent, 
by value, of the money or other property that is claimed.’’. 
SEC. 7. ANNUAL AUDIT OF CIVIL FORFEITURES. 
The Inspector General shall annually conduct an 
audit of a representative sample of Federal civil forfeitures 
under statutes described in section 983(i) of title 18, 
United States Code, to ensure those forfeitures are con-
stitutionally sound and consistent with the letter and spirit 
of the law. The Department of Justice Inspector General 
shall report the results of the audit to the Attorney Gen-
eral and to Congress. Such report shall also include the 
fiscal status of the Asset Forfeiture Fund and Treasury 
Forfeiture Fund, including any projected growth or 
shrinking of the Funds in future years, and the viability 
of the Funds. 
SEC. 8. PUBLICLY AVAILABLE DATABASES. 
(a) QUARTERLY UPDATED DATABASE ON DETAILS 
OF FORFEITURES.—The Attorney General shall establish 
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and maintain, with updates on a quarterly basis, a publicly 
available database that describes with respect to seizures 
for all Federal civil forfeiture containing the following: 
(1) For each such seizure: 
(A) Unit of an agency responsible for the 
seizure, and the location, including at a min-
imum the State, city, and judicial district where 
and date when the seizure took place. 
(B) The type of initial seizure (such as 
during a stop based on probable cause, or pur-
suant to a Federal warrant). 
(C) The nature and value of the seized 
property. 
(D) In what manner forfeiture of seized 
property was conducted (whether by a civil or 
administrative proceeding, through settlement, 
or otherwise). 
(E) Whether a forfeiture of the seized 
property was of the entire property, or only a 
part, and if partial, the proportion of the whole 
that was forfeited. 
(F) The disposition of the seized property, 
the date of forfeiture, if any, and the date the 
disposition took place. 
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(G) What type of criminal activity any for-
feited property relates to. 
(H) Whether any forfeited money was re-
turned to the victim of a crime in connection 
with which the forfeiture occurred, and the 
amount returned. 
(I) The status of any concurrent or related 
criminal proceeding against the owner of the 
property, any pending case under title 11 in 
which the owner of record of the property is the 
debtor, and any pending civil case in which a 
receiver has been ordered to take control of the 
property. 
(J) Whether the forfeiture was contested. 
(K) Whether the innocent owner made a 
claim on the property. 
(L) The total expenses associated with the 
forfeiture. 
(M) The total net proceeds of the for-
feiture. 
(N) Demographic information on the per-
son or persons subject to the seizure. 
(2) A statistical breakdown for each agency of 
the cases of remission and mitigation, including— 
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(A) the numbers of requests for remission 
and mitigation that were— 
(i) fully granted; 
(ii) partially granted; or 
(iii) returned; and 
(B) with respect to requests that were par-
tially granted— 
(i) the average percentage of the value 
of seized property that was returned to the 
owner; and 
(ii) what percentage of requests re-
sulted in returned property in each of the 
following categories: 
(I) More than zero but less than 
25 percent of the property was re-
turned. 
(II) 25 percent or more of the 
property was returned, but less than 
50 percent. 
(III) 50 percent or more of the 
property was returned, but less than 
75 percent. 
(IV) 75 percent or more of the 
property was returned, but less than 
100 percent. 
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(3) Any money given from the Asset Forfeiture 
Fund or Treasury Forfeiture Fund to State or local 
law enforcement for Joint Law Enforcement Oper-
ations (commonly referred to as ‘‘JLEO’’) funding, 
or for any other purpose, and the name of the State 
or local entity receiving that funding. 
(b) REAL-TIME DATABASE TO ASSIST PERSONS 
WHOSE PROPERTY IS SEIZED.— 
(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Attorney General 
shall establish and maintain, with updates on a real- 
time basis, a database, organized by State and coun-
ty, with respect to each Federal seizure of real and 
personal property for Federal civil forfeiture under 
statutes described in section 983(i) of title 18, 
United States Code. 
(2) DESIGN.—The Attorney General shall de-
sign the database to allow any interested party, in-
cluding any owner, creditor, or lienholder, to deter-
mine whether that party has an interest in any such 
property and to inform that party, and the general 
public, on the specifics of how to contest each sei-
zure before the forfeiture. 
(c) HEADS OF AGENCIES TO SUBMIT INFORMATION 
FOR DATABASES.—Not less frequently than quarterly, on 
a schedule determined by the Attorney General, the head 
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of each Federal agency shall submit to the Attorney Gen-
eral a report that provides, in such form as the Attorney 
General may prescribe, the information the Attorney Gen-
eral is required to include in the databases established 
under this section. 
SEC. 9. STANDARD OF PROOF RELATING TO POSSIBLY IN-
NOCENT OWNERS. 
(a) BURDEN OF PROOF.—Paragraph (3) of section 
983(c) of title 18, United States Code, is amended to read 
as follows: 
‘‘(3) if the Government’s theory of forfeiture is 
that the property was used to commit or facilitate 
the commission of a criminal offense, or was in-
volved in the commission of a criminal offense, the 
Government shall establish by clear and convincing 
evidence that— 
‘‘(A) there was a substantial connection 
between the property and the offense; and 
‘‘(B) the owner of any interest in the 
seized property— 
‘‘(i) intentionally used the property in 
connection with the offense; 
‘‘(ii) knowingly consented to the use 
of the property by another in connection 
with the offense; or 
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‘‘(iii) knew that the property was 
being used in connection with the of-
fense.’’. 
(b) INNOCENT OWNER DEFENSE.— 
(1) SECTION 983(d)(1).—Paragraph (1) of sec-
tion 983(d) of title 18, United States Code, is 
amended to read as follows: 
‘‘(1) An innocent owner’s interest in property 
shall not be forfeited under any civil forfeiture stat-
ute. The Government shall have the burden of prov-
ing that the claimant is not an innocent owner by 
clear and convincing evidence.’’. 
(2) 
SECTION
983(d)(2)(A)(i).—Paragraph 
(2)(A)(i) of section 983(d) of title 18, United States 
Code, is amended by inserting ‘‘or consent to’’ after 
‘‘did not know of’’. 
SEC. 10. PROPORTIONALITY. 
Section 983(g) of title 18, United States Code, is 
amended— 
(1) in paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘or otherwise 
disproportional to the gravity of the offense’’ before 
the period at the end; and 
(2) by amending paragraph (2) to read as fol-
lows: 
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‘‘(2) In making this determination, the court 
shall consider, in addition to the analysis as to 
whether the forfeiture is constitutionally excessive, 
the value of the property, the seriousness of the of-
fense, the level of the claimant’s culpability in the 
offense giving rise to forfeiture, the claimant’s prior 
record, the claimant’s financial condition, and 
whether the forfeiture statute is intended to address 
the type of conduct alleged as the basis for for-
feiture.’’. 
SEC. 11. SEARCH AND FORFEITURE OF MONETARY INSTRU-
MENTS. 
Section 5317(c) of title 31, United States Code, is 
amended by striking paragraph (2) and inserting the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(2) CIVIL FORFEITURE.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Any property involved 
in a violation of section 5313 or 5316, or any 
conspiracy to commit any such violation, and 
any property traceable to any such violation or 
conspiracy, may be seized and forfeited to the 
United States in accordance with the proce-
dures governing civil forfeitures in money laun-
dering cases pursuant to section 981(a)(1)(A) 
of title 18. 
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‘‘(B) STRUCTURING.—Any property in-
volved in a violation of section 5324, or any 
conspiracy to commit any such violation, and 
any property traceable to any such violation or 
conspiracy, may be seized and forfeited to the 
United States in accordance with the proce-
dures governing civil forfeitures in money laun-
dering cases pursuant to section 981(a)(1)(A) 
of title 18 only if the property to be seized and 
forfeited is derived from an illegal source or if 
the structuring offense was used to conceal vio-
lations of other criminal laws.’’. 
SEC. 12. THE HEART ACT. 
(a) AMENDMENT TO SECTION 983(a) OF TITLE 18.— 
Section 983(a)(1) of title 18, United States Code, as 
amended by this Act, is amended— 
(1) in subparagraph (B), by inserting ‘‘and 
with respect to an animal seized under section 26 of 
the Animal Welfare Act or section 1955 of this title, 
that the delay is warranted in light of the criteria 
in subparagraph (G)’’ after ‘‘if the official deter-
mines that the conditions in subparagraph (D) are 
present,’’; 
(2) in subparagraph (C), by inserting ‘‘and with 
respect to an animal seized under section 26 of the 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
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