2023 Tennessee Code › Title 57 - INTOXICATING LIQUORS (§§ 57-1-101 — 57-10-102) › Chapter 5 - BEER AND ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES CONTAINING LESS THAN FIVE PERCENT ALCOHOL (§§ 57-5-101 — 57-5-609) › Part 4 - TRANSPORTATION (§§ 57-5-401 — 57-5-416) › Section 57-5-410 - Notification of seizure - Claims

(a)
Upon confiscation, or as soon thereafter as practicable, written notice shall be given by the department of revenue to the person from whom the confiscation was made and to all others with a legal interest in the property confiscated who are either made known to the department or who, by reasonable examination of public records of titles and liens, should have been discovered. Such written notice shall state: a description of the property confiscated, the reason for confiscation, the method for seeking recovery, the time limit for seeking recovery, and the result of failure to seek or obtain recovery by the designated method. Such notice may be by personal delivery or by mail either of which may be made to the last known address of the interested party.
(b)
Any person claiming any property so seized as contraband goods may, within ten (10) days of such notice, and after executing a bond for costs with one (1) or more good and solvent sureties in the sum of two hundred fifty dollars ($250) made payable to the state of Tennessee, or upon executing a pauper's oath as provided by law, file with the commissioner at Nashville a claim in writing requesting a hearing and stating the person's interest in the property seized. The commissioner shall set a date for hearing within ten (10) days from the date the claim is posted or received.
(c)
In any hearing convened upon proper petition of an interested party, the initial burden shall be upon the state to show by a preponderance of the evidence that the property in question was of such nature or was used in such manner as to be declared as contraband. Upon meeting this burden, the property shall be forfeited as provided by law unless the claimant shall prove that the claimant is nevertheless qualified under this chapter, or otherwise, to recover the property in question.
(d)
(1)
Whenever in any proceeding under this section a claim is filed for any vehicle, aircraft or boat seized, as hereinabove provided, the commissioner shall not allow the claim unless and until the claimant proves that:
(A)
The claimant has an interest in such vehicle, aircraft or boat, as owner or otherwise, which was acquired in good faith;
(B)
The claimant had at no time any knowledge or reason to believe that it was being or would be used in the violation of laws of the United States or of this state relating to beer as defined in §
57-5-101(b)
; and
(C)
If it appears that the interest asserted by the claimant arises out of or is in any way subject to any contract or agreement under which any person having a record or reputation for violating laws of the United States or any state relating to beer as defined in §
57-5-101(b)
has a right with respect to such vehicle, aircraft or boat, that before such claimant acquired the interest, or such other person acquired the right under such contract or agreement, whichever occurred later, the claimant, claimant's officer or agent, made inquiry and was informed, in answer to the inquiry at the headquarters of the sheriff, chief of police, principal federal internal revenue officer engaged in the enforcement of the beer laws, or other principal local or federal law enforcement officer of the locality in which such other person acquired the right under such contract or agreement, of the locality in which such other person then resided, and of each locality in which the claimant has made any other inquiry as to the character or financial standing of such other person, that such other person had no such record or reputation.
(2)
Provided, however, that in the case of a first offense of violating this chapter, and after hearing provided for herein, subdivision (d)(1) may, in the discretion of the commissioner, be waived and claim of owner or lienholder may be honored.
(e)
The commissioner may designate a hearing officer from the department to conduct the hearings provided for in this section, who shall make findings of fact, conclusions of law, and proposed orders based thereon. If the commissioner concurs, the commissioner shall issue the order; or the commissioner may, upon review of the record, make such findings, conclusions, and issue such orders as, in the commissioner's discretion, the record justifies.
(f)
Pending any proceeding to recover any beer as defined in §
57-5-101(b)
and/or any vehicle seized as contraband under this chapter, or pending any appeal of the action taken by the commissioner as a result of any such proceeding, the commissioner may order delivery thereof to any claimant who shall establish the right to immediate possession thereof, and who shall execute, with one (1) or more sureties approved by the commissioner, and deliver to the commissioner, a bond in favor of the state of Tennessee for the payment of a sum double the appraised value thereof as of the time of the seizure. The condition of the bond shall be that the obligors shall pay to the state, through the department, the full value of the goods or property when seized, unless upon a final determination by the commissioner or the courts the property shall be awarded to the claimant. The full value of the goods or property seized shall be determined by the commissioner and such determination shall be presumed to be correct in the absence of any proof to the contrary being submitted by the claimant.
Amended by 2014 Tenn. Acts, ch. 861,Secs.s13, s14, s15 eff. 5/1/2014.
Acts 1969, ch. 299, § 3; 1970, ch. 578, § 2; 1971, ch. 213, § 1; 1973, ch. 84, § 2; T.C.A., § 57-233.