§ 1-198. False or fraudulent identification cards, etc.; seizure and forfeiture of cards and equipment; service of notice; hearing; claim for equipment; liability; expenses; proceeds; definitions.
A. Any false or fraudulent identification document, card or certification in violation of the Osage Nation Code or any driver license or identification card that is possessed, transferred, sold or offered for sale in violation of law shall be seized and summarily forfeited when no longer needed as evidence.
B. Any peace officer of the Osage Nation is authorized to seize any equipment which is used, or intended for use in the preparing, photographing, printing, selling, exhibiting, publishing, distributing, displaying, advertising, filming, copying, recording, or mailing of any identification document, card, or certificate in violation of the Osage Nation Code or of any driver license or identification card in violation the Osage Nation Code. Said equipment may be held as evidence until a forfeiture has been declared or a release ordered. Forfeiture actions under this section may be brought by the Attorney General as petitioner; provided, in the event the Attorney General elects not to file such an action, or fails to file such action within ninety (90) days of the date of the seizure of such equipment, a forfeiture action may be brought by the entity seizing such equipment as petitioner.
C. Notice of seizure and intended forfeiture proceeding shall be given all owners and parties in interest by the party seeking forfeiture as follows:
1. Upon each owner or party in interest whose name and address is known, by mailing a copy of the notice by registered mail to the last known address; and
2. Upon all other owners or parties in interest, whose addresses are unknown, by one publication in a newspaper of general circulation in the Osage Nation.
D. Within sixty (60) days after the mailing or publication of the notice, the owner of the equipment and any other party in interest may file a verified answer and claim to the equipment described in the notice of seizure and of the intended forfeiture proceeding.
E. If at the end of sixty (60) days after the notice has been mailed or published there is no verified answer on file, the court shall hear evidence upon the fact of the unlawful use and may order the equipment forfeited to the Osage Nation, if such fact is proven.
F. If a verified answer is filed, the forfeiture proceeding shall be set for hearing.
G. At the hearing the party seeking the forfeiture shall prove by clear and convincing evidence that the equipment was used in the preparing, photographing, printing, selling, exhibiting, publishing, distributing, displaying, advertising, filming, copying, recording, or mailing of any identification document, card, or certificate in violation of the Osage Nation Code or of any driver license or identification card in violation of the Osage Nation Code with knowledge by the owner of the equipment.
H. The owner or party in interest may prove that the right or interest in the equipment was created without any knowledge or reason to believe that the equipment was being, or was to be, used for the purpose charged.
I. In the event of such proof, the court may order the equipment released to the bona fide or innocent owner or party in interest if the amount due the person is equal to, or in excess of, the value of the equipment as of the date of the seizure.
J. If the amount due to such person is less than the value of the equipment, or if no bona fide claim is established, the equipment shall be forfeited to the Osage Nation and shall be sold pursuant to the judgment of the Court.
K. Equipment taken or detained pursuant to this section shall not be repleviable, but shall be deemed to be in the custody of the office of the Attorney General of the Osage Nation. The Attorney General or the party seeking the equipment may release said equipment to the owner of the equipment if it is determined that the owner had no knowledge of the illegal use of the equipment or if there is insufficient evidence to sustain the burden of showing illegal use of the equipment. Equipment which has not been released by the Attorney General or the party seizing the equipment shall be subject to the orders and decrees of the court or the official having jurisdiction thereof.
L. The Attorney General or the party seizing such equipment shall not be held civilly liable for having custody of the seized equipment or proceeding with a forfeiture action as provided for in this section.
M. The proceeds of the sale of any equipment not taken or detained by the Office of the Attorney General shall be distributed as follows, in the order indicated:
1. To the bona fide or innocent purchaser or conditional sales vendor of the equipment, if any, up to the amount of the person’s interest in the equipment, when the court declaring the forfeiture orders a distribution to such person;
2. To the payment of the actual expenses of preserving the equipment; and
3. The balance to the General Fund of the Osage Nation Treasury. Monies from the fund may be used to pay costs for the storage of such equipment if such equipment is ordered released to a bona fide or innocent owner, purchaser, or conditional sales vendor and if such monies are available in the fund.
N. The proceeds of the sale of any equipment seized, taken or detained by the Attorney General shall be distributed as follows, in the order indicated:
1. To the bona fide or innocent purchaser or conditional sales vendor of the equipment, if any, up to the amount of the person’s interest in the equipment, when the court declaring the forfeiture orders a distribution to such person;
2. To the payment of the actual expenses of preserving the equipment; and
3. The balance to the General Fund of the Osage Nation Treasury. Monies from such fund may be used to pay costs for the storage of such equipment if the equipment is ordered released to a bona fide or innocent owner, purchaser, or conditional sales vendor.
O. When any equipment is forfeited pursuant to this section, the District Court of jurisdiction may order that the equipment seized may be retained by the Osage Nation Police Department which seized the equipment for its official use.
P. If the Court finds that the equipment was not used in the preparing, photographing, printing, selling, exhibiting, publishing, distributing, displaying, advertising, filming, copying, recording, or mailing of any identification document, card, or certificate in violation of the Osage Nation Code or of any driver license or identification card in violation of the Osage Nation Code, the Court shall order the equipment released to the owner.
Q. No equipment shall be forfeited pursuant to the provisions of this section by reason of any act or omission established by the owner thereof to have been committed or omitted without the knowledge or consent of such owner, or by any person other than such owner while such equipment was unlawfully in the possession of a person other than the owner in violation of the criminal laws of the United States or of the Osage Nation.
R. For the purposes of this section, the term “equipment” shall include computers, printers, copy machines, other machines, furniture, supplies, books, records, files, data, currency, or negotiable instruments including, but not limited to, money orders or cashier’s checks but shall not include vehicles or real property. ONCA 13-25, eff. Apr. 19, 2013.