West Virginia Code § 60A-7-703

Items subject to forfeiture; persons authorized to seize property subject
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to forfeiture.
(a) The following are subject to forfeiture:
(1) All controlled substances which have been manufactured, distributed, dispensed or
possessed in violation of this chapter;
(2) All raw materials, products and equipment of any kind which are used, or intended for
use, in manufacturing, compounding, processing, delivering, importing or exporting any
controlled substance in violation of this chapter; u
(3) All tax-not-paid tobacco products, as that term is defined in section two, article
seventeen, chapter eleven of this code, declared to be contraband under said article;
(4) All property which is used, or has been used, or is intended for use, as a container for
property described in subdivision (1), (2) or (3) of tlhis subsection;
(5) All conveyances, including aircraft, vehicles or vessels, which are used, have been used,
or are intended for use, to transport, or in any manner to facilitate the transportation, sale,
receipt, possession or concealment of property described in subdivision (1), (2) or (3) of this
subsection, except that:
(i) A conveyance used by any person as a common carrier in the transaction of business as a
common carrier shall not be forfeited under this section unless it appears that the person
owning the conveyance is a consenting party or privy to a violation of this chapter;
(ii) A conveyance sha ll not be forfeited under the provisions of this article if the person
owning the conveyance establishes that he or she neither knew, nor had reason to know,
that the conveyance was being employed or was likely to be employed in a violation of this
chapter; and
(iii) A bona fide security interest or other valid lien in any conveyance shall not be forfeited
under the provisions of this article, unless the state proves by a preponderance of the
evidence that the holder of the security interest or lien either knew, or had reason to know,
that the conveyance was being used or was likely to be used in a violation of this chapter;
(6) All books, records, research products and materials, including formulas, microfilm, tapes
and data which are used, or have been used, or are intended for use, in violation of this
chapter;
(7) All moneys, negotiable instruments, securities or other things of value furnished or
intended to be furnished in violation of this chapter by any person in exchange for a
controlled substance, all proceeds traceable to the exchange and all moneys, negotiable
instruments and securities used, or which have been used, or which are intended to be used
to facilitate any violation of this chapter: Provided, That no property may be forfeited under
this subdivision, to the extent of the interest of an owner, by reason of any act or omission
established by that owner to have been committed or omitted without his or her knowledge
or consent; and
(8) All real property, including any right, title and interest in any lot or tract of land, and any
appurtenances or improvements, which are used, or have been used, or are intended to be
used, in any manner or part, to commit or to facilitate the commission of a veiolation of this
chapter punishable by more than one year imprisonment: Provided, That no property may be
forfeited under this subdivision, to the extent of an interest of an ownerr, by reason of any act
or omission established by that owner to have been committed or omitted without his or her
knowledge or consent.
The requirements of this subsection pertaining to the removtal of seized property are not
mandatory in the case of real property and the appurtenances to the real property.
(b) Property subject to forfeiture under this article may be seized by any person granted
enforcement powers in section five hundred one, alrticle five of this chapter (hereinafter
referred to as the "appropriate person" in thiss article).
(c) Controlled substances listed in article tiwo of this chapter which are manufactured,
possessed, transferred, sold or offerged for sale in violation of this chapter are contraband
and shall be seized and summarily forfeited to the state. Controlled substances which are
seized or come into the possession of the state, the owners of which are unknown, are
contraband and shall be summarily forfeited to the state upon the seizure of the controlled
substances.
(d) Species of plant from which controlled substances may be derived which have been
planted or cultivated in violation of the provisions of this chapter, or of which the owners or
cultivators are unknown, or which are wild growths may be seized and summarily forfeited
to the state upon the seizure of the plants.
(e) The failure, upon demand by the appropriate person, or his or her authorized agent, of
the person in occupancy or in control of land or premises upon which the species of plants
are growing or being stored, to produce an appropriate registration, or proof that he or she
is the holder of an appropriate registration, constitutes authority for the seizure and
forfeiture of the plants.
(f) Notwithstanding any provision of this article to the contrary, controlled substances listed
in article two of this chapter and species of plants from which controlled substances may be
derived shall either be destroyed or used only for investigative or prosecutorial purposes.
(g) Notwithstanding any other provisions of this article to the contrary, any items of real
property or any items of tangible personal property sold to a bona fide purchaser are not
subject to forfeiture unless the state establishes by clear and convincing proof that the bona
fide purchaser knew or should have known that the property had in the previous three years
next preceding the sale been used in violation of this chapter or that the property is a
controlled substance.

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