Montana Code 46-5-308. Order
46-5-308. Order. (1) The court may enter an order providing for the destruction or disposition of the evidence. If a victim of the offense wishes to be heard on the petition, the court shall schedule a hearing on the petition and shall allow the victim to be heard in open court. The court shall consider the victim’s statements prior to issuing an order under this section. A proposed order must be presented by the petitioner to the court and may include:
Terms Used In Montana Code 46-5-308
- Civil forfeiture: The loss of ownership of property used to conduct illegal activity.
- Court: means a place where justice is judicially administered and includes the judge of the court. See Montana Code 46-1-202
- Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
- Offense: means a violation of any penal statute of this state or any ordinance of its political subdivisions. See Montana Code 46-1-202
- Property: means real and personal property. See Montana Code 1-1-205
- State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the territories. See Montana Code 1-1-201
(a)authorization to destroy all contraband listed in the petition, the method of destruction, and the time within which the destruction must be accomplished;
(b)if certain contraband is requested by the petitioner for training or law enforcement purposes, authorization to use the items and a description of each;
(c)if the petition requests training or law enforcement use of noncontraband items, authorization to retain the items by the law enforcement agency and a description of the items;
(d)if the evidence is money and the owner cannot be ascertained and no civil forfeiture action is pending, authorization to deposit the money to the appropriate city, county, or state drug forfeiture fund;
(e)if the petition requests, authorization to sell noncontraband property at public sale or auction and to deposit the proceeds to the appropriate city, county, or state drug forfeiture fund; or
(f)authorization to destroy all items not otherwise provided for.
(2)The order must specify the time period in which destruction or sale must occur. Within 10 days following the destruction or sale, a return must be filed with the court, listing the property destroyed or sold and the date and method of disposition.