North Dakota Code 19-03.1-23.3 – Drug currency forfeiture
1. There is a presumption of forfeiture for money, coin, currency, and everything of value, furnished or intended to be furnished, in exchange for a controlled substance in violation of chapter 19-03.1 or imitation controlled substance in violation of chapter 19-03.2, if the state offers a reasonable basis to believe, based on the following circumstances, that there is a substantial connection between the property and an offense listed in chapter 19-03.1 or 19-03.2:
Terms Used In North Dakota Code 19-03.1-23.3
- Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
- following: when used by way of reference to a chapter or other part of a statute means the next preceding or next following chapter or other part. See North Dakota Code 1-01-49
- Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
- Person: means an individual, organization, government, political subdivision, or government agency or instrumentality. See North Dakota Code 1-01-49
- Probable cause: A reasonable ground for belief that the offender violated a specific law.
- Property: includes property, real and personal. See North Dakota Code 1-01-49
- State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the territories. See North Dakota Code 1-01-49
a. The property at issue is currency in excess of ten thousand dollars which, at the time of seizure, was being transported through an airport, on a highway, or at a port-of-entry, and the property was packaged or concealed in a highly unusual manner, the person transporting the property provided false information to any law enforcement officer who lawfully stopped the person for investigative purposes, the property was found in close proximity to a measurable quantity of any controlled substance, or the property was the subject of a positive alert by a properly trained dog; b. The property at issue was acquired during a period of time when the person who acquired the property was engaged in an offense under chapter 19-03.1 or 19-03.2 or within a reasonable time after the period, and there is no likely source for the property other than that offense; c. The property at issue was, or was intended to be, transported, transmitted, or transferred to or from a major drug-transit country, a major illicit drug-producing country, or a major money-laundering country, and the transaction giving rise to the forfeiture:
(1) Occurred in part in a state or foreign country whose bank secrecy laws render this state unable to obtain records relating to the transaction; or
(2) Was conducted by, to, or through a corporation that does not conduct any ongoing and significant commercial or manufacturing business or any other form of commercial operation which was not engaged in any legitimate business activity; or
d. A person involved in the transaction giving rise to the forfeiture action has been convicted in a federal, state, or foreign jurisdiction of an offense equivalent to an offense under chapter 19-03.1 or 19-03.2 or a felony involving money laundering, or is a fugitive from prosecution for any of these offenses.
2. The presumption in this section does not preclude the use of other presumptions or the establishment of probable cause based on criteria other than those set forth in this section.