As used in the Forfeiture Act:

A. "abandoned property":

(1) is not subject to the provisions of Section 29-1-14 NMSA 1978;

(2) means personal property the rights to which and the control of which an owner has intentionally relinquished; and

(3) does not mean real property;

B. "actual knowledge" means a direct and clear awareness of information, a fact or a condition;

C. "contraband" means goods that may not be lawfully imported, exported or possessed, including drugs that are listed in Schedule I, II, III, IV or V of the Controlled Substances Act [Chapter 30, Article 31 NMSA 1978] and that are possessed without a valid prescription;

D. "conveyance" means a device used for transportation and:

(1) includes a motor vehicle, trailer, snowmobile, airplane, vessel and any equipment attached to the conveyance; but

(2) does not include property that is stolen or taken in violation of a law;

E. "conviction" or "convicted" means that a person has been found guilty of a crime in a trial court whether by a plea of guilty or nolo contendere or otherwise and whether the sentence is deferred or suspended;

F. "crime" means a violation of a criminal statute for which property of the offender is subject to seizure and forfeiture;

G. "instrumentality" means all property that is otherwise lawful to possess that is used in the furtherance or commission of an offense to which forfeiture applies and includes land, a building, a container, a conveyance, equipment, materials, a product, a computer, computer software, a telecommunications device, a firearm, ammunition, a tool, money, a security and a negotiable instrument and other devices used for exchange of property;

H. "law enforcement agency" means the employer of a law enforcement officer who is authorized to seize or has seized property pursuant to the Forfeiture Act;

I. "law enforcement officer":

(1) means a state or municipal police officer, county sheriff, deputy sheriff, conservation officer, motor transportation enforcement officer or other state employee authorized by state law to enforce criminal statutes; but

(2) does not mean a correctional officer;

J. "owner" means a person who has a legal or equitable ownership interest in property;

K. "property" means tangible or intangible personal property or real property;

L. "property subject to forfeiture" means property or an instrumentality declared to be subject to forfeiture by the Forfeiture Act or a state law outside of the Forfeiture Act; and

M. "secured party" means a person with a security or other protected interest in property, whether the interest arose by mortgage, security agreement, lien, lease or otherwise; the purpose of which interest is to secure the payment of a debt or protect a potential debt owed to the secured party.

History: Laws 2002, ch. 4, § 3; 2015, ch. 152, § 3; 2019, ch. 133, § 2.

The 2019 amendment, effective April 2, 2019, revised the definition of "abandoned property" as used in the Forfeiture Act; in Subsection A, added new Paragraph A(1) and redesignated former Paragraphs A(1) and A(2) as Paragraphs A(2) and A(3), respectively.

Applicability. — Laws 2019, ch. 133, § 13 provided that the provisions of the Forfeiture Act apply to seized and abandoned property in the possession of a law enforcement agency or the state treasurer on and after April 2, 2019.

Temporary provisions. — Laws 2019, ch. 133, § 11 provided that the New Mexico supreme court shall issue procedural court rules to implement the provisions of this act.

Laws 2019, ch. 133, § 12 provided that abandoned property in the possession of a law enforcement agency or the state treasurer on April 2, 2019 shall be disposed of pursuant to Section 29-1-14 NMSA 1978.

The 2015 amendment, effective July 1, 2015, added definitions for "abandoned property", "actual knowledge", "contraband", "conveyance", and "instrumentality" and amended certain definitions as used in the Forfeiture Act; added new Subsections A through D and redesignated former Subsections A and B as Subsections E and F, respectively; in Subsection E, after "guilty of a crime in", deleted "the" and added "a"; added new Subsection G and redesignated Subsections C through H as Subsections H through M, respectively; in Subsection H, after "law enforcement officer that", deleted "has made a seizure of" and added "is authorized to seize or has seized"; in Subsection I, after "means:", added the designation for Paragraph (1), and after "criminal statutes; but", deleted "'law enforcement officer'", added the designation for Paragraph (2), and after "does not", deleted "include" and added "mean a", and after "correctional", deleted "officers" and added "officer"; in Subsection L, after "property", added "or an instrumentality", and after "subject to forfeiture by", added "the Forfeiture Act or"; and in Subsection M, after "whether", deleted "arising" and added "the interest arose".