When They Take Your Property
ORS 131A.255 and ORS 131A.165 — forfeiture needs a conviction, and a claim is due within 21 days
A conviction is required. In every Oregon forfeiture action, the forfeiting agency has to prove that a person has been convicted of a crime that constitutes prohibited conduct, and that the property is proceeds or an instrumentality of that crime or of similar crimes. Property of someone never convicted can be forfeited only if another person was convicted and the owner took it to defeat forfeiture, knew or should have known it was proceeds, or acquiesced in the conduct.
The standard is a preponderance of the evidence for personal property and clear and convincing evidence for real property. Where cash, weapons or negotiable instruments are found in close proximity to controlled substances, the person claiming them carries the burden of showing they are not proceeds or instrumentalities.
21 days to claim. A person claiming an interest in seized property files a claim with the forfeiting agency's forfeiture counsel not more than 21 days after service of the forfeiture notice, or after the last publication where notice was published, with no extensions. The claim is signed under penalty of perjury and gives the claimant's true name, an address for future mailings, and a statement of the claimant's interest.
The officer who seizes property makes an inventory and gives a receipt to the person it was taken from. If the forfeiture notice is not served at the time of seizure, the agency issues it not more than 15 days after the seizure.
Property seized solely on the basis of a consensual search of a motor vehicle is not subject to forfeiture unless the person was first given written notice, in at least English and Spanish, of the right to refuse the search. Expedited hearings and affirmative defenses are in sections not reproduced here. Whether property can be recovered is a question for a licensed Oregon attorney.
Sources for this section (5)
- ORS 131A.255 — Standards of proof in forfeiture action
- ORS 131A.165 — Claims
- ORS 131A.150 — Forfeiture notice
- ORS 131A.055 — Inventory and receipt
- ORS 131A.025 — Consensual search of motor vehicle
Legal information, not legal advice. Verified as of October 2026. Applying it to a particular situation is the work of a licensed Oregon attorney.