When They Take Your Property
S.C. Code 44-53-520 and S.C. Code 44-53-530 — drug forfeiture, a petition to the court, and the car rule
Under the drug article, property subject to forfeiture includes drugs, the equipment and containers used with them, property knowingly used to facilitate drug distribution or trafficking, records, conveyances used to transport or conceal drugs, things of value exchanged for them and the proceeds, and money seized near forfeitable drugs or at an arrest or search involving the article.
A car takes a larger amount. No motor vehicle may be forfeited under the conveyance provision unless it was used in, or facilitated, a violation involving at least the quantities the section lists, among them one pound or more of marijuana, more than ten grains of cocaine or more than two grains of heroin, or a trafficking violation.
Forfeiture is accomplished by a petition from the Attorney General or the circuit solicitor to the court of common pleas where the property was seized, within a reasonable time after the seizure, naming all owners and lienholders of record. The judge decides whether the property is subject to forfeiture. A defendant who sends written notice of an interest in the property is served by mail at the address given rather than by publication.
Money seized may be returned where the person shows the court it is not the product of drug activity, and owners and lienholders have protections set out in the related sections. Forfeitures under other chapters are not on this page. A particular seizure is a question for a licensed South Carolina attorney.
Sources for this section (2)
- S.C. Code 44-53-520 — Forfeitures
- S.C. Code 44-53-530 — Forfeiture procedures
Legal information, not legal advice. Verified as of October 2026. Applying it to a particular situation is the work of a licensed South Carolina attorney.