Contraband; condemnation proceedings ACTIVE

All instruments, devices, and objects which are seized after the effective date of this Section, on condemnation as being distributed or possessed in violation of this Part, may be destroyed by the authorities making the seizure, but only after compliance with the following procedure. Within ninety days after any seizure is made after the effective date of this Section, the district attorney shall institute condemnation proceedings in district court by petition, a copy of which shall be served upon the owner of the seized items, if known. If the owner is unknown, notice of the proceedings shall be published once a week for two weeks in the official journal of the parish. The petition shall allege that the seized items were distributed or possessed in violation of this Part. Fifteen days after the filing of the petition, judgment by default shall be entered by the court, and the court shall order the seized items to be destroyed. Otherwise, the case shall proceed as other civil cases in said court. If the prosecution proves, by a preponderance of the evidence, that the seized items were distributed or possessed in violation of the law, the court shall order the seized items to be destroyed.