{"data":{"id":"us-nm/31-27-3","jurisdiction":"us-nm","citation":"31-27-3","heading":"Definitions.","body":"As used in the Forfeiture Act:\nA. \"abandoned property\":\n(1) is not subject to the provisions of Section 29-1-14 NMSA 1978;\n(2) means personal property the rights to which and the control of which an owner has intentionally relinquished; and\n(3) does not mean real property;\nB. \"actual knowledge\" means a direct and clear awareness of information, a fact or a condition;\nC. \"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;\nD. \"conveyance\" means a device used for transportation and:\n(1) includes a motor vehicle, trailer, snowmobile, airplane, vessel and any equipment attached to the conveyance; but\n(2) does not include property that is stolen or taken in violation of a law;\nE. \"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;\nF. \"crime\" means a violation of a criminal statute for which property of the offender is subject to seizure and forfeiture;\nG. \"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;\nH. \"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;\nI. \"law enforcement officer\":\n(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\n(2) does not mean a correctional officer;\nJ. \"owner\" means a person who has a legal or equitable ownership interest in property;\nK. \"property\" means tangible or intangible personal property or real property;\nL. \"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\nM. \"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.","path":["Chapter 31 - Criminal Procedure","ARTICLE 27 Forfeiture"],"source_url":"https://nmonesource.com/nmos/nmsa-unanno/en/item/18531/index.do","current_through":"2026-05-20","vintage":"","retrieved_at":"2026-09-03T15:02:19Z","sha256":"e85628b7c6fc7bec0f051e1fee953e534577d6f700a5e86fa0e2de1a8661be42","source_id":"us-nm","stale":false,"prev":"us-nm/31-27-2","next":"us-nm/31-27-4"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}