§ 140B.102.Civil Forfeiture of Property

The forfeiture provision, and the relation-back rule in subsection (c) is what gives it teeth.

Subsection (a) sets the reach: all property, real or personal, including money, that is used in the course of, intended for use in the course of, derived from, or realized through conduct constituting an offense under Section 72.02, 72.03, or 72.04, Penal Code.

Four relationships, and two of them look forward. "Intended for use" catches property before any offense is completed, and "used in the course of" catches instruments as well as profits — the vehicle and the building, not only the money.

Subsection (b) gives venue three ways: the district court for the district where tangible property is located; any district court in this state for intangible property; and the county where tangible property was seized.

Subsection (c) is the important one. On final judgment, the state’s title relates back — for real property or a beneficial interest, to the filing of a lien notice under Chapter 68, Property Code; failing that, to a notice of lis pendens; failing that, to the recording of the final judgment. For personal property, to the date it was seized.

Relation back defeats the intervening transfer. Without it, a defendant could sell the property between the lien notice and the judgment and leave the state with a judgment against an asset that had moved on.

The ladder rewards early notice. An agency that files a lien notice fixes the state’s priority then; one that files nothing takes its title only from the recording of the judgment.

Subsection (d) supplies a locating rule: a beneficial interest is located where the real property owned by the trustee is located.