810.02.Order directing return of property.

Getting property back before a replevin case is decided is not something a plaintiff can request on the strength of the complaint alone. Section 810.02 requires that any order directing return of property before final judgment come from a judge or other judicial officer, and only on the plaintiff’s affidavit -- made after the summons has issued -- or a verified complaint that lays out specific facts.

The affidavit or complaint has to make six showings: that the plaintiff is entitled to possession of the property, particularly described; that the defendant is wrongfully detaining it; the alleged cause of that detention, to the plaintiff’s best knowledge, information, and belief; that the property was not taken for a tax, assessment, or fine, or seized under execution or attachment against the plaintiff’s own property (or, if it was, that it is exempt from that seizure); the property’s value; and the property’s location, described specifically enough for the judge or judicial officer to find reason to believe the property is there, or in the possession of the defendant or someone acting on the defendant’s behalf, subject to the defendant, or in concert with the defendant.