(35 ILCS 135/26) (from Ch. 120, par. 453.56)
Sec. 26. Whenever any peace officer of the State or any duly authorized
officer or employee of the Department shall have reason to believe that any
violation of this Act has occurred and that the person so violating the Act
has in his, her or its possession any original package of cigarettes, not
tax stamped or tax imprinted underneath the sealed transparent wrapper of
such original packages, as required by this Act, or any vending device
containing such original packages to which stamps have not been affixed, or
on which an authorized substitute for stamps has not been imprinted
underneath the sealed transparent wrapper of such original packages, as
required by this Act, he may file or cause to be filed his complaint in
writing, verified by affidavit, with any circuit court within whose
jurisdiction the premises to be searched are situated, stating the facts
upon which such belief is founded, the premises to be searched, and the
property to be seized, and procure a search warrant and execute the same.
Upon the execution of such search warrant, the peace officer, or officer or
employee of the Department, executing such search warrant shall make due
return thereof to the court issuing the same, together with an inventory of
the property taken thereunder. The court shall thereupon issue process
against the owner of such property if he is known; otherwise, such process
shall be issued against the person in whose possession the property so
taken is found, if such person is known. In case of inability to serve such
process upon the owner or the person in possession of the property at the
time of its seizure, as hereinbefore provided, notice of the proceedings
before the court shall be given as required by the statutes of the State
governing cases of Attachment. Upon the return of the process duly served
or upon the posting or publishing of notice made, as hereinabove provided,
the court or jury, if a jury shall be demanded, shall proceed to determine
whether or not such property so seized was held or possessed in violation
of this Act, or whether, if a vending device has been so seized, it
contained at the time of its seizure original packages not tax stamped or
tax imprinted underneath the sealed transparent wrapper of such original
packages as required by this Act. In case of a finding that the original
packages seized were not tax stamped or tax imprinted underneath the sealed
transparent wrapper of such original packages in accordance with the
provisions of this Act, or that any vending device so seized contained at
the time of its seizure original packages not tax stamped or tax imprinted
underneath the sealed transparent wrapper of such original packages in
accordance with the provisions of this Act, judgment shall be entered
confiscating and forfeiting the property to the State and ordering its
delivery to the Department, and in addition thereto, the court shall have
power to tax and assess the costs of the proceedings.
When any original packages or any cigarette vending device shall have
been declared forfeited to the State by any court, as hereinbefore
provided, and when such confiscated and forfeited property shall have been
delivered to the Department, as provided in this Act, the said Department
shall destroy or maintain and use such property in an undercover capacity. The Department may, prior to any destruction of cigarettes, permit the true holder of the trademark rights in the cigarette brand to inspect such contraband cigarettes, in order to assist the Department in any investigation regarding such cigarettes.
(Source: P.A. 94-776, eff. 5-19-06; 95-1053, eff. 1-1-10.)
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