CRIMINAL LAWAND PROCEDURE
297
dangerous a written statement under oath or affir-
mation describing the basis for the law enforce-
ment officer’s belief that the individual is
dangerous.
(b) The court shall review the written state-
ment submitted under subsection (a). If the court
finds that probable cause exists to believe that the
individual is dangerous, the court shall order the
law enforcement agency having custody of the
firearm to retain the firearm. If the court finds that
there is no probable cause to believe that the indi-
vidual is dangerous, the court shall order the law
enforcement agency having custody of the firearm
to return the firearm to the individual.
(c) This section does not authorize a law
enforcement officer to perform a warrantless
search or seizure if a warrant would otherwise be
required.
35-47-14-4. Filing return on warrant.
If a court issued a warrant to seize a firearm
under this chapter, the law enforcement officer
who served the warrant shall, not later than forty-
eight (48) hours after the warrant was served, file
a return with the court that:
(1) states that the warrant was served; and
(2) sets forth:
(A) the time and date on which the
warrant was served;
(B) the name and address of the indi-
vidual named in the warrant; and
(C) the quantity and identity of any
firearms seized by the law enforce-
ment officer.
35-47-14-5. Hearing on retention of firearm.
(a) Not later than fourteen (14) days after a
return is filed under section 4 of this chapter or a
written statement is submitted under section 3 of
this chapter, the court shall conduct a hearing to
determine whether the seized firearm should be:
(1) returned to the individual from whom
the firearm was seized; or
(2) retained by the law enforcement
agency having custody of the firearm.
(b) The court shall set the hearing date as soon
as possible after the return is filed under section
4 of this chapter. The court shall inform:
(1) the prosecuting attorney; and
(2) the individual from whom the firearm
was seized;
of the date, time, and location of the hearing. The
court may conduct the hearing at a facility or
other suitable place not likely to have a harmful
effect upon the individual’s health or well-being.
35-47-14-6. Burden of proof.
(a) In a hearing conducted under section 5 of
this chapter, the state has the burden of proving all
material facts by clear and convincing evidence.
(b) If the court, in a hearing under section 5 of
this chapter, determines that the state has proved
by clear and convincing evidence that the indi-
vidual is dangerous, the court may order that the
law enforcement agency having custody of the
seized firearm retain the firearm. In addition, if
the individual has received a license to carry a
handgun, the court shall suspend the individual’s
license to carry a handgun. If the court determines
that the state has failed to prove that the individ-
ual is dangerous, the court shall order the law
enforcement agency having custody of the firearm
to return the firearm to the individual from whom
it was seized.
(c) If the court, in a hearing under section 5 of
this chapter, orders a law enforcement agency to
retain a firearm, the law enforcement agency shall
retain the firearm until the court orders the firearm
returned or otherwise disposed of.
35-47-14-7. Returning firearm to another
person.
If the court, in a hearing conducted under sec-
tion 5 of this chapter, determines that:
(1) the individual from whom the firearm
was seized is dangerous; and
(2) the firearm seized from the individual
is owned by another individual;
the court may order the law enforcement agency
having custody of the firearm to return the firearm
to the owner of the firearm.
35-47-14-8. Subsequent hearing for return of
firearm.
(a) At least one hundred eighty (180) days
after the date on which a court orders a law
enforcement agency to retain an individual’s
firearm under section 6(b) of this chapter, the
individual may petition the court for return of the
firearm.
